Mar 7, 20222 min read

How props can add personality to your senior pictures

Every high school senior I’ve met wants the same things for their senior pics. They want to look amazing, and they want their senior pictures to be unique and different. As a senior portrait photographer I want to make sure that I show off my senior’s true personality. There are many ways to do this by using specific poses and locations. But one of the most unique ways to show off their personality is to include props in their senior portrait session. No, your whole session won’t revolve around these props! In fact, we’ll only bring them out for a few minutes. You don’t really need more than a couple of these “prop photos”, but they’ll add great variety and let your personality shine through in your senior portraits! They can add interest, depth and an extra flair to your portrait session. Fortunately, there are many ways to do this. Prop possibilities are virtually endless, so get creative and bring your ideas to your photo session. The options are endless when it comes to using props. Some examples are:

Play a sport? Bring with a ball, bat, club, racket, varsity jacket, pom pons, flag, shoes or sports jersey
Love photography? Bring your camera
Play an instrument? Bring your musical instruments and/or music books
Are you an avid reader? Bring your favorite books
Love to travel? How about vintage suitcases or an old map?
Balloons, flowers & bubbles are always a great addition and a pop of color
Have a piece of furniture you love? If you can transport it, we can use it in an open field or alley!
Obsessed with a certain food, drink or candy, or brand? Bring it!
Are you an artist? Bring your easel, brushes, a paint palette or canvas, a sketchbook or some artwork you’re working on.
Love listening to music? Bring your headphones.
Are you a hunter? Bring your Bow or Rifle
Do you sing? Bring a microphone.
Have a car, truck or jeep that you love, we can work with that!
Not that your pet is a prop, but if you love your furry friend it can be fun to have them in your senior pictures with you! Even if it is a horse!

For my seniors who choose to have their senior pictures taken in a sunflower field I bring several fake, but very realistic looking, sunflowers that they can hold or fill in bare spots around them. I also bring a cute little chalkboard sign the senior can write different things on. It's very versatile during the session - the senior can try out a few different quotes on the board throughout their session time.

One word of caution- if you plan to wear your letterman bring a lint brush to the shoot! Those fuzzy jackets pick up all kinds of stuff, especially if you have a dog.I’ll mention a few things to get your creative juices going, but really, the sky is the limit. Bonus points for thinking outside the box!

Remember, using props can be the perfect addition to your photos but make sure that they don’t become the main focus. Whatever your hobby or interest, bring those items with you and your photographer will help to tastefully incorporate them into the images.