Grad formals, sort of.

Every year when the end of the summer arrives and the evenings lose their light earlier and earlier, there is a surge of demand from parents who are eager to book their teens in for grad formals. The pride practically pours through the screen with many sending pictures of the dress or suit, sharing stories of their soon-to-be grad, or reciting stories that may be loosely tied to the topic at hand. It’s a fun time for everyone and to be part of it is exciting.

Grad formals aren’t such a big deal back where I’m from. So, it took me diving in to realize that this can be a lot of fun. On the surface, it’s a grads chance to dress up and pose pretty so they can look back at the pictures, and maybe even share them with their kids. That’s alright, if you want to be basic! I see far too many photographers posing these teens in boring ways, using generic guidance that will boost their own editing efficiency and output, but leaves the pictures as less than memorable.

The formal part of a grad shoot should end at the outfit. Sure, there’s got to be the mandatory grad formal pic or two of them smiling pretty and putting the outfit on full display. After those are out of the way, the grad needs to be the star. These are typically 16-18 year olds who have big personalities. They have hobbies, styles, moods and aspirations that can be used to create memorable images that don’t just show that they graduated, but who they were when they did so.

Why are we satisfied with generic grad pictures when even our coffee orders are wild and whimsical?

Why are we still photographing one of the great early milestones as if we still have only 4 channels on the tv?

So, regardless of who you hire to photograph your teens big day, remember to make it a little less formal, and a little more THEM!

Oh, and join in and have fun with it. Like this eager mom, kindly offering to light the fire. The photographs will be tied to the memories, so make them good.

If you’re in the market, I’d love to work with you on capturing your son or daughter’s grad formals. We’ll work together to make some magic with the camera.