It’s that time of year where everybody starts looking for their senior photographer in our area. Ideally, summer is “go time” in 417land for senior pics because that’s simply when you have time. So Spring is the time to book your senior portrait experience. Kids are so busy during the school year with sports, school and other activities. Because of that, it’s been tradition since I was in school that everybody just knew summer was the time to get pics done.
This is still true today, and most of the time it’s this big event that you’ve been waiting for since forever. It’s like a rite of passage to get your senior pics done. You want everything to be perfect, from the weather, to the outfits you pick, to how your hair and makeup looks. YOU want to look perfect. And… it’s honestly a lot of pressure. Suddenly, this big thing you’ve so looked forward to… becomes something you’re anxious about. I mean, you only get that one shot right? What if you have a ton of ideas, and you just don’t think you can do them all in one session?
Hiring the right photographer makes a difference
So you’ve looked into area photographers. Maybe you did a lot of Google research, IG scrolling, or maybe you just saw who your friend used. Either way, you start to wonder, can they really make ME look as good? Will they really show off my personality? What if I want to do something totally different from what I’ve already seen? I can be so awkward sometimes, how can I not be awkward??
All those questions above? That’s why I started the ROLEmodels program. About 5 years ago I decided I wanted to focus my portrait photography on high school seniors exclusively. I just found seniors to be the most fun for me to photograph. I was much more relaxed and creative as an artist with one on one clients. Seniors also tend to have a lot of creative ideas themselves. And generally unlike toddlers and most dad’s, actually WANT their photos taken. Plus, as someone who struggled with self confidence at a younger age, I really love to help teens build self love and acceptance through photography.
Why I wanted to create an epic senior portrait experience beyond great photos
So a few years back I attended my very first photography conference, Conference 12 by Seniorologie, and this concept of senior model teams came up. It was basically a way to promote your business through word of mouth marketing directly with the seniors. Seniors sign up for your program, get their senior pics and a bunch of extra mini sessions done by you, and then basically spread the word. And there are TONS of different ways to do these programs, but I wanted our program to be more than just taking pretty pictures of “influencer” kids that would talk about my business. And at that conference, the idea of being a role model came up.
You see, I’ve mentored youth since I was in high school. First through youth group at church with the younger kids, and then in college through the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega. I have three young girls of my own, and spent half my life having low self esteem myself. So I related to kids when they said they lacked confidence in themselves. Over and over again, I would hear these awesome, talented and beautiful seniors talk about how they didn’t like the way they looked in photos. How they felt awkward and really over extended at school. That even though teens follow each other on social media and are more “connected” than ever, they still lack a feeling of community and friendship.
I wanted to create a team that could help each other build confidence
So the ROLEmodels was my answer to combining a word of mouth marketing program, with building confidence in teens. To me, a role model is simply someone that others can look up to because they are authentically THEM. A role model is someone who is kind, compassionate, and willing to help others. Someone who just tries their best to be a good human. That’s it. They don’t have to look a certain way, be a certain way, or do certain things. I honestly feel like anybody can be role model. We all have awesome gifts and personalities that can inspire others. And if you don’t believe it, come hang out with me a while and I’ll convince you otherwise!
How being a ROLEmodel levels up your senior portrait experience with us
So this program is just essentially our classic senior portrait experience, but on steroids. For the price of a regular session, it’s a small add on fee for the whole year basically. You’ll get your own individual senior session of course, but also several creative mini sessions throughout the year. The goal with these, is to make you feel really comfortable and confident in front of the camera so when it comes time for your actual session, the awkwardness is all gone.
We also schedule these fun, creative group sessions throughout the year so you can meet new friends outside your own bubble. This has proven to be one of the best ways to build confidence actually, and one of the favorite aspects of the whole program to our past senior clients. Getting outside your comfort zone and getting creative with others definitely helps with confidence and being willing to try new things later in life. We also like to do community service projects together when possible. I feel like the best way to instill empathy and compassion is through serving. Because we do the program this way, it’s also a great thing to include in college applications. We do write letters of recommendation for our ROLEmodels as well.
So if you’re a Junior in the 417 area already planning to book a senior portrait session, and you want to have an absolutely epic experience, I encourage you to apply! We’re now booking for class of 2022 and would love to have you on the team!
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Dynae Levingston is a nationally featured and award winning portrait photographer in Southwest Missouri. Specializing in luxury printed products for her high school senior and family clients, Dynae is also a seasoned brand designer. Her ultimate goal is to help creative entrepreneurs dream a little bigger and build a life of purpose + passion on THEIR terms. To keep up with her most recent work and news, follow her on Instagram.
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