St. Louis School Photographer | What Are Fine Art School Photos

Not your average school photos

Did you know that in addition to photographing families and kiddos, I offer Fine Art School Photos? And can I say that I love this part of my business.

Fine Art School Photography is not your typical school photo. They are nothing like I remember from when I was in school. Take a look at the ways they are different and in my opinion, better!

Fine Art School Photos are more authentic

It’s been quite a long time ago, but I remember the days of getting my school photo taken. I would be ushered into a room and sat on a stool. In front of me was the photographer behind a big camera on a tripod. I would immediately smile, the photographer would press the shutter once and my turn was over. I can say that I honestly don’t remember ever being spoken to by the photographer. I wasn’t asked to smile, wasn’t told a joke, wasn’t interacted with in any way.

When kiddos show up in front of me, I always take a few seconds to speak to the child without my camera up to my face. I ask their name and what grade they are in. Usually I can tell if the child is reserved or if they are Is energetic and silly. I do all of this to help me decide how I can best engage them to get at their true personality so I can photograph that. Yes, I want them to smile at me, but I also want to photograph who they are at this moment in time, not just what they look like. Here are a few examples of what I mean about photographing their personalities.

Fine Art School Photos are timeless

As you can see from the photos above, I photograph kiddos on a solid black background. I do this for several reasons. The first reason is that I feel like black is timeless and classic. I can’t tell you the number of school photos with multi colored laser beams in the background. Are multi colored laser beams something you want on the walls of your home in 5 years? I’m not sure I would. My goal is to provide parents with a school photo that is also a piece of art. I am hoping these photos stay on the wall longer than the one year it takes to get a new one.

Another reason for the black background is that it makes the children really stand out from the background. I want your attention to be on your child’s face and not the background.

Fine Art School Photos Provide More Choice

Back when I was in school, my parents were given only one photo and they had to decide whether to purchase copies of that one photo. If they didn’t like the photo, they could get re-takes but that was the only option they were given.

Parents of the kiddos I photograph are given a gallery of images (in both color and black & white) to choose from. These galleries range from 6 to 20 images depending on how expressive their child is. Like I said above, I spend time with each child encouraging them to share their personalities with me and I take tons of photos of each kid. I want parents to chose what photos they would like to purchase, I could never narrow their choice to just one, or even two! I love that parents get to decide their favorite photo(s) of their child. All of the photos in this post are examples of just a few of the images I presented in that child’s gallery.

Why I love Fine Art School Photos

I realize that I am biased since I am the one taking the photos, but I have to say that I really do prefer this style of school photos to the more traditional kind. I love the modern yet timeless style of the photos. If you would like Fine Art School Photos offered at your child’s school, please take at look at this page to learn more. You can also reach out to me and let’s chat, we may be able to make that happen!