Senior year is a milestone. It is the year a child finishes 12 years of required schooling. It is the year a child becomes an adult. It is a year of many “lasts” and also many “firsts”. It is a year that deserves celebration.

High school senior portraits are a significant part of our business at Jean Johnson Productions, AKA JJSHOTME. Creating senior portraits brings me so much joy as I get to know each student, their passions, their aspirations and their dreams for their future. Creating good portraits of them is as much about getting to know them as it is about creating beautiful art. I believe that my best portraits are made when I have taken the time to help students know they are special, unique, loved and that who they are should be celebrated and remembered.

We start our process by arranging for a consultation with one or both parents and the student. We discuss passions, birthdays, siblings, friends, favorite colors, favorite music styles, favorite classes, pets, books, etc. We brainstorm locations, clothing choices, props, and logistics. We discuss parents’ wish lists, home décor, print products, budget and pricing. We talk about our process. This gives me a chance to know who I will be photographing and also for them to get to know us. We give each client this opportunity before they contract me for portraits, so that they know without a doubt that they can trust me with the responsibility of capturing this special moment.

During the portrait session, I will capture standard traditional poses, headshots for the school yearbook and any specific poses requested by the student or parents. After being sure we’ve got those shots, we will “play” and have some fun. The experience of “modeling” for the camera often gives a high school senior an opportunity to feel extra-special, as the focus is on them for a couple of hours. In the end we will have an array of images from head shots, ¾ body shots, head to toe shots and some wide scenic shots as well as some candid laughing and serious “looks” in up to 3 different outfits.

High school seniors and parents often look forward to ordering day when they come to select their images. We begin the presentation with a slide show with music. When moms shed a few tears, it is the most rewarding moment for me. I feel so blessed by their astonishment when they love a shot. I always help my clients select their portraits for ordering in person to find the best images and prints or albums to fit their wishes and their needs. Most seniors and their parents order custom folios or albums of their portraits. We provide in house album design created to uniquely match each and every client’s personality.

What sets Jean Johnson Productions apart from other portrait artists in our area is that we see the importance of creating unique experiences and unique portraits of each high school senior that contracts us. The experience and the portraits are all about the high school student, not about JJSHOTME and our art. We take the time to learn what is special and unique to each personality as well as what they would like to do for their session, where they would like to go and what their vision for their portraits is, rather than always going to the same location or doing the same exact poses with every client. We find, more often than not, that high school senior boys and girls really do care to design their session and we know we are here to help them facilitate their vision by sharing our artistic talent and professional expertise to create portraits that will become part of their story and keepsake for years to come.