Yearbook Tips for Parents

Did you know that more photos were taken in the past two minutes than all the pictures captured from the time photography was invented to the turn of the 20^th century?

That is a good thing and a bad thing.  It’s easy to take photos but most of those images are never going to be downloaded, a whole lot of them will be lost in some sort of accident (smart phones don’t swim), and the ones that are shared will not tell a very good story.

There is an art to telling a story with pictures and a yearbook is a good example of such a visual history.  These books are more than a catalogue of formal senior portraits.  The candid photos will help graduates recall fond memories or relate their personal experiences to family members over the years.

Parents are a great resource as students prepare their yearbooks because adults have the benefit of experience to share.  Parent Teacher Associations often get involved in yearbook efforts because they can expand on the value of their input.

Connecting Families to Yearbook Staff

PTAs can reach out to families and turn those people into yearbook resources.  These publications require a lot of volunteer effort to organize and promote.  People will be needed to sell ads, wrangle clubs and organizations into contributing their input, and just offering creative ideas.

Planning the Publication

Many events are organized by PTAs and a yearbook staff can benefit from their experience and advice when pulling together what is essentially a group of students who may have never worked together before and definitely have no real publishing experience.

Coordinating Teachers and Students

It can be easy to forget about the learning aspect of school when graduation parties and end of year celebrations get close on the calendar.  PTAs can be an effective liaison between the yearbook staff and teachers to get that part of the story told well, including candids in the classroom and the results of special projects.

Avoid Mistakes

By the time students realize what they should avoid, they’ve already made the mistake and it may be part of their yearbook forever.  PTAs can help in this area and, as an organization rather than individual parents, they can build on success year after year, providing continuity from one yearbook to the next.

Premier Portraits Studio is always ready to act as a resource to help students and their parents create photographs that tell the story of this important time in life.  Call today for more tips and support!

Get Ready for Your Senior Portrait

Senior year of high school is a busy time filled with new experiences.  Having your portrait taken for your high school yearbook is just one of these events that you’ll remember for a long time to come.

Premier Portraits Studio wants to help you enjoy it to the fullest by providing a handy checklist you can use to make sure your portrait sitting is fun!

The first step is to schedule an appointment with your professional photographer.  Talk with the studio to pick a time of day that suits you.  For example, if you really are not going to get out of bed early on a weekend, then don’t try to drag yourself out of the house only to immortalize a cranky expression or miss the appointment entirely.  Also, don’t try to squeeze a sitting into an already overscheduled day.  Allow yourself time to relax so that you can give your professional photographer your full attention.

A few weeks before the formal portrait sitting, think about what you want to wear.  This can be a social time so consider inviting your friends over to shop your own closet.  Also, take some advice from your parents.  You may not consider them to be the most fashion forward people on the planet but they have done the year book photo thing and can offer you the benefit of experience.

At least one week before your appointment, give your outfit a dry run.  You don’t want to be hunting for your favorite necklace or the right tie when you should be on the road and headed to the studio.  Also, think about any props you want to hold or have in the frame.  Are you into sports?  Proud of an academic accomplishment?  A good photographer will offer a number of poses so feel free to experiment a little during your sitting.

It’s a good idea to get your hair cut several days or a week before the portrait sitting.  The best advice is to have your school picture taken with the hairstyle you usually wear to school.  The idea is that you like this style best and it reflects your personality.  If you want to experiment, do so with enough time to work out any issues before the portrait is taken.

On the day, there will be grooming that cannot be done ahead of time.  That includes shaving and perhaps an updo if that’s what you’ve decided… and tried with success well before the big day.  It’s a good idea to bring your outfit with your props rather than wear the clothing to the photographer’s studio, especially if there is a chance you’ll get the clothing dirty by stopping for a quick bite.

Premier Portraits Studio sends best wishes to all graduates!  This really is a special time and we’d be honored to provide you with the photographs that will bring your memories back to you time and again.

Yearbook Planning

 Putting a yearbook together is not unlike running a company.  In fact, it’s a lot like running a brand new company because most of the people who will work on a yearbook will be new this year and graduated by next.

Premier Portraits Studio wants to provide some tips for putting together the best high school yearbook team so you not only have a great senior year experience but walk away with a volume you’ll be happy to open again and again, all the years of your life.

