3 Reasons I LOVE BFF Sessions | North Henderson Senior Photographers

When I was putting together my 828Senior Model Program this time last year, I decided to add in a BFF session as one of the benefits of becoming a Billie Mitchell Photography Senior Model.  Can I just tell you how glad I am that I decided to do that?

I shoot a couple of the best friend sessions last fall.  These were some of my absolute favorite

sessions that I shot in all of 2014.

Part of the reason I love these BFF sessions so much is because I absolutely seeing the relationship between the friends.  It's so sweet to me to see the fun and love in the friendship. 

This is such a special time in their lives.  They are so excited about finishing high school and moving on to the next phase in their lives.  But they are also slightly sad and nervous about leaving behind what's familiar and figuring out how to remain close to the best friends.

The 2nd reason I love it so much is sort of selfish.  While I'm shooting these sessions, I am taken right back to my high school days and all of my amazing BFF's.  I had a great group of girls and guys that I was really great friends with, and during these sessions I am taken right back to those days of hanging out and having so much fun.

The 3rd, and perhaps most important, reason I love these sessions, is for the future.  Many times as I'm retouching these sessions I sit with tears in my eyes.  I think the reason is because that while I know the girls are going to love their BFF pictures, I also think that they are not going to FULLY appreciate the images until about 20 years down the road.  

I'm betting that when they look at the images today they will see how great they look, favorite fashion, does my hair look OK?  But the real emotion for these pictures will be felt 20 from now when they look back and these images and see the relationship.  The fun.  The love.  The friendship.

I'm so grateful that I have been given the opportunity to provide such special memories for my clients.  If you would love to have the friendship you have with your BFF captured, please don't hesitate to contact me to set up your session.

Billie is a high school senior portrait photographer in Asheville, NC.  She specializes in creating unique portrait experiences for each of her clients.  One of the ways that she creates such unique experiences is by providing her senior model clients with BFF portrait sessions during their senior year. 

McDowell High School Tennis Senior Pictures | Marion NC Senior Photographers

So as I was going through and updating my website with some new senior images, I was reminded of some really fun sports themed senior pictures I shot last year.  I would normally share these images right along with the other photos from the session, but I decided to pull the sports themed shots from a few sessions and blog them separately.

 

First up, I want to share Hayley's tennis pictures with you.  Hayley was such a trooper during this shoot.  It was SOOOO HOT when we shot these.  And that tennis court really held the heat and would literally burn your skin when we tried sitting on the court.

 

We were both melting trying to capture these shots.  But we stuck it out, and I'm so glad we did.  These are some of my favorite images from her session.

It's always fun to try to incorporate your grad year into your pictures in some way.  So for Hayley's session, we simply took a sharpie marker and wrote 2015 on tennis balls.

I love this shot!

Sometimes when I'm shooting the sports themed portion of a senior session, we actually go the seniors field or court at their high school.  Sometimes sports props can just be added into a picture while shooting in an alley or park.  In Hayley's case, we met at Lake Lure for her session.  There happened to be tennis courts not too far from the boat docks that we were shooting near.  So we were able to shoot the tennis portion of her session there as opposed to traveling to her high school.

Look how gorgeous she looks. 

You could never tell that she was melting in that sunshine on the tennis court.

Simply beautiful Hayley.

 

Keep this in mind when you are planning your senior session.  What extra-curricular activities are you involved in?  Could be sports.  Could be drama.  Could be music.  Or any number of other things.  Might be video games.  Whatever your passions are, lets talk about it and see how we can incorporate it into your session.

6 Tips On Finding YOUR Perfect Senior Photographer | Hendersonville, NC Senior Photographers

You have finally made it!  It's your senior year.  

You have worked so hard to get to this point in your life.  

I bet one thing you have been looking forward to is your senior portrait experience.

 So I thought I'd put together a little list of tips for you on finding the perfect photographer for YOU! 

1.  Shop around - As much I would love to just say "PICK ME!", that wouldn't be fair to some of you.  You really need to look around to find a photographer that suits YOUR needs.  Ask your friends who they have had take their pictures.  Ask about their experience with their photographer.  Were they happy with their photographer?  Did they have fun during their session?  You will want to find a photographer that you can jive with personality wise.  Having your pictures taken is such a personal thing, you really need to find someone that you connect with.  Someone that is going to help you to feel completely comfortable in front of their camera, and will know how to bring out the very best of you for your pictures.  You will want to find a photographer that you are very comfortable being yourself in front of.  So when asking your friends for referrals, ask them if they were comfortable being themselves with their photographer.

2.  Ask to see an entire session - Let's face it, everyone can take a great picture.  I mean, if a person takes enough pictures, they will most likely get lucky and have at least a couple of images that are pretty good.  But when you are choosing a professional photographer for your senior portraits, my advice is to find a photographer that can create an entire gallery full of beautiful images of you that will really tell the story of who YOU are.  A photographer that knows how to pose you in the most flattering way, and a photographer that knows how to shoot in any lighting condition.  Another benefit of this tip is that during your session, if you have done your homework and you already know that you have hired a photographer that is completely capable of creating beautiful images, you can be completely confident that you ARE going to have beautiful senior portraits.  Which in turn will help you loosen up and enjoy the experience even more.

3.  What do they offer? - You definitely want to find a photographer that offers the types of prints and products you are most interested in.  Some photographers will only offer a digital download, no prints.  Some photographers will only offer prints, but not digitals.  Some will offer both.  So be sure to look for a photographer that offers what you are interested in.  If you aren't sure what you want, ask yourself what you plan to do with your senior pictures.  Do you want to hang them on the wall in the form of a wall portrait?  Do you want to have an album full of all of your images?  Or would you like to have the digitals so that you can print your own portraits?  Or any other number of endless possibilities...

