Senior Portraits

Harrisburg Senior Photos: What to Wear

Senior photos are a rite of passage that so many emerging young adults look forward to, and you want your photos to be as beautiful as you are! One important factor to plan for is your wardrobe. What should you wear for your Harrisburg senior photos? I’ll chat with you about specifics during your pre-consultation, but in the meantime, check out these tips.

Bring Variety

All my senior photo sessions include multiple outfit changes, and you want your outfits to be different enough to capture all the looks you want. Consider bringing one casual outfit, one outfit that’s more formal, and one that reflects your personality or hobbies like your jersey for a sport you play, an outfit with a rocker aesthetic, or your culture’s traditional dress. It’s a good idea to have a few extra outfits too in case you change your mind or have a last-minute stain or broken zipper.

Don’t Forget the Details

When planning your outfits, the clothes are just the starting point. Plan which accessories, shoes, and jewelry you plan to wear with each outfit too and try it all on together. This way, you can make sure it looks the way you want and that you have everything you need.

Have Layering Options for Your Harrisburg Senior Photos

Layers are magic in a photo session! They give you more visual variety without a full outfit change and they add some depth and texture to your photos. Bring a denim jacket to go over your dress or a flannel shirt to layer onto a t-shirt and jeans.

Avoid Going Overboard with Patterns

A good rule of thumb for photo shoots is to choose solid colors rather than complex patterns. Avoid anything with words or with a prominent logo too. The exceptions may be outfits that signify a particular hobby or interest you have.

Planning Your Harrisburg Senior Photos

Ready to start planning your once-in-a-lifetime senior photo session? Contact Karissa Zimmer Photography today!

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Preparing for Your Downtown Harrisburg High School Senior Portraits: Top Tips

So many of the photo sessions I perform are centered on a specific moment in my clients’ lives, and creating lasting mementos of this moment that they can cherish in the decades to come. That’s certainly the case with downtown Harrisburg high school senior portraits. Your child (or young adult) is about to launch a new life for themselves, and I’m here to make sure these portraits are the exciting milestone celebration they should be.

Want to make sure your teen’s senior portraits go as well as possible? Follow these tips as you’re planning and preparing.

Be Strategic with Outfits for Your Downtown Harrisburg High School Senior Portraits

Clearly, the outfits your teen chooses will make a great difference in the final look of their portraits, so it’s important to choose outfits wisely. It can be difficult to know what will and won’t photograph well. While planning your session, I’ll chat with you about my recommendations based on your teen and the look we’re aiming for, but here are a few other tips to keep in mind:

  • Choose solid colors or simple patterns over busy distracting patterns - we don’t want a shirt to steal the spotlight from your teen! The same goes for your jewelry: simpler is better.
  • Select outfits that are comfortable so your teen feels confident for their photo shoot.
  • Make sure the wardrobe feels authentic to your teen and their style.

When in doubt about an outfit, bring it! I can check out the outfits you’ve brought and give you my expertise on which ones will photograph best.

Leave Some Safety Time for New Looks

You don’t want to do anything *too* new on the photo shoot day. A fresh haircut is great, but make sure you schedule it for at least a week before your teen’s photo session. That gives it time to even out a bit if necessary and time for them to get used to styling it (or to fix it if they don’t like it). If your teen wants to try a new hairstyle or makeup look for their portraits, practice a few times at home first.

Work with Your Photographer on Props for Your Downtown Harrisburg High School Senior Portraits

During your teen’s high school senior portraits, props are a fantastic way to highlight who they are at this fun stage in their life. I’m always up for incorporating props like their sports jerseys, musical instruments they play, and props that align with their other hobbies and interests. We may even be able to take portraits with your teen’s beloved car or bike!

With props, though, you don’t want to bring any surprises to the photo shoot. Chat with me in advance about what props you want to bring so I can strategize the best ways to incorporate them.

Make Skincare a Priority

It’s so easy to fall out of your skincare routine, but your teen should make it a priority to maintain theirs in the weeks before their senior portraits. If your teen wants a facial, talk to your aesthetician in advance about when to schedule it based on their photo session, because some facials can cause irritation for a day or two.

With that said, don’t worry if your teen has some pimples during their photo shoot. Editing software is our friend!

The Ultimate Advice for Your Downtown Harrisburg High School Senior Portraits: Use Your Photographer’s Expertise

All the tips above are helpful but here’s the end-all-be-all: take advantage of your photographer’s expertise. I’ve been taking senior photos for many years and have first-hand experience with what works well and what doesn’t. When you hire me, you’re not just paying for my camera and my photography skills, you’re paying for my expertise. So, if you have a question, just ask!

