Exploring senior portraits around the country – What does senior portrait mean in your part of the country?

I’ve been using Google Alerts to find posts about “senior portraits”. As I follow the links that show up, it has been interesting to see what senior portrait means to different people and to different parts of the country.

Here in my part of the country a senior portrait is a portrait session for senior high school students that says something about them and that they can share with their friends and family in celebration of their graduation from high school. The seniors use their wallet sized prints to send out with their invitations to graduation parties for their friends and relatives. Parents also love to have images that they can put on display in their homes so that people who visit can see their son or daughter who may now be in college or in the military.

I followed one link for senior portraits in Texas and it was talking about “cap and gown portraits” of every senior in Texas. I don’t see very many cap and gown portraits in this part of the country, but perhaps it is important in Texas. I don’t know…. if you are from Texas, please tell me what you think senior portraits are.

A photographer that I follow in Canada, while doing a seminar in the states ran across some senior portraits that photographer were talking about. After several discussions about the senior portraits they were doing in the USA, he began to introduce the same concept in his community. Now senior portraits a so much more than a yearbook portrait or a cap and gown portrait in his community because he was inspired and took the concept where it had never been seen.

If you Google senior portraits images you will see thumbnails mostly of high school senior portraits, some relaxed and natural, others rather extreme, and still others that are studio head and shoulder portraits. But, then you will also see senior (as in older adults) images of another kind. These are the stock images of elderly individuals relating to one another for advertising retirement communities and such.

I see that people from all over the country visit my web site looking for creative senior portraits and pictures. I enjoy working with students in outdoor lifestyle sessions. I’ve enjoyed working with students that have a horse or dog that is important to them. I’ve also enjoyed just helping students just relax and be themselves in relaxed outdoor settings to capture natural, fun expressions that are who they are.

So, this post is a QUESTION? for you to answer with a comment. If you are a parent of a senior high school student and are considering what kind of portraits you want, tell me what you are looking for in a comment to this blog post. Even if you are not in the market for senior high school portraits, what would you want if you could be a teen ager again? What kind of senior portraits would you like to have. If you are a photographer, what kind of senior portraits do you enjoy creating sessions for for your clients?

Join this discussion, make a comment.

Related posts:

1. Best friend seniors, senior boys, seniors with horses, senior girls
2. Melissa had great fun at her senior portrait session in Dayton
3. Morgan’s senior portraits and mom’s friesian horse portraits combined into one session
4. Lovely senior portrait session with Jennifer McElveen senior at Miamisburg High School
5. Best friend senior portrait session, bring a friend to your session and have senior pictures to cherish for a lifetime