I know many of you will probably want the ability to share your pictures online.  And that's great.  Make sure your photographer will give you the option to share your images with all your friends online.  But you also have to remember that those online galleries on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat won't always be there.  I would hate for you to have all of your senior pictures lost a few years down the road when these websites are no longer around.  So while I definitely want you to be able to share online if you want to, I also want to remind you to think beyond that and realize that you will probably also want to have your images in print for future use.

4.What are others says? - Check out the testimonials from other clients.  A great way to find out what it will truly be like to work with a photographer you are considering, is to read testimonials that their previous clients have written.  So check out the photographers website, Instagram, Facebook, blog, etc... for testimonials.  Is what others are saying sound like something that you want to be a part of?  

5.  Do you love their pictures? - Another important point is do you love their pictures.  In all reality, their pictures are probably what drew you to the photographer in the first place.  But when you ask your friends about their photographers, they may tell you about someone you hadn't heard of before.  So you quickly go to IG to check out their work, only to discover that the photographer totally does not match your style.  Maybe the photographer shoots dark dramatic black and white photography, and your style is more light and colorful.  Or maybe the photographer shoots everything very bright and vibrant, and you really love muted soft tones.  Whatever the case may be, be sure to find someone whose style you love.  It's a really bad idea to hire a photographer who has a portfolio full of bright colorful imagery and expect them to create an entire gallery of black and white portraits for you.  Most photographers have a style that they are passionate about and are very good at.  Asking them to shoot something completely different may not go very well.

6.  Get your parents involved - While you are looking for a photographer that you really love, run it by your parents.  After all, they will want a say in the style of photography that they will want to hang in their home.  They are going to want their son or daughter working with a reputable photographer that they feel safe having around their children.  And most likely, they are the ones paying for the session and portraits.   So definitely get them involved in the process and get their opinions as well.

So there you have it.  6 tips for finding the perfect senior photographer for you!

I hope you found them helpful.

Have you already had your senior portraits taken?  Do you have other tips that you could share with a person searching for their senior photographer?  Please do so in the comments.

 

Billie is a high school senior photographer in Hendersonville, NC.  She shoots in a vibrant & colorful style that is trendy, but that will also stand the test of time.  Billie always makes sure to shoot images during her senior portrait sessions that the senior will love, while also making sure to capture the classic portraits that the parents & grandparents will treasure.  She provides a wide variety of heirloom quality prints and products that can be passed down through the generations, and also provides tech savvy ways to share your beautiful senior portraits with all your friends and family.

High School Senior Grad Announcements | Hendersonville, NC Senior Photographers

Today I thought I'd share some sample grad announcements that I've designed for my Grad Catalog.

 

Custom designed grad announcements are just one more way to stand apart from the crowd and let your style shine through.

I have over 30 designs to choose from.  All customizable with your fav images from your senior session, and information about your grad party.

Some cards are colorful, some glittery, some casual, some are simplistic, some girly, ...
There is something to suit everyone's style!

There are also some guy cards available.  
None pictured here because I decided to feature cards with my senior models pictured.  

I didn't have any guys in my senior model program for the Class of 2015, but things might just change for the Class of 2016.  I'm super excited about having had a few guys recommended to me for my new 2016 senior model program!

If you are a Class of 2015 senior client of mine, be on the watch for an email from me with the entire Grad Catalog.  I can't wait to start designing all of your grad invites!

If you are too excited, and just can't wait for my email, go ahead and Email me to request your copy of my 2015 Grad Catalog.

Billie specializes in high school senior portrait in Western North Carolina. She provides a custom senior portrait experience at a location of your choice with unlimited wardrobe changes. She also finishes off the experience with these gorgeous custom grad cards. Contact her today to set up your senior portrait experience.

My 828Senior Experience | Hendersonville, NC Senior Photographers

Hear about my senior model program from an 828Senior Model herself.  

Guest blogger Shelby Roets.

This year I had the greatest opportunity of not only having my Senior pictures taken by Billie Mitchell, but also being part of the 828Senior modeling group. 

All of Billie's photos are amazing. No matter what she photograph,s she always captures the true beauty in the picture, while making all the colors vividly eye catching. 

Being in the 828Senior group is something I'm personally so glad I did. It was just another opportunity in life to bring me out of my shell even more, and add to my confidence level, which I have struggled with for most of my life. 

One of the biggest things I loved about being an 828Senior model was that Billie always had all these fun, adventurous and colorful ideas for us. For example, the 4th of July photo shoot. After taking photos at a different location previously, we all ended up back at her house and had a paint war in her yard.  It was one of the coolest things I have ever done!

Being an 828Senior Model gives many more perks than just having one session with Billie. In the end you have so many different photos to chose from when she spreads them all out for you to see, it becomes the most difficult decision because every beautiful photo is wanted to be hung up in your living room with love.

Billie made my senior year so special for my family and I.

Not only did I receive the most perfect senior pictures, but I made a life long friend!

It makes my heart happy to read "life long friend" in your post.  The feeling is mutual Shelby.  I have enjoyed every minute of having you in front of my camera.  I've enjoyed our time together without the camera even more.  Thank you so much for being apart of my team this year.  It's been such and amazing journey.  One that I will be so sad to see end in a few months when all of you graduate.   

                                                                                                       xoxo,