Make it Personal

A young man that I’ve known since he was a small boy approached me to do his senior portraits. We were going to do on location and studio but we got rained out for the on location shots. We ended up doing the studion shots on Saturday night. Now he went to the studio the school recommended and I am not knocking their ability. They are talented photographers. However a lot of seniors end up hating their portraits.

Why? After looking at quite a few, I’ve come to the conclusion that they are generic. They don’t get personal with the teen and their personality doesn’t really show. I don’t blame the studio for this. They have a lot of appointments and can’t take the time to get to know each student. They wouldn’t make any money.

That is why, besides the yearbook picture, most students would like to have their photos taken with a personal photographer. It may cost a little more, but the quality of the shot (not technically) feels better for them because they got to input their ideas and personality.

Ariel told me he felt awkward at the other studio. Now this worried me a little because my studio is really small, especially compared to the giant studio downtown. I thought he would feel even more awkward in this small space.

We put on some Nicki Minaj and we were on our way to great photos. His confidence completely shines through. I’m not done with them but here are a few of them.