How To Avoid The Top 10
Mistakes That Can
RUIN Your Senior Portraits:

Dear 2012 Seniors and Parents,

How would you like to know 10 powerful secrets to help you get high school senior portraits that you will really enjoy and that you will enjoy giving to your family and friends? I'm Michael from River Street Photography in Cashmere and we have over 30 years of Senior Portrait experience to share with you.

Whether you're a senior looking for the real story behind choosing the right senior photographer, or you're a parent with your first senior, or an experienced parent with older children, the following information will reveal several things about senior portraiture that can help you avoid a lot of grief. So take a few minutes and enjoy this short read.

Oh, and thanks for checking out this website. Reading this says a lot about the importance that you place on your senior portraits and that you’re doing the footwork to find out how to get the most fantastic portraits for yourself.

(ALSO - Right Now River Street has fantastic discounts on all our Sessions! But we only accept a limited number of students and it's going to fill up fast. But we’ll tell you how to get this later, SO PLEASE - Call TODAY to reserve your date!)

You Really DO WANT your Portraits to Look
Fantastic, Don't You?

From a graduating senior's point of view, nothing is more disappointing than having to give friends and relatives portraits that you don’t really like.

Consider this…more people will see your senior portrait than ANY OTHER PHOTOGRAPH you ever have taken! Yes! Even more than will see your wedding photographs! So you want to be really proud of it? Right?

An East Coast Student Focus Group study revealed
5 major things that most seniors want:

1.) That your portrait session is fun and enjoyable.

2.) That your portraits capture the real you with your distinctive personality.

3.) That you DON'T want your portraits all crazy "photoshoped" to look like an advertisement.

4.) That you don't really want your mom or a friend try to take your picture. (That you actually prefer an experienced professional to create professional images.)

5.) That you want “artistic quality". You like a three-dimensional feeling and an artistic quality to the light. You appreciate a portrait with "SNAP".

By "Snap" I mean that when your friends and family look at this portrait, they say, "Wow, you look terrific! It's like you're going to step right off the paper and speak to me! This photo of you is really great!"

(By the way, we are experts at "Snap"! Why? Because our passion is creating senior portraits our clients are thrilled to own. It's what we love to do and we are excited to do this for a select group of graduates that choose our studio for their senior portraits!)

Here's The Top 10 Huge Mistakes
That most Seniors Make
With Their Senior Portraits!

Let's go through how to avoid the 10 biggest mistakes that 90% of all seniors and their parents make when it comes to their senior portraits.

Obviously, we believe that our rspseniors program eliminates all 10 of these hidden problems, and really all you need to do is make River Street Photography your studio of choice. We begin filling our summer sessions in April, but hopefully there are still some convenient openings left for us to do your senior portraits.

But that's not the point of this report. The point is to share these 10 mistakes for you to avoid. If you don't decide to work with us, that's your choice. But you should still be aware of these major mistakes so you don't make them yourself when planning your portrait.

"I chose River Street because of the portraits in the flyer I received were so unique and fun looking, and that's how I wanted my senior portraits to look as well. I knew that I wanted my pictures to be outside and their choices were the best! My session was amazing! It was so much fun. Michael makes the sessions so relaxed and fun so your pictures look great every time." Chelsea Gocke - Chelan

Mistake #1 Strangles Your Hope of Wonderful Portraiture!
Mistake #1 is simply not having enough variety in your images to capture the real you! You want to have a wide selection of images from which to choose your favorites. Frankly, in my humble opinion, most photographers who just have one or two session choices miss the boat completely by making you fit into their own idea of what a portrait should be. They already know what a senior portrait should be regardless of what you really want.

At River Street Photography, we know that variety is critical to your enjoyment, and offer 9 completely different session styles! Check out the Senior Information webpage to see the huge variety we offer 2012 seniors, including 5 Senior Safaris all over the valley!

You may also Call Us to request our 2012 senior tabloid, filled with examples and information about River Street's senior portrait sessions.

Most seniors choose 2-3 different session styles. Perhaps an indoor Studio session mixed with a Riverside or Garden session. Or perhaps you would like to have images created at your own home or favorite outdoor location. Or mix in one of the 5 different Safaris that we schedule throughout the summer!

The point is, you don’t have to settle for the same-old, same-old, cookie-cutter images that so many photographers do. We sincerely believe that variety is the spice of life and are committed to making your portraits truly one-of-a-kind!

