Best Time of Year for Senior Photos in Oklahoma
Oklahoma gives you two genuinely good windows for senior portraits, one difficult one, and one that most people write off too quickly.
Here is how the year actually photographs.
Fall: late September to early November
This is the busiest season, and it deserves to be.
The light in October is the best light we get all year: low, warm, and soft for a long stretch before sunset. The prairie grasses go gold, the trees around Theta Pond turn, and the temperature is finally survivable in something other than a t-shirt.
Book early. September and October fill six to eight weeks ahead, and the last two weekends of October are usually gone by August. If you want fall photographs, message me in the summer.
Spring: mid-March through April
My personal favorite, and the one people forget about.
The Botanic Garden’s tulips peak from late March into April and there is nothing else in town remotely like it. Thousands of tulips in a dozen colors, all at once, for about three weeks. Everything is green again, and the light is clean and bright without the harshness of summer.
The catch is wind. Spring in Oklahoma is genuinely windy, and some sessions get moved. I build that into the plan and we reschedule at no charge.
Summer: June through August
The difficult one, but not impossible.
The problem is not really the heat, it is the light. The sun is high and hard for most of the day, and the only workable window is the last hour before sunset, which in July is close to 8:30pm. Everything is also uniformly, relentlessly green, which flattens backgrounds.
If summer is when you are available, we shoot late and we shoot in open shade. It works. It is just a shorter window.
Winter: November through February
Written off far too quickly.
Bare trees and grey skies sound unappealing and photograph beautifully. Overcast is the softest, most flattering light there is, and it lasts all day instead of one hour. Backgrounds go quiet and simple, which puts all the attention on you.
Add a good coat and winter portraits look expensive. This is also the easiest season to get the date you want.
The thing that matters more than the month
Golden hour. The hour before sunset does more for a photograph than any season, any location, and any amount of editing.
Whatever month you choose, we will shoot at the end of the day. When you book, I will send you the exact time the light turns on your specific date, and we plan the whole session backwards from it.
A January session at golden hour beats a June session at noon. Every time.
So when should you book?
- Graduating in spring? Shoot in the fall before, when the light is best and you are not competing with finals.
- Want the tulips? Late March or April, and book by January.
- Want it easy? November through February. Wide open, softest light, and you will have the Botanic Garden almost to yourself.
- Only free in summer? We shoot at 8pm and it will be lovely.
Ready to pick a date? Tell me your graduation month and I will send back what is open along with the golden-hour time for each date. See what is included in a senior session.