Ready to start planning the outstanding downtown Harrisburg high school senior portraits your teen deserves? Contact Karissa Zimmer Photography today.

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Camp Hill High School Senior Portraits: Questions to Ask Your Photographer

Senior photography is a hallowed tradition that creates a lifelong memento of this incredibly unique milestone in your teen’s life. Every photographer works a bit differently, though, so it’s important to ask the right questions to know what to expect from the experience. As you prepare to book your Camp Hill high school senior portraits, make sure you’re asking these important questions.

How Will You Customize My Teen’s Camp Hill High School Senior Photo Session?

Senior portraits shouldn’t be cookie-cutter copies with the same poses and styles from person to person. These portraits are all about representing your young adult and who they are at this time in their life, so make sure your photographer will customize their session accordingly. For each of my clients, I customize their session based on their interests, activities, and personal aesthetic.

What Should I Bring to My Teen’s Photo Session?

Be sure to make a list of items your photographer recommends that you bring to your senior’s portrait session. That will include all the obvious items, like outfits and accessories as well as anything you might need to touch up their hair or makeup. Along with all this, though, I ask my seniors to bring any props that will help their portraits suit them. That can include anything that represents their interests – musical instruments, sports jerseys, and so on.

What Finished Products Will I Receive?

Before you book your senior portrait session, make sure you know what you’ll have in hand when all is said and done. Does your photographer work with you to design and order quality products like prints, framed portraits, albums, and so on? Or will you only receive digital files? As a full-service photographer, I guide my clients through every part of the process including ordering, sourcing, and delivering printed products so you know that you’ll have prints you can treasure and enjoy.

Booking Your Camp Hill High School Senior Portraits

Ready to get the ball rolling for your teen’s Camp Hill high school senior portraits? Book a senior photo session with Karissa Zimmer Photography today.

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Senior Photos near Harrisburg PA | Emma’s Senior Pictures

Senior Photos near Harrisburg PA | Emma’s Senior Pictures – Part One

Senior Photos near Harrisburg PA | Emma’s Senior Pictures – Part One! Hey high school juniors! It’s that time of year to start thinking about booking your senior pictures! I believe your senior photos should make YOU FEEL beautiful inside and out. And that is my goal and I am confident that we can achieve that together. Just take a look at this beautiful 2020 high school senior, Emma!

This girl is absolutely gorgeous on the inside and out. And she’s talented, incredibly smart and so sweet. I felt like Emma and I connected right away. Instantly I knew her session was going to be one of a kind and her senior pictures were going to be seriously AWESOME.

high school senior girl photographed in field of flowers near hershey pa

I’m pretty sure Emma, her parents and I got to know each other pretty well through her senior portrait process. We very carefully planned out her session together, so that Emma’s personality would shine through her images. We dodged a lot of summer thunder stroms, had to postpone a few times because of unpredictable weather, but we finally made magic happen!

Emma and I spent an afternoon and evening together. We had lots of laughs and picked all the greatest spots we could find for her senior pictures in Harrisburg, Hershey and Hummelstown. But this is only part ONE! Just wait till you see Emma’s senior pictures part TWO! This girl has got some musical talents and passions and there was no way we could leave that out. That is who she is! I genuinely believe your senior pictures should illustrate exactly who you are at this time in your life. Life offers so much growth and change, but the memories of who you are right now are something you will want to remember forever.

Let’s plan your 2021 high school senior session!

Emm’a senior pictures are beautiful in all the ways. Yours should be too! I will help you with that, I promise! It may seem early to start planning, but it’s not! I want to get to know you, all about your passions and interests. What makes you light up and get excited. And that’s what we’ll plan your senior session around! I am starting to book summer senior sessions for 2021 high school seniors now! Let’s chat. Send me a quick message HERE to talk about planning and reserve a date for your senior portraits!

Want to see more senior images and other fun sessions? – connect with me on INSTAGRAM

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Taylor is a SENIOR! :) {Mechanicsburg PA High School Senior Photographer}

This beautiful (senior!) girl is Taylor. I first met Taylor when I photographed her for the cover of Central Penn Parent magazine when she was in middle school. I've been blessed to work with her and her super fun family every year since her cover shoot! It's hard for me to believe she's going to be a senior already. Taylor is truly a one-of-a-kind girl who is beautiful on the inside and out! She's one of the sweetest teens I've ever met and had the pleasure of working with!

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