"At other studios the pictures all look the same, but at River Street every picture is unique. I was really comfortable and the session was a ton of fun. I love my portraits!" Jennifer Gaspar - Wenatchee

Mistake #2 Ruins More Senior Portraits Than Anything!
Mistake #2 is wearing the wrong clothes! This is really common. Even professional models don’t know what looks best in a portrait. It’s the "Art Director" who says what to wear. The "model" just shows up and does what they are told.

You see, people don't know what clothing really photographs well. They just don't know. But we know - it's our job! And we love it and are really, really good at helping you select the best clothing for your photographs - clothing that will help you look your very best. We will help you with this. Don't worry.

For example, the wrong clothing can make up to a 40 pound difference in the way you look in your portrait! That’s 20 pounds slimmer or 20 pounds heavier!!! Since you want to look as awesome as possible in your portraits, and clothing makes such a HUGE difference in this area, we meet beforehand to go over all the details. We have even written a special booklet to help you remember how to get it right.

After our meeting and reading our booklet, ifyou still have questions just give us a call. We really want you to look fantastic for these once-in-a-lifetime portraits!

Mistake #3 Is A HUGE Destroyer Of High Quality Senior Portraits!
Mistake #3 is making mistakes with hair. Seniors get this wrong in various ways, but many photographers goof this up, too! They simply don't know how to photograph hair properly.

This is so important! As you know, your hair is a huge part of your appearance. It can make or break how you look. We've all had "bad hair days" and if your photographer doesn't know what he or she is doing, your photographs will look like a permanent "bad hair" day.

One of the things that separates a rspseniors portrait from all the other photographers in the area is that we pay as much attention to the light that is lighting your hair as we do to the light that is illuminating your face. In our state-of-the-art camera room, we use skim and kicker lights just for your hair!

You see, I have studied with a long list of the best professional masters - such as the late Monte Zucker, Don Blair and Joseph & Louise Simmone. You may not know of these portrait artists, but over the last half century they have created some of the finest portraits ever made. And I'm going to use these very same techniques to create your senior portraits!

Many seniors who go to other photographers complain that, if they have dark hair, that their hair seems to disappear into the background. Or, if they have light hair, that it lacks "life" or detail. Or that their brown hair just doesn't shine as it should. And it's not about how they combed or prepared it, it’s about how the photographer missed it.

Well, that's not going to happen to a portrait created by us. We take the time to light your hair so it looks absolutely perfect.

Mistake #4 - An Amazing Secret Revealed!
Okay, you and I have to talk about blemishes here. If you have some (and who doesn't) you're probably worried about whether or not they will show in this portrait.

The HUGE mistake that almost EVERY SENIOR makes is that they don't ask the photographer about this before the portrait session. People are embarrassed about blemishes and don’t want to talk about it to ANYONE – especially someone they just met.

But you want to look REALLY GREAT in your portraits, so be absolutely positively sure that your photographer is going to carefully and painstakingly ENHANCE your portraits - and do it to perfection! In our opinion, a portrait that is not professionally enhanced is NOT A PORTRAIT! It's just a "picture" that no one cares enough about to make it perfect!

This is a HUGE reason that so many clients choose River Street to create their portraits. We decided years ago that only the finest work we can possibly create would go out our doors. We honestly, sincerely care about how you or your son or daughter will look. We aren't going to embarrass you in any way, but we are going to do everything in our power to help you look incredible in your portraits, so all your friends are really impressed! And we have the experience and artistic talent to assure beautiful skin without that “pasty” look you see in so many other photographer’s work.

"I really liked how my portraits looked after they were professionally finished. Everything looked just right." Laura Clive - Wenatchee

You see, what this all "boils down to" is you want a professional studio who is going to take good care of you - whose only goal is to help you look absolutely perfect in your portraits! And that's what River Street Photography is all about. Having the talent, taking the time, and sparing no expense to help you look better than you've ever looked for your senior portraits!

Mistake #5 The "Silent Killer" Of Senior Portraits!
Most seniors don't understand (or don't want to admit) that they get nervous in front of a camera. And they don't know what to do about it.

You see, there are over 30 muscles in your face. And if you're tense, these muscles tense up and you won't like the photographs. You won't know why you don't like them, you just won't.

One of the keys to our success in portraiture is making sure that you’re having FUN during the session. Michael is a portrait artist for sure, but he’s also easygoing and personable, and before you know it, you’re having a really good time! This makes an enormous difference in how natural and confident you look! It's almost like magic! You will be impressed!

I can't stress this enough. The thing most photographers miss is that they think it’s YOUR fault that you look stressed. All they want to do is crank people through their studio like a "factory." They do your photograph as if they were photographing a potatoe. They want to put you on the table, and run you through, click-click-click-turn this way - click, etc....Next spud please!

