For decades, the portraits in high school yearbooks have included the same types of photos for all classes. Yearbook advisors all over the country affectionately refer to these types of portraits as “mugshots” because of their straight-on, head-and-shoulders approach to photography, but many seniors opt for more intricate and diverse yearbook photos as a means of commemorating their last years in high school. Some yearbooks have begun using those photographs instead of the standard mugshots to help the senior section pop.
There are a number of really good reasons to go about the senior portrait section in precisely this way.
More Seniors Buy Yearbooks
Every school is different, of course, but for many high schools there is a larger proportion of senior students buying yearbooks than any other class. Yearbooks can be pretty expensive, frankly, so families that can’t afford to buy a book every year may just opt to buy the senior one. Even kids that can afford it may only care about commemorating their senior years. Whatever the reason, catering to the largest group of buyers makes sense, and if that means including a special senior portrait section that really stands out when compared to the underclass sections, so be it.
Parents Spend Good Money on Senior Portraits
Allowing seniors to submit senior portraits or having ABC School Photography set up special senior portrait sessions through the school usually means parents are spending extra money on photographs to commemorate their children’s last year in high school. While they don’t spend that money for yearbook purposes, finding extra ways to get the most of that extra investment is a great idea. Having parents submit their favorites to the yearbook ensures they get the most bang for their buck.
Underclassmen Will Have Something to Look Forward To
Every high school freshman, sophomore, and junior longs for the day when they will become a senior, and that longing exists for a number of reasons. Being a senior means prom court and varsity sports and AP classes. It also could mean looking forward to having a special section in the yearbook that helps them stand out when compared to the other classes. In yearbooks, seniors not only should get different pictures, but larger pictures. It’s another of the high school traditions that adolescents can look forward to, and the only investment it requires is setting up alternate photography sessions for the older kids.
Seniors Deserve the Recognition
Since seniors in high school likely will be moving out of their parents’ homes very soon for college and work, their senior yearbook is one of the last ways to recognize the hard work they’ve put in over the course of 13 years of schooling. The parents of those students want that recognition, too, and a special senior section in the book really caters to that. Yes, they will be recognized in many other ways, but why shouldn’t the yearbook be among them?
If you would like to set up some special senior shoots for your yearbook this year, contact someone at ABC School Photography and we’ll be happy to help you make your school’s senior yearbooks especially memorable this year.
