It’s completely normal to feel a little awkward when getting your senior portraits done. Many seniors tend to feel self-conscious about their appearance because they feel uncomfortable taking photos on their own.

Below are my top five tips for taking on your senior portraits with grace and confidence and leaving with photos that you will love for years to come.

1. Use your eyes. Use your eyes to express emotion. When you smile naturally your whole face lights up and your eyes look bright and awake. Before the photo session practice smiling in the mirror and use different expressions to see what looks best.

2. Relax. Great photos happen when the subject is relaxed and confident. Let the excitement of your photo session show through the lens as you take a moment and breathe, relax and just have fun. You may feel silly during this process but I will do everything I can to help you feel more comfortable.
3. Breathe. This may sound obvious but breathing is key to capturing a natural look. Take time to practice taking a deep breath while smiling in front of the mirror. Slowly release the air while holding the smile and notice how your face and eyes settle into a natural and relaxed expression. Allow your eyes to “smile” by focusing on the apples of your cheeks pressing upwards. When in doubt, just breathe.

4. Move. Staying stationary can sometimes produce a very staged and cheesy look. Just because you are sitting or standing still doesn’t mean you can’t change the angle of your body to create a look that is fresh and inspired. Try leaning into the camera slightly to appear more engaged, shift your weight from left to right, or simply move your chin slightly up and down for different shots as this gives us a variety of facial expressions to work with.
5. Beautify. This goes for everyone. Ladies, spend some extra time getting your hair blown out, get your makeup done and choose an outfit that makes you look and feel your best. As for the men, take a shower and shave. When you look your best, you feel your best and when you feel your best, you are naturally more confident. Go the extra mile to walk into your senior session feeling confident, attractive, prepared, and inspired.

Fall mini session dates and locations

It’s that time of year again for mini sessions. I know a lot of you have been asking about mini sessions so I thought I would get a couple of dates on the calendar for you to start planning your session weather it be family, maternity or photos of your children. More dates may be added depending on how much interest there is. There will be a location at a creek (shown above) as well as a desert location (shown below) both located in the west valley.

$175 for 15 minutes time and 5 digital images.

Up to 5 people.

Only 6 spots available each day.

September 30th at desert location – Waddell, Arizona
4:30
4:45
5:00
5:15 –  Booked
5:30 – Booked
5:45 – Booked

October 14th at creek location – Wickenburg, Arizona
3:00 – Booked
3:15
3:30 – Booked
3:45
4:00 – Booked
4:15 – Booked

September 15th in Sedona

Have you wanted a destination session but haven’t wanted to pay destination prices. Your in luck! I will be in Sedona the 15th and 16th of September so I wanted to offer mini sessions while I am there so you can get them at regular session pricing!!!

$275 for 30 minutes time and 10 digital images.
Up to 6 people (pets welcome).

6:30am – Booked
6:45am – Booked
7:00am –
7:15am –
7: 30am –
7:45am – Booked

A 50% retainer fee is due within 24 hours to hold your date and time. If unpaid and someone else is interested in your chosen date and time your session will be passed on. I, of course, will send you a reminder email before I pass it on. To book your session please email me at info@ashleyflugphotography.com.

We are so excited to begin our journey with you! We’ve put together a few tips on how to gain the most referrals through our program. If you have found that something else works too, let us know and we’ll add it in.

• Have a good online social media presence. Actively post on your social media pages – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. When we do your session, post the photos to your pages, make them your cover photos and blog about your experience. Keep the hype up by talking about your photos on your social media. Talk about your session before and after it happens. We can even stop and post a selfie during if you’d like! Tag our page when you talk about us, so your followers will link to our page.
• Pass out your rep cards. We will give you personalized rep cards with your photos. Pass them out to your friends, teammates, classmates, etc.
• Mention us to juniors/seniors in other high schools. If you are in a lot of extracurricular activities that allow you to be around students from other schools, be sure to pass your rep cards along to them and let them know how much you love our company. We take on clients from within a 50-mile radius of our studio. If you need a list of approved schools, just ask and we’ll send it over. The more people you talk to about the session, the greater the chance of getting referrals.
• Talk about your session and how much fun it was. Whenever you show people your photos, talk about how much fun the session was. Include details from your experience to make them want to do it as well. We’re selling more than just beautiful photos, but the experience as well.
• Get your parents involved. Have your parents pass out rep cards to their friends at work who have teenagers that will soon need our services.

I had the privilege to photograph Kaitlyn’s senior portraits and we had a blast. Check out what Kaitlyn has to say about graduation and college below.

“I’m excited about graduating to see my growth and accomplishments through the years and see where they lead me. The college decision process has been a bit of a difficult process but it will be worth it in the end.  I applied to San Diego state university, Sacramento film school, and San Francisco film school. The most important factor for me when it came to applying to college is knowing what I want, and what college is going to support my career choice the best. I plan on taking a gap year to save up enough money to move to California and afford to go to a film school out there to pursue my dream job as an actress, director, or model. I am excited that my best friend is also applying to the same colleges as me so hopefully we get to go to college together!”