Jennifer Anderson Photography, LLC | 9448 Bradmore Lane, Suite 210, Ooltewah | (423)521-5879
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When to Take Senior Pictures
Congratulations! You’re heading into your high school senior year! All the work you’ve put in the last few years are finally going to pay off and propel you into your college year!
BUT, let’s celebrate this accomplishment first!
When to Take Senior Pictures?
The best time to take senior pictures is the Summer before your Senior Year because you have all year to use your images on places like social media, in your yearbook, in other school publications, etc without missing deadlines!
Why take Senior Pictures the Summer before your Senior year?
Summer is the best time for senior photos. Warm air, sunshine, white puffy clouds against blue skies, and even sunflower fields!
Pros to a Summer Senior Session:
- You’ll make yearbook deadlines without feeling rushed! Typically, custom yearbook pages are due in the Fall when you’re busy with classes already. Plus, at Jennifer Anderson Photography, we custom design these for you using your Summer Senior Pictures!
- Summer is super colorful! Trees are in full bloom, sunflowers and wildflowers are blooming! The best time for flowery senior portraits is late July!
- Tanned skin! Hello sun kissed gorgeous skin!
- Sunshine! There is nothing this Florida girl loves more than some glorious sunshine!
- More time! Because you don’t have a full class load and sports practice every five minutes, you’re able to carve out more time to focus on your senior pictures in the summer.
- Cute Outfits! Summer is perfect for that great romper you love or your favorite crop top.
- Longer Days! With the sun setting around 9pm, we can take more time and have more fun!
- More Travel availability! Have your heart set on a gorgeous beach location or something else unique for your summer senior pictures? Summer makes it super easy to travel wherever your heart desires! (And at Jennifer Anderson Photography, we don’t charge extra to travel!)
- Water is bearable! If you’d like to get in a creek, or jump in the ocean, the water is warmer and much more bearable which will translate into much better portraits!
Cons to a Summer Senior Session:
- It’s hot! But, this is nothing that plenty of water and taking time to cool off won’t cure ☀️
Other Times to Take Senior Portraits:
Fall Senior Pictures
(September – November)
Fall can be a popular season for senior portraits because of the coloring and cooler weather, but it has some downsides too.
Pros:
- Fall Colors! Even though the “peak fall color time” is elusive, it comes and it’s gorgeous!
- Sweaters and booties! If it’s cool enough in Chattanooga, nothing beats a cute, oversized sweater outfit!
- It’s usually a little cooler. Not by much, but definitely cooler than July.
- Sunsets are super glowy. We photographers call this golden hour, and Fall has some of the warmest, most beautiful golden hour sunsets here in Chattanooga.
Cons:
- There’s no guarantee on getting Fall Colors in your senior pictures because it’s different timing each year.
- We’re all busy. Fall is the busiest season for photographers so finding a photographer who has time on their calendar is difficult. Plus, you have sports and other extra curriculars along with your course load.
- Shorter days. We have less daylight during the Fall season, allowing for less photoshoots during that time.
Winter Senior Pictures
(December to February)
Winter senior portraits can be super unique.
Pros:
- In the off-chance Tennessee gets snow, your senior pictures will be super unique. Of course, if snow pictures are super important to you, we can always travel a little bit north and make sure you get exactly what you’re looking for!
- Down time. Winter is a photographer’s slow season, so getting on a calendar is super easy and we have more time.
- Less people. Less people are typically out and about during the winter months making it easier to find less crowded locations.
- Studio portraits. We can do some of your senior portraits in studio during the winter, but we can really do that any time of the year.
Cons:
- It’s cold. Like, really cold. Camera’s freeze and fog up, and we’re all shivering endlessly – but usually the unique portraits are worth it.
- Super overcast. Overcast days are great for portraits, but it’s also dark and dreary around too.
- Super short days. Winter days are the shortest of the year where it gets dark by 5pm making it super hard to fit into your parent’s work schedule for your session.
- Unpredictable weather. It might snow, it might sleet, it might just ice over… you never really know until it’s done, which makes it likely that we have to reschedule your session a few times.
- Missing the yearbook deadline. You probably aren’t getting your senior pictures in your yearbook, unfortunately.
- Everything is dead. Everything around you is brown and dead. All the trees. All the bushes. All the flowers… dead.
- Your senior year is half over.
Spring Senior Pictures
(March – May)
Spring can be a beautiful time to take your senior portraits, but it comes with a slight level of unpredictability, too.
Pros:
- Everything is blooming and its finally gorgeous outside!
- It’s cool outside. The temperatures are finally bearable, and it feels like the outside is airconditioned which makes taking portraits outside super nice.
- If you’re doing them your Junior year, you can get your portraits done early and get them out of the way.
Cons:
- Everything is blooming & allergies are rampant.
- Spring your senior year is quite a bit late, and you’ve missed the yearbook deadlines, but hey – better late than never!
- The weather is exceptionally unpredictable. Spring is our wettest season of the year and it can still be pretty cold.
The Bottom Line
I hope this information sheds some light on when to take senior pictures! The Summer before your Senior Year is the best time to take Senior Pictures, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it some other time if necessary!
Want to learn more about hiring Jennifer Anderson Photography as your Senior Picture Photographer in Chattanooga?
Our senior sessions are a whole experience! We have access to designer gowns and a celebrity hair and makeup artist. We can rent you sports cars & hot rods as props. Each senior gets photos in up to seven different locations!