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Senior Photos

Traditions.  Happy times. Sad times. Uncertain times. Traditions bring a sense of familiarity to any number of situations. Most find it helpful to rely upon traditions to pull them through those situations.

My son is about to begin his senior year of high school. I am excited about it but I am also very much in denial!  There is a hint of bittersweet in the air. I am relying upon traditions to pull me through this year. Hopefully the traditions that go along with graduating from high school will help me keep my center and enjoy some of his final chapter.

Today we participated in one such tradition. Senior Photos.

Selecting a photographer was not an easy task. I examined photography studio's; independent photographers, and friend's who have photography skills.

A sitting fee is a standard cost of a photo session. They range in price from $30-$75 for a studio session depending on the number of outfits you have. If you desire to leave the studio, the cost go up. Senior photos can include your pet, your car, your friends, or you can even go underwater!

After the sitting fee, you have to purchase the photos from a professional photographer. They own the photos they take. To even put them on any social media site you have to have their permission. I have seen packages start at $250 and go upwards to $1,000. A la cart menu's exist and are an option but a typical price for an 8x10 photo is nearly $70.00.

Some independent photographers will waive their ownship and provide you with a CD so you can print your own photos.  However, I have found these often  have the highest sitting fees. I found sitting fees up to $400 dollars from some of these types of independent photographers.

I am one of those people with some photography skills. But I eliminated myself from this equation and opted to rely on someone with way more skill than myself! Besides, the subject being photographed is my child and you know how well your own children listen to you!

In the midst of my research for the best photographer, I reached out to a high school friend of mine. She has been an independent photographer since high school. In fact, she photographed my first wedding. Her senior sessions are unbelievably reasonable!  Her base sitting fee starts off around $50. I do have to order photos through her but her packages are also reasonable! (For example, an 8x10 through her only cost about $20!)



Creations by Nola works around the Columbia, Missouri area. While she is willing to travel, we scheduled our photo shoot day around a work meeting that I had in that area. I am not sure we could have gotten any luckier with our day; we had really cool temps, an occasional breeze, and some of the prettiest white clouds in the sky.

Nola walked us through her favorite place to take photos. We visited a total of four locations: a park with interesting features, a country road with railroad tracks, downtown of a small town, and a baseball field. All in all, we spent about 4 hours taking photos.



Nola is personable and funny. While I have known her for years, The Boy had just met her. She immediately put him to ease and was able to get him to show his natural easy going self. Nola also helped us make decisions that neither The Boy or I are good with: she helped coordinate his outfits to the settings.


Nola will spend the next couple of weeks editing the photos that we took today.  I am looking forward to sharing the finished product with all of our family and friends.


If you are looking for a photographer, I would highly suggest Nola at Creations by Nola!

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