Senior Portraits

[Do'Urden's Eyes]

Yeah i live around Toronto Ontario and my 'senior' photos were done during your lunch period behind the curtain on stage. really wasnt a big deal to any of us. the way i saw it was just photos for my mom and who ever she wanted to show me off to.

And i know no one who went outside of that gym to get their shots done.

Maybe a reason why its so big down in the states is because high school is a much bigger deal down there then it is up here. when i think of american teenage life i just think of 'Glory Days' from the Boss. lol for alot of people i know highschool was just.. school.

 

[maytay20]

I would think that it would depend on the school in question. Many schools probably take the standard 'year book' photo (or have a photographer come in and shoot them all). I've heard that some schools will allow the students (usually only the grads) to use a less formal photo which might come from a photographer of their own (you).

I'm still baffled at the 'Senior Portrait' market that you have down in the US. For many photographers it's big business...yet here in Canada, it's almost non existent.

The schools around here have a standard year book photo for the main class page then if they pay more they can have a add like area with a different photo. It usually contains a letter from the parents also.

 

[Mike30D]

The sad thing is, even though it is big here in the U.S. the market is getting smaller. Lifetouch has it's put a LOT of independent photographers out of business (or at least out of the Senior Portrait market) due to having contracts with a lot of school districts. Contracts which state that Lifetouch does ALL the photography, including sports teams. They continue to make millions of dollars a year in this segment with a big strong arm. The future looks as though there's no one to stop them in their tracks either.

 

[Kenny32]

I was the yearbook editor for my high school yearbook this past year.

We required a standard backdrop for our yearbook picture, and a lot of schools do the same. I believe the reasoning behind this is because if you do it with a non-standard background something inappropriate might slip through.

The whole issue with our school is that we are a state school. Therefore, we have to have an OSP (Official School Photographer) which will be the only company we can accept images from for portraits. Don't ask me why, but I read through the contract and it's definitely not supporting the state's economy for local studio owners.

Personally, I thought it was BS because I was just ready to take some free photos because I wanted to have everyone in the yearbook. The least amount this company charged was $15 for pretty much 3 poses. And some people just would not pay for it.

Aside from portraits and the new born mom's, you might want to get into youth sports...Parents love seeing pictures of their kids...Especially if you find the ones that are LOADED.

Hope this helps!