Thousands of high school seniors are packing up summer and winter clothes,
athletic equipment, musical instruments, childhood memorabilia, family
pets and their best friends and heading out the door.
A practice run for when they leave for college next fall? Not exactly.
They’re off to the local photography studio, as it is now time for students
to mark the end of their high school years by having their yearbook
and senior pictures taken.
Because photo shoots today rival fashion magazine spreads, parents
are getting a crash course in sitting fees, designer packages, collages,
buddy shots, triple exposures and retouching.
“Other than wedding pictures, these are the most important pictures
most families have taken,” says Jerry Jakacki, owner of Focal Point
Studio of Photography in Farmington Hills and Canton. “Parents and students
want something special, something unique. They plan carefully for what
they want, oftentimes consulting with the staff before the shoot. They
go over our past work and make their own recommendations based on what
they like.”
Casey Strenski and her mother, Deniz, of Commerce Township researched
Focal Point before Casey’s pictures were taken at the Farmington location.
“I walked through the studio with my mom and spoke with some of the
photographers,” Casey says. “I was able to watch other seniors getting
their pictures taken and see how the photographers did their work.”
Casey, a senior at Ladywood High School in Livonia, opted for indoor
and outdoor shots. Along with several changes of clothes, including
a brown sweater set used for her official senior yearbook photo, she
brought a sophisticated strapless summer dress she purchased just for
the more formal senior portrait and a couple of casual outfits.
She also brought along two friends who are members of a singing group
she performs with called “Aim 2 Fame” who posed for pictures with Casey.
“We knew we wanted something special and we’ve talked about it quite
a bit,” Deniz Strenski says. “This will be one of the ways we’ll remember
Casey’s high school years.”
Jamar Ahmad II also plans to include two friends when he arranges his
photo session this fall at Motown Portrait Studios in Detroit. But right
now he’s concentrating on getting his yearbook photo taken.
As senior-class president at Detroit’s Cass Technical High School,
Jamar wants to set an example for his fellow seniors by getting his
pictures done well before the submission date for yearbook photos.
“Some kids miss the deadline because they wait too long before having
their pictures taken,” Jamar says. “You don’t want to work that hard
to graduate and not be included in the yearbook.”
Like most Detroit seniors, Jamar is splitting his senior pictures into
two sessions: the yearbook picture, a full photo shoot, one that will
include several changes of clothes and buddy pictures with friends.
“The kids tend to wait until the school year is under way before they
start thinking about senior pictures,” says Motown Portrait’s owner
Collette Williams. “They want to get together with their friends, talk
about new trends, and they want the latest styles. They take their sessions
very seriously.”
The policy for most Detroit public high schools is that the student
must be photographed in the traditional cap and gown. In order to accommodate
all seniors, Motown Portrait has a full complement of graduation caps
and gowns in every color, tassels for individual schools, even National
Honor Society sashes for those who qualify.
An assistant helped Jamar into the requisite Cass Tech green cap and
gown, then added the NHS sash in preparation for his photo session with
photographer Nathaniel Williams, son of studio owner Collette Williams.
Jamar’s parents are giving him some leeway in picking the pictures
and settings he wants for his senior picture package, but they’re keeping
an eye on the bottom line.
“These pictures are important to us and Jamar,” says his mother, Joshlyn
Ahmad. “We haven’t figured out what package we want yet, but we do not
plan on going overboard.”
Many parents share the same concern regarding prices. Nationwide,
families spend an average of $400 for senior pictures, says Greg Ockerman,
owner of Gracon Portrait Studios in Highland and president of the Professional
Photographers Association of Michigan, the state affiliate for the Professional
Photographers Association of America. Michigan families spend a little
more, depending on the area of the state.
“It is not at all unusual for some families to spend up to $1,000 for
pictures,” Ockerman notes. While some families opt for only a formal
yearbook photo, he says 10 to 15 percent of families have no pictures
taken at all.
Ockerman traces the change in senior-picture styles to the mid-1980s,
when independent photographers started competing for the senior market
against the well-established chains that would enter into a contract
with a school that required students to use that photographer.
Independent photographers started soliciting and competing for business
by offering something beyond the “head shots” that had been the norm
for years, featuring young women in black “drapes” or young men in coats
and ties.
Soon props became important parts of the pictures. Young musicians
were featured with their favorite instruments, athletes with their sports
equipment or letter jackets.
The next step was to move the pictures from the studio to outdoor settings.
Now, depending on the photographer and where the student lives, the
setting can range from a nearby park to the barn where graduating 4-H
members raise their livestock.
“I’ve shot everything from horses to heifers to sheep,” Ockerman says.
“The family cat or dog is almost always included. I’ve even had a snake.”
With so much emphasis on fashion and trends, some might think that
girls take these shoots more seriously than the boys. Not so, photographers
say.
“It used to be that way, but not any more,” says Williams of Motown
Portrait. “It seems like we wait longer now for the boys to change their
clothes and get their hair combed between shots than we wait for the
girls. They’re really into it.”
Boys or girls, one thing the photographers agree on is that senior
pictures are one of the more enjoyable segments of their business.
“These sessions are always fun,” says Focal Point’s Jakacki. “It’s
a very positive time in the kids’ lives and something they’ve looked
forward to since they started high school. The best thing they can do
is just relax and have fun with them. We do.”
Kathleen Ryan is a Metro Detroit free-lance writer.
