Brookfield East HS class of 2027 Sneak Peek | Xavier
Where should we take your senior photos?
If your first answer was “somewhere pretty,” you’re not wrong. You’re just not done. Let me show you what I mean.
Xavier from Brookfield East showed up at his session in a suit. (Yes. A suit. I loved it.) Navy tie, pocket square, the works.
And he wanted his senior portraits inside the beautiful and historic Milwaukee City Hall. Not a park. Not a field. City Hall, with the ironwork balconies stacked up behind him and that gold railing under his arms.
Look at that smirk. That’s a kid who knows exactly who he is.
It worked because it was HIM. The suit and the marble and the ironwork all said the same thing about the person standing in the middle of it. Xavier, you looked like you already run this town.
Here’s what’s been so refreshing about this season…I haven’t photographed a senior at the same location twice. Every senior has shown up with a spot that means something to them, and the photos are better for it. Not because the places are prettier than the usual ones. Because the background is telling the same story as the person in front of it.
So how do you get there with your own senior? Let’s talk it through.
START WITH YOU, NOT PINTEREST
Pretty is easy to find. Meaningful takes a few minutes of honest thinking.
Where do you actually spend your time? The rink at 6am. The band room. The coffee place where you and your friends have solved every problem in the world. Your grandparents’ backyard. The downtown you’ll miss more than you think once you’re gone.
If a place makes you feel like yourself, it belongs on the list. If it just looks good in someone else’s photos, it probably isn’t quite right for you.
Not to be swept under the rug: you don’t have to pick ONE. A full senior session has room for a couple spots. Something meaningful, something classic, something just for fun. That’s plenty.
GET PRACTICAL
This is my job, but you should know it, too.
Once we have your ideas, we sit down together at your Pre-Session Consultation and run it through the boring-but-important questions. Here’s your checklist:
—> Does it say something about you?
If a stranger saw the photo, would they learn anything? A suit at City Hall says something. A hoodie in the same spot says something different. Both can be right. Random is the only wrong answer.
—> Does it match what you’re wearing?
Your outfits and your location should agree with each other. Dressy in an urban spot, casual at the lake, letterman jacket at the field. When they fight, the photo loses.
—> Will you feel comfortable there?
Some seniors light up on a busy street. Some would rather be anywhere else. If a crowd of strangers is going to make you stiff, we go somewhere quieter, and I promise the photos will be better for it.
—> Is it allowed?
Some buildings, campuses, and venues (and even parks!) need permission or a permit. Some flat-out say no. This one’s on me to check, but the sooner you tell me your dream spot, the sooner I can make the calls.
—> What does the light do there, at the time you’re free?
I don’t live and die by golden hour, and I schedule around YOUR life. That said, a north-facing brick wall at 10am and a west-facing field at 7pm are two very different sessions. I plan for whichever one we’re getting.
—> Can we actually get to it?
Parking, walking distance, stairs, how far apart your two locations are. Twenty minutes in the car between locations is twenty minutes we’re not making photos.
—> What happens if it rains?
Every outdoor plan needs an indoor friend (or an alternative date). Sometimes that’s my studio. Sometimes it’s a spot like City Hall that works no matter what the sky is doing.
—> Does it fit the season?
September and October in Wisconsin are gorgeous. A spring senior session has a completely different color palette. The location that’s perfect in one might be brown and bare in the other.
—> Will it still mean something in ten years?
This is the big one. The trendy backdrop everyone’s using this fall will look like this fall forever. The place YOU love will look like your senior year forever. Pick that one.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO FIGURE THIS OUT ALONE
That’s the whole point of meeting before your session. You bring the ideas, I bring fourteen years of knowing which ones work, and we build a plan together so that on the day, nobody’s guessing.
Xavier knew exactly what he wanted. Some seniors don’t have a clue yet, and that’s fine too. That’s what I’m here for.
PS: If your senior’s dream location is the same place they’ve had every school picture taken since kindergarten, that’s not a lack of imagination. That’s a story. We’ll use it.
Still need to book that fall senior portrait session? Let’s talk! Time’s a-ticking! Yearbook photo deadlines are coming up soon.
