A Guide for When to Take All of Your Photos and Get Them Back in Time for Your Event
Graduation and Senior Photos
Although any time during their senior year of high school or college works, we have a couple of suggestions to help senior photos run smoothly.
When you decide to take your senior photos is largely dependent on what you want to be doing in your photos. Think of it as the vibe of your photos. Do you want to walk through a pumpkin patch or go apple picking? If so, then a Fall Senior Portrait Session is for you!
If you are going for a wildflower-field-whimsical-kind-of feel then, friend, you are going to aim for a Spring Portrait Session. Here is the one caveat that we need you to know before making any firm decision: SENIOR PHOTOS SHOULD BE TAKEN BEFORE THE END OF APRIL. I know that may sound crazy, but let me explain to you why!
Senior year is going to quickly come and go, and you are going to be BUSY. Senior Photos are important for many milestones that you will have like graduation parties and open houses for instance. So, in order to get them back in time, you will definitely want to have your senior shoot completed before the end of April. With that being said, if you want Summer Senior Photos, have them taken during the summer between junior and senior year.
Now, we are only speaking for our own process when we are talking about this timeline. If you already have booked someone, or are planning to book, we would recommend you reach out to confirm with your photographer any timelines that you may need.
Specifically for graduation photos, we recommend April or May of the year you’re graduating so that you can have your cap and gown. For graduation photos, you don’t need a huge time slot, especially if you’ve already taken senior photos. You could take just cap and gown photos in 30 minutes. See our blog post here to see if a mini session is for you.
Engagement Photos
Of all the portrait sessions for specific occasions, engagement sessions have the loosest timeframe guidelines. It all depends on if you want to use your engagement photos in your invitations and/or save the dates.
Save the dates are sent out anywhere from ten to six months before the wedding. So, if you plan to use your engagement photos for save the dates, you need to have them taken somewhere between twelve to eight months in advance to be sure that you get them back in time to send out to all of your guests.
Wedding invitations are typically sent out two to three months before the wedding, so if you’re only planning to use your engagement photos for wedding invites, then you should plan your photo session four to five months before the wedding.
Engagement photos are most commonly used for save the dates, but can be used for wedding invitations as well. Oftentimes, photographers offer engagement sessions with their wedding packages, so you can be sure you have a photographer for engagement photos, but they don’t usually have a timeframe in which they have to be scheduled in relation to the wedding. If you want your engagement photos taken during a specific season, you can absolutely adjust this timeframe to your needs.
Pregnancy Announcements and Maternity Photos
Both pregnancy announcement photos and maternity photos are adorable. We love how sweet these moments can be, but if you have to choose, we will always recommend maternity photos. If you opt for both, which we love, then you’ll want to schedule pregnancy photos within the first two to three months of pregnancy. The ideal time for these photos allows you to have a small baby bump to show off, but still be able to announce it to your family and friends within the first trimester.
For maternity photos, sometime between the end of the second trimester and the middle of the third trimester is best. This is a rather large timeframe, but this decision is best left up to the mom because she knows if she’s in pain or has discomfort from standing too long. She can be the judge of when the best time would be to show off her baby bump, but make sure that she enjoys the experience as well.
Newborn Photos
Having a newborn is an expensive time, so we know that sometimes you have to choose between maternity and newborn photos. Our advice, always choose newborn photos. You will absolutely want to capture those first few weeks with your precious little one. So when do you take them?
There’s a short window for newborn photos, and we know that with the lack of sleep and added stress of a new baby, moms don’t always feel like they can squeeze them in. However, we highly recommend having newborn photos taken in the first two weeks. It’s quick; we know.
We recommend this for a few reasons. First, babies grow so quickly! In those first two weeks, you’ll see so many changes and they grow and develop so fast after that. You want to remember them when they’re their littlest. Secondly, during the first two weeks you bring baby home they sleep. A lot. The best newborn photos come during baby’s nap time. We highly recommend feeding right before the photographer arrives so that baby can sleep through most of the session even when they get moved around.
Christmas Photos
If you’re planning on taking photos for Christmas cards, as silly as it sounds, we recommend having them taken no later than late October. In order to give the photographer time to edit them and send them to you and then time for you to mail them out and time for the post office to deliver them before Christmas, you’ll still have fall leaves on the trees when you take your photos. But there’s nothing wrong with that!
If you want to avoid the fall foliage in your Christmas card photos, we recommend either a location with lots of pine trees, or an urban location where you won’t see many trees anyway. Let your photographer know the look you’re going for and they can help you with the location!
Family Photos
Anytime is a great time for family photos, especially around big family events, like adding a new member to the family, kids hitting their teenage years, or family moving. However, there are a few things to consider, like location, date, and time.
If you're looking for the most flexibility for scheduling, we recommend getting family photos taken in the slow photography season, which is roughly November to March. This will be more likely to ensure weekend availability from your photographer if you’re trying to get schedules to line up.
If having the kids back home in time for bed is a priority and your photographer shoots in the two hours before sunset like we do, we recommend scheduling photos for late fall to early spring when sunset is earlier, or scheduling a sunrise shoot which can be a lot of fun.
Lastly, if you have a specific location you want to have your photos taken at and it’s outdoors, we recommend late spring to early fall when you won’t have to deal with the possibility of snow, sleet, or generally cold weather–unless you’re going for cozy winter photos, in which case, dress warm and we will follow you into the blizzard with our cameras!