What to wear for your senior photo session
Senior photo in jean jacket
Your senior year of high school is such a pivotal moment in your life, where you transition from being a child and dependent on your parents to an independent adult with responsibility for your own actions.
So what to wear for this traditional rite of passage? When making this decision, I highly recommend you think about future needs for your portrait - like college applications, publications, social media profile photos, announcements, yearbooks, company ID's, passports, etc. There's a good chance you might be able to use one of your senior photos for these applications if you share your needs with your photographer in advance.
The other part is who is your audience? Friends, relatives, future employers, or your own family in twenty years? Who do you expect to see these photos, or receive a copy of them? This can tie into which outfits you choose and color choices. Have some variety in your outfits and poses to cater to a wide range of needs and audiences. These are good things to discuss with your photographer!
So after you have decided on what you need these photos for and how they are going to be used, follow these tips below to help you pick your outfits.
This one is number one because it is the most important one! Choose outfits that you feel comfortable and confident in, and fit you well. This will set the stage for a successful photo session! If you feel awkward or cannot wait to change out of what you are wearing, you are not going to photograph well in it.
Don't wear clothing that is distracting and draws the eye. In general solid plain colors work best. Nothing too bright or loud. Avoid patterns and stripes. When someone sees your photo, you want them to see you and not the Playstation shirt you are wearing.
Don't be afraid to express yourself a bit with your clothing choices. This kind of goes against #2 above, but remember, you generally wear multiple outfits for your senior session. Wear your favorite slogan/brand shirt if you feel its part of your identity, but keep the other outfits more neutral.
Put some thought into how the clothing colors will blend in with the existing colors at the shooting location. A good resource for this is Adobe color palette generator - https://color.adobe.com/create/color-wheel I personally recommend the complimentary color schemes.
Make sure you take care of yourself in the weeks leading up to your session. Get enough sleep, avoid foods that trigger skin breakouts, use sunscreen to avoid sunburns, and try to be a little conservative if you play sports and not break anything right before your session.
Show some variety. Go for a formal look and a casual look. Use things like jackets, hats, bags, and other accessories to play with color and quickly change your look.
Use an outfit to show your interests and passions. Do you play a sport? Like football or mountain biking? A musical instrument? Are you proud of your current job? These can all be incorporated into your outfit and session. For example with football we can shoot you with pads and jersey on, football in hand, and the field goal in the background on the high school football field(I could even show up to a game and take photos of you playing). Mountain biking can be in the woods, with bike and protective gear on, mud too, just like during a real ride.
Your outfit should fit in with your environment. You might be able to get away with wearing a tuxedo on a beach for a beach wedding, but a suit on the beach is not going to work for a senior portrait.
Ask for help from your network. If you are not sure about an outfit, ask your family and friends for their opinions. Your photographer is a great resource to use as well!