Why Choose a Record Store for Senior Photos?
Are you obsessed with music? If so, this post is for you. Vinyl is all the rage these days and if you ask me, it’s always been popular! This past season I’ve had multiple seniors mention their love for vinyl, cassettes, and even cds. So, I was stoked to suggest a record store for their senior photoshoot location.
Why choose a record store for your senior photos? There are many reasons, but here are a couple of things I suggest considering when thinking about locations and your own personality.
1. Vintage Vibes
Well, it has immaculate vintage and eclectic vibes that stand out from the more traditional settings. Not to mention the rows of colorful vinyl records, posters, etc. This might not seem like much, but to a creative photographer there will always be opportunities for artistic images in a record store. You will be hard pressed to find two record stores that are exactly the same because they are usually pretty unique in fun ways.
2. Your Personal Connection to Music
Listen, most people love music and if you don’t then maybe I’m not the photographer for you, but a senior photoshoot at a record store is ideal for seniors who have a passion for music. Is your musical taste rivaled by none at your high school? Do you have a specific genre that you love that was at it’s prime during the peak of vinyl records? Choosing a record store for your senior photo location is a distinctive way to distill what is important to you: music.
Preparing for a senior photoshoot at a record store
Although there is a lot of overlap with my senior photoshoot guide (which you can read here), I think there are some specific considerations for records stores I’ll go over below.
1. Outfits of course!
While, yes, with every senior photoshoot you gotta consider outfits, I think there are specific things to consider when having your senior photos at a record store. Like, do you have a certain genre that’s your favorite or that has a style? The first example I think of is grunge. Using grunge as an example, I think of a band shirt with a flannel thrown over the top with jeans. Don’t forget the combat boots. So, when you think of a genre or even an era of music you like what types of clothing was popular and does it feel like something you can see yourself wearing?
There are lots of different ways to bring in certain time periods with accessories too. Like hats, jewelry, even makeup and hairstyles. Once you hop on the phone or a zoom call we can start coming up with all kinds of fun ideas to help your record store photoshoot be unique to your personality.
2. Time of day
So all records shops have different hours of operation so that has to be part of the consideration. However, I also give them a call to make sure we aren’t encroaching on an event or a busier than normal time. I highly suggest staying away from the weekend if possible and going early in the day when it’s less populated. The best times to shoot indoors are mid day because there’s more light coming in through the windows.
3. Record store aesthetic
Make sure to google the stores if you haven’t been to them personally and see what they look like. Do you like the inside and the outside? What kind of aesthetic does the store have? Do they have chairs or listening booths? Every record store is pretty unique and I highly recommend making sure you like it if you haven’t been before scheduling your senior photos there.
3. Bring your records!
Have some of your favorite records or cassettes or things you’d like to incorporate into your senior photoshoot? This is the perfect time to bring them along and be sure to show and tell your photographer. I always love it when clients do this with me because it helps my brain start thinking up ways we can incorporate the style of music or the artist, the prop, or even the artwork from the sleeve or record into their shoot.
