Senior Portrait Facts & Myths

A comprehensive guide to getting the best senior portrait for your money

Here ya go, the 411 on senior portraits...if you don't find the answer you're looking  for here, just drop us an e-mail and we find it for you.  Now let's get started so you can make and informed and intelligent decision on the single most important portrait of your life.  Sounds pretty serious but let's face it, you have it done this year and it hangs around the house for the next 20 years, shows up at every reunion you'll ever attend and for many people it's the last formal portrait they'll ever have done...with hair anyway. 

Myth - My Mom / Dad has a friend with a good camera who'll do some pictures for free

Fact - Yep and if it was good it wouldn't be free.  Let's face it, having a nice camera doesn't make you a photographer any more than owning a nice guitar makes you a rock star.  The camera makes up about 10% of what goes into a good portrait...little details like lighting, body composition (e.g. making sure the camera doesn't add 10 lbs where you don't want it), color harmony, set design and let's not even talk about making you feel as comfortable as you'd be if you were sitting in your own living room.  This is really about wasting money because anything you pay for a picture you don't like...is paying too much.

Myth - I'd like to go to Lee's but at my school, you have to get your senior portrait done by the schools studio!

Fact -you can get your senior portrait done anywhere you'd like.  Be careful not to confuse the yearbook shot with your senior portrait...big difference.  While many schools accept yearbook shots from where ever you go for your senior portraits, others will require you to go to their contract studio for the yearbook shot.  No biggie but you sure don't want to settle for that level of quality for your senior portrait.  You deserve something better. 

Myth - If I have to go to the schools studio I might as well get my senior portraits from them other wise I'll have to pay for two sittings.

Fact - If you're required to get your yearbook shot taken by the schools studio, in many case you can get the session and the picture that goes in the yearbook FREE.  Simply request the "yearbook only" sitting.  But remember, you have to know to ask for it because they're not going to tell you.  Then you can get your senior portraits wherever you'd like...it's freedom of choice...like mom and apple pie, it's the American way.

Myth - The school contract studio has to be good and  have the best price to get  the contract right?

Fact - Sure...and if you leave cookies out for Santa Clause, the tooth fairy will tell the Easter Bunny what a swell person you are and you'll get lots of candy.  The truth of the matter is, the price of the portraits and the quality of the work have very little to do with who gets the yearbook contract.  What does make a difference is who's willing to give the most free stuff...not to you...to the school, which in turn you get to pay for when you buy your senior portrait from the schools contract studio.  Is the light bulb coming on yet?  The long and the short of it is that most "contract" studio work out this kind of arrangement because they wouldn't be able to draw enough seniors to stay in business if they didn't...and that should tell you everything you need to know about the quality of their work.

Myth - I like David Lee's portraits but he's the most expensive studio around.

Fact - Not even close...in fact the most you can pay for a standard 8x10 portrait, fully retouched is around $65.  Not exactly going to break the bank is it?  If you go with one of our portrait collections the price is even less.  So while we've been ranked in the top 10 nationally more than any other studio in Illinois, we still believe a nice portrait is something anyone should be able to afford and we work hard to keep it that way.  About the only thing we won't do is lower the quality to get a cheaper price...everything includes retouching, you can convert it to traditional black and white, Eurotone™ etc. at no extra charge.

Myth - But it still costs a lot more to come to David Lee?

Fact - Compared to your contract studio that's probably true but the difference in how your portraits look is priceless.   Compared to other quality studios, it can be the same or even less to choose David Lee and you'll still end up with the best senior portrait money can buy.  By taking advantage of the special offers (see special offers page), you could get a complete session with studio, outdoors, double your poses, an 8x10, 2-5x7s and 8 wallets and you'd still be spending less than $275.

Myth - The cheapest photographer can do just as good for less.

Fact - Rrrrright and the Cubs have won back to back world series.   Fact of life number 42...no matter how you look at it, cheep portraits look cheep! If you're one of those folks who really can't tell the difference, Wal-Mart is gonna be your best bet.   However if you want something you don't have to hide when your friends come over, you'll want to look for something better.  You might be surprised to learn that some of the "bargain" studios, charge extra for retouching, extra for black & white conversions, extra for finishing, extra for a folder , heck some of them even charge you for the sack your portrait goes in.  You've been photographed like a kid for 12 years...it's time for something better.  No one ever looks back and wishes they had a cheep portrait.

Myth -I've heard that David Lee limits the number of seniors he’ll photograph to just people with a lot of money