When is the best time to schedule your high school senior session in Houston?
Our son graduated in May 2024, so I know a little something about the gauntlet excitement that is senior year. I had an entire spread in my bullet journal dedicated to all the events and timelines that needed our attention. It’s a lot, y’all! So I wanted to put together a little cheat sheet to help you decide when the perfect time is for YOU to schedule your senior portrait session.
Our 2024 Graduate!
june, july, and august
Key words: TOO HOT TO BE OUTSIDE!!! (Unless you have a boat. Haha.) These months are perfect for studio sessions, in-home sessions, or some of your favorite hangouts.
If you’re a books-and-coffee kind of girl, let’s hit the quirky indie bookstore and coffee shop. Into vintage music and thrifting? Let’s find a cool record store and capture you rocking one of your thrifted outfits while thumbing through vinyl. More comfy in your own space? Let’s shoot at your house and highlight your room plus any cool features around your home.
We can always hop outside for a few minutes at a time, but having your shoot mostly indoors during these ridiculously hot Houston months means you’ll AVOID flushed cheeks, a sweaty hairline, sweat marks on your clothing, and MOSQUITOS. What’s not to love about that?!?!
For real though - if you want to capture summery activities like swimming, sailing, etc., then the summer is a great time to do that!
Let’s talk summer travel! Are you going somewhere cool for vacation? Bring me along for a day to join you and photograph you in whatever amazing place you’ll be! The cool mountains of Colorado or Jackson Hole, the white sand beaches of Florida’s 30A, the turquoise waters of the Caribbean…wherever you’re going, I’d love to join you!
september
September’s a tricky one - it’s usually still TOO HOT TO BE OUTSIDE (ha) with the Houston area often still throwing down three-digit temps, so I generally recommend keeping with the indoor location theme for this month. Sometimes we can get a BIT of relief toward the end of the month, so we can roll the dice outside if you’d like, especially toward the end of the month.
october
Finally, the weather (sometimes) starts cooperating in Houston! October can still be warm, but also begins prime outdoor photography season for me. The afternoon light is GORGEOUS, the trees still have leaves (so it still looks lush outside), and you have a slight chance of being able to wear that cute jacket or sweater! October-December are my favorite months to photograph outdoors.
november
This month is about as good as it gets for outdoor photography in the Houston area! Temps are usually mild, the light just keeps getting better, trees are starting to change color - it’s a perfect time to book your senior outdoor session. We also work with cloudy weather - overcast weather can actually be lovely for outdoor photography. But if a downpour is scheduled, we will find another date. This is also the last month to book your shoot and receive images back before the end of the year - important if you need images for high school yearbook ads, which typically have early January deadlines.
december
All sessions shot in December will have viewing and ordering sessions scheduled for January (usually the end of the first full week in January). As long as you can wait until mid-January to receive your images, a December shoot will be great for you. Temps are still nice and could even venture into the territory that could be described as “cold”. BUT I don’t take many sessions in December, so if you want one of those dates, it’s best to book early.
january, february
These months are typically best suited to either indoor photography (similar options to June, July, August) OR more urban locations such as downtown Houston, downtown Tomball, the Towne Lake Boardwalk, The Woodlands, etc. Trees have usually dropped their leaves by now, and the Houston winter landscape is typically browns mixed with a few greens, which makes urban environments a great option for this time of year.
March
March can be a great time for outdoor temps in Houston, but the trees typically leaf out around mid-to-late March, so early-to-mid March is still on the wintry/brown side as far as the landscape. But if you are an azalea lover, then early-to-mid-March is your sweet spot! Wildflowers also start popping up around mid-March or so, and grass starts greening up. If you want to include photos with your graduation announcements or want custom announcements featuring your photos, the end of March is typically the deadline to have your shoot completed without a rush fee.
april
Texas really shows off in April! Wildflowers blanket the rural areas outside of Houston, the arboretums and nature centers are often full of flowers, grass is green, and life is good! It’s a great time for those who love lush, nature-y shots. Depending on when you book your shoot, a processing rush fee may be required to receive your images by early May. This is also a great time to get sorority rush photos done so you’re not scrambling over the summer.
may
I shoot throughout May, but it does start to warm up again (I think we even had some triple digit May days in 2024, ugh!). May works well if you don’t need images back by a certain time for parties or celebrations (although with rush processing, we still may be able to make that happen if we shoot in early May).
that’s a wrap!
I hope this post has helped give you some things to think about when it comes to scheduling your senior photo shoot in Houston, TX. If you have questions, please use the Contact page. And head on over to my booking page when you’re ready to schedule your date. I hope to meet you soon!