I Hear This All The Time for my High School Seniors

“I don’t know what to do in front of the camera.”

Perfect. You don’t need to.

After photographing seniors for years, I can tell you that the best senior portraits don’t happen because someone knows how to pose. They happen when a senior starts to relax, forgets about the camera a little bit, and lets their personality come through.

That’s a big part of my job.

Whether we’re photographing your senior session in Telluride, Ridgway, Ouray or here in my studio, I want the experience to feel easy, fun and completely like you.

Here are three of my favorite tips for making that happen.

Thoughtful senior portrait photography in Telluride with a focus on comfort and confidence.

Bring Things That Tell Your Story

1. Bring Variety in Your Clothing & Accessorize

You don’t need an entirely new wardrobe for your senior session. In fact, I’d rather you bring clothing that actually feels like you. If you're comfortable in what you're wearing, it will come through in your photographs and artwork.

Think about having a little variety—a favorite pair of jeans and a casual top, something dressier, a great jacket, a favorite dress or an outfit that shows a completely different side of your personality. Changing outfits also gives us the opportunity to create completely different looks during the same session.

And you don't have to figure this out on your own.

Planning is part of the experience. I’ll help you think through clothing, locations and the overall feel of your session so everything works together without looking overly styled or forced.

2. Bring Things That Tell Your Story

Senior portraits should be about so much more than what you look like during your senior year.

They should capture who you are right now.

Bring your guitar. Your skis. Your soccer ball. Your cowboy hat. Your favorite car. And absolutely bring your dog if they’re part of your story.

These little details may feel ordinary right now, but years from now, they’re the things that will take you right back to this season of your life.

I always tell my seniors: we don't have to incorporate everything into every photograph. But having those meaningful pieces with us gives us opportunities to create portraits that couldn't belong to anyone else.

3. Don't Practice Posing

Please don't spend the week before your senior session worrying about what to do with your hands. You don't need to know how to pose.

That's my job.

I’ll give you direction when you need it. We'll move. We'll walk. We'll laugh. I'll adjust the little things that make a big difference, and somewhere along the way, you'll probably forget that you were nervous about having your photograph taken in the first place. Some photographs will be more intentional. Others will happen in between.

Usually, those in-between moments end up being some of my favorites.

My goal is never to make you look like someone else. It's to create photographs where the people who know you best look at them and say:

“That is SO you.”

Your Senior Session Should Feel Like You

Senior year is such an interesting season.

You're still very much part of the life you've known—your family, your friends, your school, your sports and all of those familiar places—but you're also standing right on the edge of something completely new.

That's why I think senior portraits matter.

We're not just documenting what you looked like your senior year.

We're documenting who you were before the next chapter began.

So bring the dog. Bring the car. Wear the outfit you love. Laugh too loudly. Don't worry about posing.

I'll take care of the rest.

Because years from now, I don't want you to simply have a beautiful senior portrait.

I want you to look at your album or artwork and remember exactly who you were.

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3 Tips for a Successful Senior Portrait Session in Telluride & Ridgway, CO