Add Variety to Senior Photos with Props
There are many ways to make sure not all of your pictures from a shoot look the same. The most obvious ones are location and posing. But adding props is probably my favorite and often the overlooked option to add variety to Senior photos. There are 2 main reasons, why I love this so much. Firstly the possibilities are endless. You repurpose almost anything as a prop you can think of, and every prop can be used in multiple ways. This gives you hundreds of variations with just a handful of items. Secondly, and more importantly, The props you choose can help showcase who you are. Your personality, your hobbies and interests, your talents and passions, … . All of these can be expressed or enhanced by the right prop.
There are 2 kinds of props you can use. And you can create combinations within one or across both categories. First, we have personal items: These include the instrument you play, the medals and awards you won, a photo from your kindergarten graduation, a line with clothes from various stages of your life, your car, and even your family pet. Those are things you will have to bring to the shoot yourself. I’d recommend giving your photographer a heads-up about it though.
Then we have the generic props. Think flowers, hats, blankets, confetti, smoke bombs, sparklers, chairs, etc. the things your photographer might have with them to bring that extra bit of flair. Some items from this category can bleed over into the personal category. If you for example bring your favorite hat or other accessory, flowers from your backyard, smoke bombs in your school colors, or the blanket your grandma made for you,… those items will have a personal connection to who you are.
Let me show you a few examples of how I use generic props to add variety to my senior photos:
The colorful parasol in the pictures above helped me not only pay homage to Rhea’s Indian heritage, it also brought some color and individuality to her senior photos. Bringing out my parasol for this shoot brought an immediate smile to this beauty’s face. We both had lots of fun trying different options with it. It also gave her something to do with her hands making her time in front of my camera more comfortable. Click here to see more of Rhea’s pictures.
In the photos above we used a hat to add style and variety. Hats are probably my favorite props. I like wearing them myself, so I am a bit biased here. But objectively you have to agree that they are pretty awesome. I use them to frame the face, get beautiful detail shots, and have my clients toss them or hold them in front of their faces. You can even set them down next to you with a pair of cute shoes or propped up against some books to add another pop of personality. And as before, holding on to the rim or holding the hat in front of you gives your hands something to do.
Let’s take a closer look at some personal props. These will help capture who you truly are:
Rhea asked me if she could bring her white guitar Beatrice to her senior session and of course, I said yes. I love it when my seniors want to bring something important and personal to them. Would we have been able to take beautiful pictures in that field without the guitar? Without a problem. But thanks to Beatrice the session and the resulting images became less about just pretty pictures and more about who Rhea is and what is important to her at this stage in her life.
Here you see Bryce, who has been wrestling all through high school so incorporating his sport and his accomplishments was really important to him. I asked him to bring his medals, his sports uniforms and equipment, and his Letterman. We brainstormed ideas on how to incorporate different props in different ways, and he trusted me, even when my ideas sounded a bit crazy at first. The photos we got with these items are his favorite from the shoot, and I couldn’t agree more.
So when you sit down to plan your senior session, think about the things that represent who you are. Whether that’s the cute funky earrings you like or the sunhat you bought on vacation, the instrument you play, or the baseball bat you hit your first homerun with. Props not only add variety to your pictures, but they tell the story of who you are. They give a glimpse into your personality that you will be glad you preserved and your future kids and grandkids will be excited to discover as well.
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