Frequently asked questions, and good things to know

It's up to you!

• Most seniors meet with me 2-4 weeks prior to the first photoshoot. 

• You will pay the balance of your Platinum session price at the planning meeting, which some parents take into consideration when scheduling.

• I love to have in-person planning meetings because I firmly believe that seniors who have met me prior to their photoshoot are much more comfortable once the day arrives. 

• We talk about locations! You choose some locations, and I may choose some, too. Come prepared to show me outfits (pictures are good enough).

• I can answer questions you may have, alleviate any worries, and you can leave happy, confident, and excited for your photoshoot.

• We decide on start times for the morning and evening photoshoots.

• I take payment ($1095) for the balance of the Platinum photoshoot price.

• If an in-person meeting is complicated for you, we can have one over Facetime or Zoom. That said, I find that there is more awkwardness in a virtual meeting, for some reason.

• Seniors who come in person for their planning meeting get a special little treat from me.

Planning meetings are at my house in Western Shawnee, 5602 Brownridge Drive, Shawnee, Kansas.

Look for a white ranch-style house with a green garage door, front door, and shutters. The house number is kind of hard to read, but I usually have a sign out front, and also am often waving from inside the front door. If you have trouble finding me, text me at (913) 271-0703 and I can send you my location.

NOTE: if you are asking yourself, "What planning meeting?" that means that you have somehow missed that you also need to schedule one of them. To do that, click here.

I always would love to have both the senior and a parent at the planning meeting. Sometimes two parents come but it's uncommon.

My dining room, which is where we meet, is small, so please don't bring an entire entourage. I've had a senior bring her mom, dad, step parents, siblings and and a boyfriend to her meeting with me. That's way, way too many! This is a very informal time to meet each other, plan locations, get questions answered, and take payment. Also, I have noticed that the more people who are at the meeting, the more awkward the senior becomes. So let's keep it small. If you plan to have more than just the senior and a parent attend, please let me know in advance.

The division of outfits between morning and evening is up to you, but most seniors decide to either do four outfits in the city and two on the park; or three and three.

The Platinum session is up to 3 hours 15 minutes. We will keep that in mind when planning locations, because driving between too many far-apart places will use up too much of our time together. At your planning meeting, we will make a plan of locations fairly close to each other to maximize photography time and coordinate with your outfits.

To help you visualize timing, here is a common schedule of the day:

We meet at 8 a.m. in the city, photograph, and then say our morning goodbyes at 10:15 a.m. Then we get together again in the park for that last hour before the sun sets, for a total of 3 1/4 hours. The evening start time will depend on when the sun sets.

Once in a while a girl will apply filters to the senior portraits she shares. (Usually it's an orange filter that makes her skin have a deep, dark, orange colored tan; and it turns the environment orange, too - yuck!). Please do not do that. Since I am the permanent copyright holder of the images, clients are not allowed to edit them, which includes applying filters. 

There are certain once-in-a-lifetime events that are much more important than a morning of school. At least that is my own philosophy and also the philosophy of most moms I have worked with over the last decade+ of photographing.

Seniors miss a few hours of school all of the time for various appointments, illnesses, bad break-ups, family vacations, and more. Missing due to senior portraits is no different. In the end, the choice is yours as a parent, but I have photographed hundreds of seniors over the years during part of their school day, and I have yet to hear that it permanently damaged anyone! 

Yes! Especially in the city, for safety reasons. When the senior and I are both focused on photography, we cannot be very aware of our surroundings. An adult is required at any photoshoot in the city; and highly preferred in any park, too.

There's technically two types of things I do to the images from our photoshoot: retouching and editing.

Retouching is done to the person: removing acne, skin shine, redness, some flyaways, minimizing lint or wrinkles on clothing, whitening teeth, etc. Most of this will already be done to your proofs when you see them in the online gallery where you will choose your final images.

Editing is the application of the special recipe that makes my portraits mine. Adjustments in contrast, color, brightness, and highlights and shadow, are a few things that I edit. It's what makes Center Stage Senior portraits so pretty! 

