clothing | hats | shine reduction | acne | glasses | hair | facial hair |
jewelry/watches| sports equipment | car | friends | pets | attitude | parents | school dress code
tips for High School Seniors & Most Outdoor Portrait Styles | tips for Family Portraits

Clothing:
Avoid wearing white (it draws the eye to it), stripes and loud, busy patterns (make the eyes tired). This applies to shirts, pants, socks, dresses and skirts. Long sleeved shirts, tops and dresses look better than short sleeved or sleeveless ones. Long pants and skirts usually look better than short ones.

Choose clothing with solid colors and/or very small patterns. Burgundy, blue, purple, and green work well. Think about how your clothing colors complement or detract from your coloring.

Pastels and very light colors tend to photograph lighter than you would expect. Darker colors bring
out skin tones better than lighter colors.

Make sure clothing is as wrinkle free as possible
top of page

Hats:
Special permission from yearbook staff is usually required if you want to wear a hat for your yearbook pose. But you can bring a hat to put on sometime during your session if you wish. We recommend that if you usually wear a hat all day - don't on the day of your portrait session. (They make hair rings.) Bring it with you and have a few shots taken with it on after the other "hatless" portraits have been taken.

top of page
Shine Reduction:
Oil on skin creates shiny spots on your face when a flash is used. To reduce shiny spots apply, a light dusting of baby powder or cosmetic powder to your face. Spots most likely to shine are noses, cheeks, chins, and foreheads. (This applies to guys too!)


Acne:
Try not to worry too much if you have acne or blemishes. Retouching works wonders! To help create even skin tones, you can dab a bit of concealer on your blemishes (yes.. this applies to guys too).

If you have very heavy acne, it is best not to cover it with hair (such as bangs). Bangs over acne makes retouching more difficult.


Glasses:
Light reflected from a flash in eyeglass lenses can create white spots. To reduce this occurrence, you can check to see if your lenses have a glare resistant coating, ask your optometrist to temporarily remove your lenses or borrow a set of frames similar to the ones you usually wear.

top of page
Hair:
For your portraits, you want your hair to look its best. We recommend that if you are planning to have it cut before your portrait session, have it done at least two weeks before. This gives it a chance to grow out and look natural.

Facial Hair:
If you have a heavy beard and don't want that "shadow" to show, please shave before you come to the studio for your session.

A few years ago when goatees were popular, we had a creative young man come in for a two outfit portrait session. For his first outfit, he kept the goatee and for his second, he shaved it off. Several mothers in our waiting room, having watched him do this, wished they would have thought to have their sons do that too! Remember...it's your portrait session...feel free to be creative!

top of page

Jewelry/Watches:
Try to remember to wear only the things you want in your portrait. If you wear a watch, but it's not a "special" watch, it's usually best to take it off...even if you have a tan line.

Sports Equipment:
If you are in sports and want photographs with your letterman jacket - bring it!

If you have special hobby equipment or a musical instrument - bring it!

If you plan to be photographed with something big...like a fire engine or horse...please let us know ahead of time so we can schedule your appointment accordingly.

top of page
Car:
In a photo session with a car, most of the images highlight you with sections of your car visible in the background. If you want a fun car composite image that shows your entire vehicle and you in several places and positions at once, schedule a Creative Artistry Session.

Pets:
Pets are welcome to join you provided that you bring someone along to hold them while your session is in progress.

top of page
Attitude:
Believe it or not, your attitude makes a big difference in how your portraits turn out. Many people arrive at our studio feeling nervous....we understand that you may feel stress about wanting to look your very best. That's what we want too!

Try to relax and trust in the Redferns skill and experience. We are experts at posing, and working with people to capture natural expressions. After a photography session, most people leave the studio happy and with a smile still lingering on their face.


top of page
Don't Forget Your Parents:
Your Senior Portrait definitely makes a statement about who you are and how you will be remembered by your peers. But don't forget that this is also a special time for your parents too. After all, you are their baby all grown up! Your parents will probably be the ones who will want to hang larger prints of you in their home. After you have moved away, your portrait will be all the more meaningful to them. We encourage you to involve your parents in the whole portrait process. They are more than welcome to come to your portrait session with you. They can tell us if your smiles are genuine, make sure your hair is arranged just how you want it and they can work with us if they have a certain look they want us to capture. Parents are invaluable!


Friends:
Your friends are welcome to join you for your Senior Portrait photography session. If you want a few shots taken with your friend(s), the photographer will include them at no additional charge. Many Seniors who want to have portraits taken with friends, schedule their appointments together.



top of page

Nevada Joint Union High School District Dress Code:

The following information was obtained from the Nevada Joint Union High School District website. It has been modified so that only those sections of the dress code applicable to Senior Portraits are shown.

Clothing that exposes the midsection is not allowed. (Midsection is defined as the area in the middle of the front, sides, and back of torso.)
Shorts and skirts (including those with slits) must cover the midthigh.
Cut-offs should not have holes or be torn, and must follow appropriate length guidelines.
Tank tops with large armholes that extend past the armpit area, spandex-type pants, excessively torn clothing, exterior boxer shorts, undershorts worn as primary clothing, strapless tops, backless tops, spaghetti straps, halter tops, or transparent clothing are not permissible.
Shoulder Straps must be two (2) inches minimum in width.

Nevada Union High School prohibits the presence of any apparel, jewelry, accessory, notebook, or manner of grooming which, by virtue of its color, arrangement, trademark, or other attribute, denotes membership in gangs, or which advocates drug use, violence, or disruptive behavior.

Clothing and/or jewelry with anti-ethnic, sexist, or hate/violence (satanic) or neo-Nazi designs or slogans or full-dress military fatigues are not allowed. Printing or pictures depicting drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or which display profane statements are not acceptable.

At no time shall a student's private body parts or underclothing be exposed or seen.

If you would like to view the Nevada Joint Union High School District Dress Code in it's entirety, link to http://www.nuhsd.k12.ca.us

top of page