Senior Session Timelines

Showing off my personal timeline with the help of senior, Annabelle Neat.

It’s that time of year! Current juniors are eagerly awaiting the of their year and preparing for their Senior year. That also means that it’s time to begin planning out your senior session. The summer before your senior year starts is when most schedule their senior photos. Summer just allows for many more great locations, those stunning sunsets, and guarantees you have your yearbook photo ready!

When working with seniors, I always make sure that I am being as consistent as possible and have a workflow and timeline that I stick to.

In today’s blog, I am going to share with you what my senior sessions timeline looks like and how I’m able to give every senior I work with, an amazing memorable experience.

PRE-SESSION

Before the session, I will make sure to send out a welcome guide to the senior I’m scheduling with. This makes sure that they are receiving all of the information that they need to get prepped and ready for their session. They will also receive a pre-session questionnaire to help me learn a little bit about the senior and also help them plan out their session. This includes questions about outfits, locations, aesthetic, and so much more. I will also work 1-on-1 with my seniors to find the perfect time, location, and details for their session. And after that is all done, I will schedule the makeup artist, make sure my studio is ready for their arrival, and always encourage them to bring a friend with them. This friend is there to help capture behind the scenes content, be the hair fluffer, and even be a hype man. The information packet and questionnaire go out immediately after the senior has booked with me so that we can lay out all the fine details.

SESSION

For the session, this is pretty simple and always so much fun. They come to my studio for professional makeup which is a perfect time for me to get to know them a little bit more. I also usually bring that senior’s guilty pleasure drink, normally meaning Starbucks or an energy drink. We always jam out to music while their makeup is getting done and I also love to play a round of 21 questions with them to post on my Instagram stories. All of this is a great way for me to get the seniors comfortable with working with me and allows me to get to know them a little bit better before we take off. This is the time to make sure they are having the best experience possible.

Once make up is complete we spend around 2 hours together hitting all our preplanned locations, changing outfits, and taking all the photos!

POST-SESSION

After the session, seniors receive a sneak peek of their images that night or within 24 hours. I will also create the portal for their images that is then sent to them along with another questionnaire. This second questionnaire will ask about their experience with their session. Their answers will then be made into a blog that will be posted on my website. About 3 weeks later, their completed gallery will be sent to them along with the blog being published.