Senior Portraits in Spring

It’s never too late to plan portraits that document those big milestone moments. It’s even possible to wait and plan your senior portraits for spring.

Across the board, when I talk with parents and seniors, they all share the challenges of having busy schedules. Between demanding course loads, sports, and extra-curricular commitments, on top of jobs and completing college applications- they do not have a lot of time. It’s understandable that senior portraits can fall by the wayside.

While senior portraits are often scheduled at the end of summer and into the fall of senior year, it’s not uncommon to schedule senior pictures in the winter and spring.

And if you have the opportunity, senior portraits in the spring can be such a beautiful time to schedule.  Below, you’ll find some ideas to consider as you plan and see some location options in Pittsburgh and at North Park.

When Should you Plan your Spring Senior Pictures?

consider deadlines

When to schedule is always the tough question and it can be challenging to predict when Spring is going to arrive.  For my spring seniors, I start discussing dates for mid-April into mid-May.  For families who will want images for graduation announcements and party invites at the beginning of June, I suggest planning for April is best to make sure that you have your images in time for making those plans.  It usually takes around two weeks to fully edit a gallery of images.  

If you aren’t up against an early June deadline, it’s fine to schedule into mid-May or even later and include your cap & gown in the session.

consider blossoms

The best part of spring is the blossoms.  Trees bud. Tulips and daffodils fill gardens. Parks are full of colors and sweet smells.  Unfortunately, it can be hard to predict when it’ll all arrive exactly but there are a lot of beautiful possibilities in parks as well as in more urban settings.  When we start planning your spring senior session, we’ll talk about what we can find in nature for your session.

Keep in mind that if you’re hoping for wildflowers, you’re better off planning for a summer session.  

And once you have the when in mind, it’s time to decide on the where.

Spring – North Park

Spring – North Park

Spring – North Park

Where Should you Plan your Spring Senior Pictures?

Spring sessions for seniors can be done anywhere!  Urban or out in nature, there are lots of beautiful spots in and around Pittsburgh.  In town, there are several places that have blooming cherry blossoms and dogwood trees.  Mellon Park in Shadyside is always a pretty location with its walled gardens.  It also has a hillside of daffodils that blossom each spring.  For more options outside of the city, North Park is always a favorite.  I have a few spots with a tree that has these tiny white flowers and they’re so pretty in spring.  

And when we’re planning, we’ll talk about what we can look for in the background- if you’re hoping for trees with pink blossoms, a creek, or just a little bit of green.  We’ll find the perfect spot for you.

Spring – Oakland near Carnegie Main Library

Spring – Schenley Bridge, Oakland

Now it’s Time to Start Planning

If you thought the window for senior portraits has shut, it hasn’t.  There is still plenty of time and plenty of seniors plan portraits in the spring.  Just contact me and we can start discussing what you need and how to best plan for your senior portrait session.  Visit my senior page for all the information on mini or full senior portrait sessions!

Spring – University of Pittsburgh, Oakland campus

Spring – Mellon Institute, Oakland