In addition to all of that, I also remove some distractions from the image. I sometimes get rid of people or cars. I have been known to remove electrical poles, street signs ... and always trash! Logos get removed, bra straps go - even some leaves and pebbles are not safe - if it catches my eye in a bad way, it's gone! (Note, not all things are able to be fixed, so be sure your undergarment are not showing!).

Because staying consistent is important to a photographer's brand, I don't change my editing style for seniors, even if they ask nicely. That would be like going to Garozzo's and asking them to make you enchiladas!

Retouching will already be done when you see and choose your images for me to finalize, but editing will be done after you choose. 

Also, if you are thinking of asking, "Do you have to edit? I like the proofs!" please don't. Unedited proofs are not a finished product, and I do not give them to clients. Now, no one has ever asked me this before, but I figure it will happen sooner or later. Trust me and remember why you chose me to begin with.

Your Platinum shoot is up to 3 hours 15 minutes total between the morning and evening parts. You can divide it how you like. So at the meeting, let me know how you would like to divide up your six outfits (such as, 3 outfits in the city [or Unity] and 3 in the park, or something else).

It depends on many factors. If we are still a couple of months away from your photoshoot, do not worry! Contact me and we will find you a new date without any problem.

If we are within a month or less of your photoshoot, you can ask to reschedule, but I may not offer you a date until my busy season is winding down in October or November. I do that because it's not fair to me, or to someone who may have wanted your original date, for you to reschedule so close to your photoshoot.

For me, it could mean a financial loss because a day I could have photographed ended up not being filled. For a senior whose heart was set on a particular time period, they could have had your original date if you had not taken it first.

This happens very rarely, thankfully. The vast majority of my clients are very careful to be respectful and committed to the date they first chose when scheduling. 

Kansas will be Kansas. We can't of course control the weather, we can just work with it. There may be times when the weather forces us to at least talk about rescheduling, such as 35 mph wind gusts, temperatures over 95 or under 45, and more. But generally, we go ahead and shoot if the weather is in line with the season, or if the longterm forecast tells us it will be that way for a while.

Sometimes we may be able to get the morning or evening part in, or simply change the timing of your morning shoot if, say, rain is expected at a certain time in the morning. If it is super hot, consider starting our morning session as early as possible.

I don't reschedule just because there are some clouds. But if your session intersects with evening Golden Hour, I would like for you to have *some* sun for the last outfit. If there are so many clouds that I don't think your portraits will be up to my standards, I offer to postpone that last outfit to the next possible evening that works for the both of us. I can explain it more if the situation comes up.

Wear what you love, and what makes you feel beautiful or handsome! With six outfits spread across your two photoshoots, you get a chance to come up with some varied things to really show off your style. 

Some ideas:

• Chose one "elevated" outfit - a maxi dress or gown for girls, and a suit or at least a jacket for guys. Girls, another idea is to max out accessories in a super fashionable way.

• Consider a casual outfit that looks more like you on a daily basis. 

• But do you! Wear what you want and have fun with it. Just make sure your clothing fits well, is generally free from wrinkles, and your undergarments do not show or show through. Please don't wear something that requires you to say the phrase, "Oh, Lori can just Photoshop that." 

• Don't forget accessories! Jewelry, shoes, belts, flower bouquets, jackets, or items related to your activities can elevate your senior portraits so much.

Would you like to wear beautiful clothing like Anthropologie or Free People to your senior photoshoot but the prices make that difficult? Consider a short-term Nuuly clothing rental! For about $100 you can get 6 outfits a month. At the end of the month, you return the clothing. You can cancel your subscription at any time. Some seniors will do a test run of clothing choices for a month or two prior to finalizing out exactly what they would like to order the month of their shoot.

If you would like to give Nuuly a try, I have a discount code for your first month. Click here to get it. 

You are welcome to show me a couple of ideas, or suggest things during your photoshoot, and I enjoy seeing things you like. Too much of that, though, can ruin the flow of the shoot, and cause things to run behind schedule.

I am an artist with my unique personal vision and photographic style, and you hired me for that reason.