Marching band is a huge cultural institution in high school - how do you show it off in your senior portraits without being overly stereotypical?
Here's how:
Question: What is the best part about band for you? Focus on that. It might be performing, so try to get your photographer to come to your Friday night performance. It might be your friends and have nothing to do with instruments. If that's it, look for a senior photographer who will do a best friends session. For Caleb, he loved being able to get dressed up for jazz band performances. So, we recreated it!
Question: Do you have to show off your band instrument in senior portraits? NO! You definitely do not. That was me - I played the flute from age 8-18, but it wasn't something I really loved sharing with others. It was just for me. I also played guitar, and really loved sharing that with others, but the guitar did not make any appearance in my senior portraits. But if you love your instrument, and it is who you are, you totally can and should ask about how to bring it in.
Here's me playing guitar at a jazz improv when I was 16. I look confused, because I probably was. Courtesy of a friend, not my senior photographer.
Question: Do you have to be in band to bring instruments to your senior portrait session? NO!
Emory is a senior at Apex High school, and she isn't in band, but she loves the ukulele, so she brought it along. She really was playing a song in this photo! I mean, how idyllic, right? Playing ukulele on the mountain top?
Question: If you bring a prop like an instrument, is it in every photo? Nope!
Senior photos are not something you just do in a few takes, in my opinion. They have a job to do - to tell about who you are at this point in your life - and that can't be done with the same outfit, the same location, and using the same prop for every photo. That's why I love it when multiple props come along! Pets and instruments are my favorites, though 🙂