We will not do that to you! We know that if you are relaxed and having fun, you’re going to look great! Far and away the most common comment we hear after the portrait session is, “Wow, that was really FUN!” We treat you this way as if your senior portraits are the most important portraits of your life - because they are!

"Mr. Thresher is open to anything and doesn't have closed boundaries. My portrait session was the most fun I've ever had getting my picture taken!" Austin Bailiff - Cashmere

Mistake #6 Is Critically Important To Your Appearance In Your Portrait!
Most seniors don't realize that sometimes, "today is just not the day" for their senior portrait to be done. Maybe you didn't sleep well last night. Perhaps you've had too many stresses at school or home. Or maybe you just had a fight with your parents, boyfriend or girlfriend, etc.

Well, we honestly understand that the day we set up for your photography may end up not being the best day, for whatever reason. And we have absolutely no problem, with you calling us and rescheduling the session. In fact, We WANT YOU TO DO THAT rather than produce less than perfect images!

You see, one of the things that is really unique about us is how tuned in we are to the importance of attitude. A poor attitude can easily destroy even the best intentions. So, for example, let's say you end up deciding to have us create your senior portraits on Tuesday at 3:00pm. Then Tuesday morning you wake up and it just "doesn't feel right." Plus, your hair isn't cooperating and you're just “out of sorts”.

Well, you just call us and say, "Hi, today just isn't the day. I'm really sorry." And we will immediately understand and know exactly what you mean. And we will reschedule the session for you - no problem.

Now, just so you know, we are terribly busy and sessions are booked up well in advance, BUT WE DON'T TREAT YOU LIKE A FACTORY. We understand that things happen and we won't make you feel guilty. It may be a while before we can reschedule, but it’s better to do that than create images that you won’t really like. Why? Because we've been doing this a long time and we completely understand that how you feel has a huge impact on how you look. So if it’s not right, let’s just reschedule - no problem. We understand this is a once-in-a-life-time thing.

Now, I know what you are thinking. You're thinking, "Give me a break. This is just a photo."

Well, yes, but it's YOUR SENIOR PORTRAIT, and it's the only one you're ever going to have. And all the people who matter to you are going to have this portrait. So let's use every possible assurance that its fantastic! Right? And that's what we're all about. That's what's so special about us.

It's not the camera we use. It's not the backgrounds we use. It's not how good we are at Photoshop. (Although we do use the best!) The thing that separates us from everyone else is how sincerely we want to help you look absolutely perfect - stunning - fantastic - better than ever - in your senior photographs!

Mistake #7 Determines Whether You Have A Great Portrait Or A Terrible One!
Nine out of ten seniors (and inexperienced photographers) don't realize how important posing and lighting is.

The most important word when it comes to posing is "NATURAL." You absolutely don't want to look stiff and fake! One of the most common comments we hear from our clients is how "natural" their portraits look. Our seniors love how good they look, but they also love how "natural" they appear in the images.

You want to look really great, but also you don't want to be put into some weird, stupid, pathetic pose that makes you look stiff, twisted and unnatural. Those kinds of images may look cool for a moment, but they cannot stand up to the test of time. The last thing you want is a portrait that you hide because you look so weird.

"My family going to River Street for a long time to get family portraits, and my sister went there for her senior portraits. I like how they always turn out so good! My session was very fun! Michael made me laugh and be comfortable - he didn't put me in weird positions. My portraits turned out great!" Hollie Stevenson - WHS

This Is Extremely Important - Don't Miss This:
Be sure to select a photographer who will not "manhandle" you with the posing. A lot of photographers in our area tend to touch their clients and push them around way too much. (In my humble opinion.) The posing is so important and should not be done by sticking you in the middle of your back if you aren't sitting up quite straight enough! But that's what so many photographers do. Why? Because they're in a hurry and they can't take the time to "guide" you. They just stick their thumb into your back, grab you by the shoulders and force you to sit up straight. Not only does this make you really uncomfortable, but it also makes you look stiff!

That's why I call it "guiding". I will guide you with words. I don't grab you or poke you. This is so important to helping you feel comfortable!

However, I do watch the details! I may adjust your hair if something is out of place or straighten your collar or sleeves. So don't worry about a thing - we'll make sure you look fantastic! But we don't manhandle you and we won't drive you "nuts" with being overly picky either!