There are three groups of people who will work on the yearbook staff.  Teachers are a great resource because they will provide continuity and experience.  They can advise parents and students as to what’s been done in the past, what has worked, and what to avoid.  Students will be the best source of new ideas because this yearbook should reflect their personalities, desires, and memories.  Parents are, as always, the backbone of any student effort, providing logistical support such as transportation and emotional support as these young people learn to work independently and together on what is probably the first publishing experience of their lives.

It’s best to define roles early on so everyone knows what is expected of them and how they can rely on their yearbook team members.  The yearbook advisor can act as the point person, coordinating activities and acting as arbiter when decisions need to be finalized.

Students can divide the responsibilities of editors, photographers, and writers.  There is usually one editor because this role is where the style of the yearbook is defined and too many editors may result in a yearbook that is ill defined.  Of course, photographers take the candid shots that will complement the formal portraits that a professional portrait studio will take of each student.  Writers gather quotes from students and around the school to help capture the essence of time spent there.

It’s important to put real effort into recruiting a yearbook staff.  Those most interested in the project can speak during a school assembly or man a table during free periods to describe how rewarding it can be to work on a project that reflects a very special time of life and captures it in a book.

It’s important to interview candidates to make sure that every person is committed to doing the work ahead.  Never forget this is a project that demands time and attention but the return on that investment is the chance to learn just how well students can work together and what they can achieve on their own as they try something new and challenging.

Call Premier Portraits Studio today for more tips.  As formal school portrait photographers, we’re able to provide advice to make your yearbook, and the experience of creating a yearbook, a great one!

Why Have a Formal Portrait Taken?

Photography has changed more in the last 5 years than in the past century.  It’s easier to take a photo and definitely easier to share a picture.  Think about it, most kids will never know the effort previous generations put into sharing images with each other – digging up negatives, trekking to the store to fill out forms, returning to the store to pick up prints, then mailing copies to friends and family.  Of course, there were other steps like going to the post office to ensure there was sufficient postage to get those photos where they needed to go.

Formal portraits were actually a bit easier to share, and still are.  A professional photographer is also a bit of a personal assistant.  A good portrait studio will help you order the right number and sizes of prints and get them ready for you.

Still, people today will take so many photographs of themselves, it’s important to ask (and answer) the question, Why have a formal portrait taken?

The biggest answer is picture quality.  A professional portrait photographer uses cameras that can produce a quality photo that can be blown up without loss of resolution.  That same professional also brings years of experience to the table, to relax the subject, pose the people, and wrangle the kids into a form that is pleasing to the eye.  Many non-professional photographers rely on the numbers to get a good photograph.  If you take thousands of shots, one of them will be worth hanging on a wall in your home.

Tradition is another answer.  True, kids may scoff at this word but there will come a day when they want to compare how they looked at a young age with how their parents and grandparents looked.  It’s tough to compare a professional portrait to a selfie and come away with a real appreciation for the subjects.

That brings up a very real answer.  Humiliation.  Many of the fun pictures that people take today are not the photos they want to have shared tomorrow.  A formal portrait is really one’s best side.  It can reflect favorite hobbies by putting accessories or sporting equipment into the frame or just feature the face of the portrait subject.  It will not be a goofy look or out of focus.

Memories is the best answer.  A photograph is only as good as the memories it can evoke.  A formal picture has its own cache and can elevate the person in the frame to a special status when family and friends look at it.

Ease of sharing is still a viable answer.  Again, your professional photographer will help produce the copies you need and grandma would much rather open a box with a framed picture of her favorite grandchild than open an email message with a jpg.

Talk to Premier Portraits Studio today about your formal portrait for school or family.

Color Coordinating Your Family Portrait

It can be challenging to pick just the right outfits for your spouse and kids when it’s time to do the family portrait.

What you wear in a photograph tells part of the story about who you are at that moment in time.  Anyone with a yearbook photograph from the 1980s understands this all too well.

The first step in selecting an outfit is to walk away from the closets.  Yes, walk away from the closets and find some comfy chairs.  Sit everyone down and get ideas from everyone in the family.  This exercise isn’t so much about finding the right theme or style but getting everyone to buy into the idea of a professional photograph of the family.  You’ll want those expressions to be happy rather than sullen.

There are some basic guidelines for portrait clothing.  If you are setting this photo on a beach, then pick summer clothing.  If you are in a formal setting, think tuxes and gowns.

