Your senior year of high school is an exciting time. It’s filled with any number of great moments and a highlight reel of “lasts” that will fill you and all of your friends with emotion. One great way to capture this incredible year is through senior portraits. You want to be sure that you get them done in plenty of time for graduation, but with school just starting, you might not even be thinking about senior pictures yet! By planning ahead, however, you can be sure that you’ll get senior portraits that you’re thrilled to share with all of your friends.

Schedule Early

The best photographers in your town will quickly find themselves booked solid for the weeks and even months surrounding graduation. If you want your choice of photographers–and you should!–make sure that you schedule your senior portraits well in advance. Otherwise, you’ll be left scrambling to get your pictures taken care of at the last minute or, worse, not being able to get your pictures in time to share them with your friends. You want that chance to write special, heartfelt messages to all of your friends that they’ll connect with your face forever!

Choose Your Season

Chances are, there’s a season that speaks to your heart more than any other. Do you find yourself eagerly anticipating the first snow of winter? Is fall your favorite time of year? Are you absolutely in love with that first blush of spring? Select the season that has the most meaning to you–ideally the one that will allow you to wear the clothing that makes you feel your best. You can’t take airy sundress pictures in the middle of February, when you’ll end up with goosebumps or turn blue; taking pictures in jeans and boots in mid-May, on the other hand, will lead to sweat-drenched clothes and a bright red face when you want it least. As you decide when you want to take your senior pictures, consider the season that works best for you and plan your pictures then.

Think Through Your Accessories

Have you participated in a sport through all four years of high school that you’d like to include in your senior portraits? Does that sport happen to include a uniform that you won’t be given until a certain time of year or that you won’t be able to keep after the season is over? If you’re going to be turning in your uniform or you don’t have it yet, schedule your senior pictures to coincide with the time when you’ll have your uniform in your hands. Professional pictures of you in your favorite uniform, whether it’s a football uniform, a cheerleading uniform, or a dance team costume, will be well worth carefully choosing your timing!

Look at Your Schedule

Your senior year is busy! In addition to your regular activities, from sports to finals, you’ll have special appointments, big-deal “lasts,” and plenty of events. There may be college visits on your schedule, too. Before you set the time for your senior pictures, take a look at your schedule. You want a time when you can concentrate on looking your best, not a time when you’ll be frazzled and stressed out, cramming in your pictures between studying for a final exam and picking up your graduation supplies.

Scheduling your senior pictures early in the year is a great way to be sure that you’ll have plenty of time to get in the great pictures you, your mother, and your grandma really want. Make an appointment with your favorite photographer today to take the senior pictures you’ll enjoy looking back on for a lifetime.