How to Prepare for Senior Portraits: The Insider Guide for a Beautiful Session
- Robyn Scherer Photography
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
First and foremost, come to your senior portrait session happy. Be fully present. This season only happens once, and when you allow yourself to relax and enjoy the experience, it shows in every frame.
As a San Diego senior photographer specializing in luxury high school senior and college grad portraits, I see it every year. The seniors who arrive confident, relaxed, and excited about their session create the most natural, elevated images. When you feel like yourself, your senior portraits reflect that energy.
Below are a few simple preparation tips to help you look and feel your best for your San Diego senior photo session.
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Should You Wear More or Less Makeup for Senior Pictures?
This is one of the most common questions I receive before a senior portrait session. For photography, a little more makeup than your everyday routine usually photographs beautifully. Cameras tend to soften makeup, so adding a bit of definition helps your features stand out naturally in your senior portraits.
For girls preparing for senior photos in San Diego, I recommend:
A slightly stronger mascara or lashes
A bit more blush for dimension
Matte powder to reduce shine
Defined brows
Many seniors choose to have professional hair and makeup done for their senior portraits, which can elevate the entire look and make the session feel extra special.
Haircuts and Hair Color Timing
A great hairstyle can truly elevate a senior portrait session. FOR BOTH GIRLS AND GUYS, if you plan to get a haircut, schedule it about one week before your senior photos. This gives your hair time to settle so it doesn’t look too freshly cut.
If you color your hair, make sure roots are touched up beforehand so your look feels polished and intentional. Your hair frames your face in every portrait, so taking a little extra care here goes a long way.
Don’t Forget the Small Details
These might seem minor, but they matter on camera. Hands appear in many senior portraits, so make sure nails are clean and tidy. A manicure is optional, but clean nails are essential.
Other small details to double-check before your session:
Remove hair ties from your wrist
Avoid chipped nail polish
Bring lip balm for dry lips
Little details like these help keep the focus where it belongs — on you.
Should You Get a Spray Tan for Senior Photos?
This is a personal choice, but if you plan to get a spray tan, choose a reputable studio and schedule it a few days before your session. In my experience photographing both high school seniors and college grads, overly dark or uneven tans tend to show strongly on camera. Natural skin tones often photograph the most beautifully.
When in doubt, subtle is best.
Choosing Outfits for Senior Portraits
Wardrobe plays a huge role in the overall feel of your senior photos. For girls, I always love when seniors bring a flowing dress. Movement adds life and energy to the images, especially when we’re shooting outdoors at beautiful San Diego locations like parks, coastal cliffs, or open fields.
For guys, layers photograph incredibly well. Consider bringing:
A jacket
A vest
A casual button-down
A hat or accessory
These options allow us to create multiple looks during your senior portrait session.
Bring Meaningful Props
Some popular ideas include:
Letterman jackets
Sports equipment
Musical instruments
Cheer pom-poms
Graduation cap or college gear
These small details tell the story of who you are during this milestone year.
Senior Portraits Mark a Turning Point
Senior year is a threshold.
Once a high school senior steps onto a college campus, life expands quickly — new friendships, new cities, new ideas, new opportunities. And when college graduation arrives, those same friends who filled your everyday life often scatter into different cities and careers.
Everything begins to shift.
That’s why high school senior portraits and college graduation photos matter. They give families a chance to pause and honor this exact season before the next chapter begins.
Not just a photograph.
But a reminder of who you were right at the edge of something new. 💛
Robyn Scherer, an acclaimed photographer based in San Diego, boasts numerous accolades. She holds the prestigious Click Pro Elite certification from Click Pro Photographers and the Unraveled Expert Artist certification from Unraveled Academy. The National Association of Portrait and Child Photographers (NAPCP) has honored her as a Master Photographer in both Lifestyle Family and Senior Photography. Her impressive work has been featured in local outlets such as OLP Magazine and Seaside Retailer, as well as the international publication Zillionaire.
For the past decade, Robyn has served as the senior portrait photographer for San Diego's oldest all-girls Catholic school, capturing the essence of over 1,400 seniors. She has also created an online senior portrait photography course that has 1200+ students: The Ultimate Starter Guide to Senior Photography: everything you need to know!
Specializing in natural light photography, Robyn Scherer creates elevated, personality-filled portraits for high school seniors, college graduates, and families throughout San Diego. From Coronado and La Jolla to Poway and campuses including USD, UC San Diego, and SDSU, each session is thoughtfully guided to feel relaxed, personal, and completely your own. The result is a gallery filled with who you are right now—and photographs that will bring you back to this chapter long after it has passed.
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