Colors should complement each other.  You don’t have to all wear the same color unless that’s part of your theme.  Everyone in a white T-shirt with jeans can be a great look.  Or, you can each wear a shirt in a different primary color.  The point here is to coordinate.  Blue and orange are striking; blue and green are calming; blue and black may be a bit too dark if you’re all brunettes.

If you want to match clothing, then match.  Don’t try to get away with “close enough” because those words will haunt you every time you see the family portrait.

Return to the idea of your professional photograph as a story.  Where is the drama and how do you want to focus the attention of anyone who sees this portrait?  The general answer here is “faces” so don’t go overboard with accessories or clothing that attracts more attention away from the family.

Your professional photographer will help with posing but give some thought about how you want to group your family.  That might help you select between outfits.  For example, if you are going to focus from the waist up, then you don’t need to worry about the color of pants.

A family portrait should be a fun time that will memorialize your loved ones in time.  The little ones will grow fast so capture this moment with more than just the professional portrait.  Enjoy the experience and call PremierPortraits Studio for more tips and answers to questions!

How to Choose the Right Background for your Portrait

The right backdrop for a portrait is as important as the harmony to music or the right side dish to a great entrée.  You may not notice a backdrop but something about the subject of the portrait will be enhanced when you select the right color for the background of the photograph.

Your professional portrait photographer should offer several selections and work with you to pick the right backdrop.

For example, a black background may seem very neutral but in fact says a lot about the person in the photograph.  This color can lend an air of mystery and elegance.  Lighting will be important to ensure that hair color does not disappear into the background (brunettes, this is meant for you) and that clothing will pop against the darkness.

Grey backgrounds will actually be more neutral than black and draw the eye to the portrait subject.  Juxtapose this with brown, also a good neutral, but with a more casual feel than grey.

At the other end of the scale, red is a color that does not hide.  Think of how it can warm as subject dressed all in white or bring fire to rosy cheeks.  A strong color choice can reflect the personality or character of the portrait subject, expressing energy and vibrancy.

Again, a portrait is about light and colors like blue can make blue eyes bluer.  It’s difficult to say how a particular color will impact a picture because the photographer’s skill with lighting equipment and his camera can make a very big difference.  Again, a professional photographer can use all the tricks of the trade to bring out the physical and spiritual characteristics of the portrait subject.

For example, pink may be associated with women but men can benefit from the way that particular color highlights their skin tone, perhaps making them seem younger or more vital.  At Premier Portraits Studio, we've often received compliments that focus on the subject and, when someone points out the background, heard, “I didn't realize that it was pink!”

Call Premier Portraits Studio today and learn what color can do for your portrait.  We have the largest selection of backgrounds in Connecticut.

What Should A Good Portrait Cost?

Parents know that it’s expensive to raise a child.  It seems there is another thing to buy every day and, after a while, mom and dad can become a bit numb to the reality of how those numbers add up.  If the kid needs it, the kid needs it.

Raising children also leaves little free time and who wants to use those precious moments to compare prices?  Especially when you might be price shopping for something that you won’t pay for on a regular basis, like a school portrait package.  Parents can easily justify turning a blind eye to the cost of a school portrait, or any other formal photograph for that matter, just to get that task done.

PremierPortraits Studio wants to help by giving you a guideline.  If you are paying $15 or more for the lowest portrait package, you are paying too much.

We recommend that you pay $8 to 10 for a package that includes one 5x7 portrait, four wallet pictures, and one class photo.

Price can change depending on special requests such as background.  Premier Portraits Studio offers 16 different backgrounds.  We can also offer specialservices such as retouching.

When you select your formal portrait photographer, look for the quality of work in both the picture and the session.  Will you receive individualized attention during a photo shoot?  Is the photographer relaxed and confident in her or her skill set?  That sort of rapport translates into an ability to put a subject at ease and therefore get a better facial expression.

Will the professional photographer charge extra for accommodating special requests such as including personal objects in a photo?  It takes a few moments to set up a shot with more items in it and, if your son or daughter is a star athlete, a ball might be the perfect expression of his or her personality.  That should be a fun aspect, not an additional expense when creating a professional portrait.

Hopefully, this guideline and tips will help you select the right photographer for your family and student portraits.