Seniors Photography
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Hi Everybody
I am a new guy on the block to this site from across the water, from a town just north of Brisbane Australia(this my first entry). My wife and i run a wedding and portrait business with help from our teenage daughter. I have had contact with the "Shoot Smarter" site for some time now and have gained valuable info on trends and techniques in the photography industry carried out in your home land that have helped add a little spice to my work that is not generally practiced here in Australia.
One such style of photography you guys have that is not done here (for what ever reason, and i would like to change that) is the "Seniors" concept. I have heard on occasion from colleagues that it won't work here or is too hard to get up and running. But from reading some of the Threads on this site and listening to visiting speakers from the US i understand that it is a big part of the photography scene in the US.
It was also good to get some balance from the thread by Craig Murphy, that he was having trouble (i hope i inturperated that right Craig) drumming business in this field.
I wish to make an Aussie style of "Seniors" photography a part of our business plan. So therefore i am sending out a big SOS to all my new found colleagues in Prophoto Resource.com for any info you guys can share with me to help put this plan in action. Any and all info will be gratefully appreciated. For example, print sizes, packages, prices, time limits on shoots, studio and location shoots or just one or the other, advertising, do the schools get involved or is it done totally out side the school system, anything that you guys think i should know to help. You will understand that i am starting from scratch here so i am really asking for so much with only my humble thanks to offer for you generosity. If someone out there would like to help me but the info is sensitive to your market share in the US you could contact me direct on my email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Thanking you all for your time.
John Robinson

There's a great book by Ellie Vayo put out by Amherst Media called, "The Art and Business of High School Senior Portrait Photography". She covers a lot of the marketing ideas (with really fantastic samples and ideas). She also talks about the challenges of actually shooting the teens and how to light them, pose them and how to deal with them.

I don't know if you can get this in Australia, but it might just be worth it to order it from the US or Canada, even if the shipping costs a bit. There's a wealth of info that could get you started or at least give you an idea of how the senior market works here in the US.

Originally posted in the posing heavy thread,


This info is right in the members discount section right here on this forum.

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This comes from their website www.rangefinder.com

"August: Annual high school senior issue: Working the Senior Market. "

Hi Guys
A big thank you Noelle & Twila for the info on those publications, i am investigating them as we speak. I am slowly gaining some insight into the Seniors concept. Am i right in thinking it is somewhat of a "Right of Passage" for the American teenager? This is the cultural hurdle that i will confront herein OZ. Where parents will at times spring for a family portrait session and take in different shots of all the family members. The idea of a dedicated session for thier graduating child is quite alien to them. and needs to be marketed and sold as an idea here first, and then promoted as something they can't do with out, then last but not least - that i am that someone that should be responsible for creating the magic for them.

So you can see that i have my work cut out for me ....... but as some one much wiser than me once said ........"a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step" or something like that

Take it easy

John Robinson

Hey John,

Think about the possibilities--this sounds like an untapped market for you--it could be HUGE! Good luck!

Speak with the yearbook editor and tell Her/Him you will supply a copy of each senior for the yearbook( If you guys have yearbooks. Select a pretty popular girl from a high school and do her photos for free in exchange for her advertising and showing her photos around school. Hire a couple of seniors to assist with the photos, girls to check hair and makeup plus helping with clothes changing. A boy to help move equipment and pay them. Save the "gee whiz" photos for the expensive packages. Retouch your images to remove blemishes.