Are Yearbook Pictures "Good Enough" ?

For over 60 years high school senior pictures haven't changed from the traditional head and shoulders pose of tuxedo-clad and black-draped students. This continues to be the required format for most school yearbooks, even today. These pictures are fine as a record of the students final year of high school, but they do little to show who they really are.

Times have changed! Todays seniors are sophisticated and more media savvy. They strive to stand out from their peers. Unique photos help them express their individuality.

It's all about capturing their personality something that can't be done in the 10-minute, assembly line style of typical yearbook pictures. Even if they have to go to the school photographer for their yearbook picture, todays seniors are finding that they can also have more creative and exciting portraits made that come closer to capturing the look that they enjoy and will appreciate for a lifetime. These are the senior portraits that they will share with friends and family.


What separates us from all of the other photographers in the area is that we personalize the portrait session and take all the time necessary to create outstanding senior portraits. They won't look just like every other seniors pictures. Typically, we spend an hour with each client, photographing them in our studio and outdoors, and help them to express their personality. Our sessions are very much like modeling sessions and include many outfit changes.



We work with our clients before the session to provide guidance on clothing choices and how best to prepare for the session. When they come in for their session, they already know us and they are confident and relaxed knowing that they are going to be photographed by someone who is truly interested in making them look fantastic in their portraits. That means taking care of dozens of minor details that are often overlooked by other photographers but make the difference between a good snapshot and an awesome portrait. We don't just spend 10 minutes and crank out the same old yearbook picture that looks just like the one your mother had taken when she was in school.

Visit our Web site ( http://www.whiteoconnellphoto.com) and look at our portraits. Then look at your school photographer's pictures. The difference is very clear...and worth it.

How much is a Senior Portrait?

How much is a Senior Portrait?

Sometimes a Senior will call our studio and ask, "How much is a Senior Portrait?" or even... "How much is an 8x10?"

We can give you a ballpark figure of what our seniors spend on average... (about $500 - $800 for boys, about $500 - $1000 for girls) but we can't really tell you an exact figure until we've talked with you a little, and got to know what you're looking for. Of course, you may not know exactly what you want until you see the amazing variety of poses you'll be getting.

The important thing to realize is that a portrait isn't a commodity. A commodity is something that is the same wherever you get it, like sugar or gasoline or notebook paper. You can buy the cheapest notebook paper in the store and you would never know the difference. The price of a portrait depends on where you get it and, quite frankly, how good it is. Portraits are not all the same!

Here's something to think about: How much is a CD? Well, a blank one is about a nickel. You can get a CD of Seals & Crofts Greatest Hits at the Dollar Store for... uh... a dollar, or you can get top hits at Sam Goody for $18.98. Or, you can get a CD with Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Edition for $36,000.

It's not the round plastic thing you're paying for, it only costs a nickel - you pay for what's on the disk.

(Just for the record, we've never had a portrait order for $36,000.)
(But, if you'd like to be the first, we're game!)

Susan wins 4 blue ribbons at recent Professional Photographers of Massachusetts convention

The prints that were awarded were of Aurora Doughty, one of my favorite subjects ( little girl on swing) which was titled "The Reluctant Princess" The one of the dogs titled "The Odd couple" was from an absolutely hilarious photo shoot I did this past spring for realtor Melanie Anderson. The dogs would do anything she asked them to do, including the little dog sitting in a baby carriage and the larger one standing on his hind legs behind it, with front paws up on the handlebars, pushing it! We made awesome Christmas cards of both images for her ! The photo on the right was taken in Florence , Italy and was recently displayed at the Duxbury Juried art show. And last but not least is the folio on the table of recent Silver Lake High School student Patrice O'Sullivan, titled "Blonde and Beautiful". All prints received top, blue ribbon awards in a competition of photographers from all over the state of Massachusetts.