The key thing with posing is that you look natural. The seniors I photograph tell me all the time how great their photographs look from a point of view of being natural. They say things like this: "This is just how I wanted to look - totally natural, I can't believe it! How'd you know how to do that?" You see, that's what "guiding" will do for your portraits, too!

Portrait Lighting is probably the least understood thing for an inexperienced photographer. There are dozens of people in our area who have purchased a good camera and are promoting themselves as professional. Perhaps even your mom or a family friend has offered to do your senior portraits. But beware! A good camera does not create a beautiful portrait! Our 30+ years of experience and training with the finest photographers in our industry has given us a significant “edge” over all other photographers in our area.

I know light, how to add it and how to subtract it in ways that enhance your best features. I know how to paint with light to give a three-dimensional look to your portraits, giving your images that “something special”. It’s why your friends and family will view your portrait and say, “WOW!”

If you'll look at the photographs I've included throughout this website, you'll see posing that is natural and comfortable, and lighting that “pops”. Yours will be just a cool, maybe even more so, and you'll be Thrilled with your portraits - it's guaranteed!

Mistake #8 Is Of Enormous Importance! Don't Miss This One!
This mistake has disappointed so many seniors! It's the mistake of not choosing a photographer who GUARANTEES THAT YOU WILL BE THRILLED WITH YOUR PORTRAITS - and who will give you all your money back, if you aren't!

Here's the River Street guarantee:
"You will be THRILLED (not just 'satisfied') with your portraits, or we will do whatever is necessary to make it so. If we cannot make it right in your eyes, we will return every penny of your money. No hassles and no hard feelings either. We want you to be THRILLED with your senior portraits, and will spare no effort or expense to see to it that you are! We absolutely guarantee it!"

You see, only a professional who really knows his craft is able to have such a powerful guarantee. The guarantee should be your first indication of whether or not you want to work with someone. I just can't stress this enough. Ask about the guarantee. Listen to their reaction. That will tell you right away if having that person create your senior portraits is a wise choice.

Mistake #9 Is So Obvious, And Yet Most Seniors Or Their Parents Don't Do It!
What's this mistake? Not investigating and asking lots of questions when you're choosing your photographer. If you've made it this far in the report, you are now equipped to ask the right questions! Right?

Remember, you are the client and you have control! You can ask the tough questions before you make any decisions. So what questions should you ask?

? Ask about a guarantee and see how they respond.

? Ask if they will help you with every aspect of preparation for your photography session. Can you meet them first and tour their studio?

? Ask if they remove blemishes and enhance all your portraits at no extra charge.

? Ask them how long they have studied portrait technique and with who.

? Ask how they make sure your hair is going to look great.

? Ask how many seniors they photograph at the same time.

? Ask how many different types of sessions do they have.

? Ask what happens if you call to reschedule on the day of your session.

? Ask how their posing and lighting will bring out your best qualities.

? Ask them to see examples of their posing. Is it natural or are they twisted and weird."

I’m sure you can think of more questions, but see how much you have learned? Pretty amazing, when you think about it.

Mistake #10 Can Ruin Everything!
What's this mistake? It's CHOOSING THE WRONG PHOTOGRAPHER FOR YOUR SENIOR PORTRAIT. Everything depends on that one decision. And hopefully, now that you know the Top 10 major mistakes that most seniors or parents make - you won't have to make them! You'll be able to choose the right photographer for yourself.

"There is so much about River Street that isn't seen in other studios. They have many beautiful scenes to choose from, not just a studio or a park. Our session was amazing, wonderful, defiantly exalting, and we enjoyed Michael's cheerful attitude. We would tell 2012 seniors that there is nothing to think about - River Street is the one and only, and is ready to photograph your great personality just as they photographed us and many of our friends." Ana & Eliza Zuniga - Wenatchee

By the fact that you have read to this point, River Street is probably the right photographer for you. But the only way you'll really know for sure if we are right for you is to call us and set up a time to visit.

So Do This Right Now?
Right now, while it's fresh in your mind, pick up the phone and call. We'll simply set up a time to visit the studio and chat about your portraits. There's no obligation, no charge, and no sales pitch. We're not that kind of studio. CLICK HERE to find the number to call. We'll just chat. You can ask us any questions you may have. We'll show off our very nice studio, see what session times are available, show you all the steps in senior portrait ordering, book your session and go over our “How To Look Great In Your Senior Portraits” booklet. There's no charge or obligation.

However, I do want to urge you to act immediately! Our schedule fills up fast and once it’s full, that’s it! We will not book more seniors than we can serve with 100% of our ability. Why? Because our reputation is the most important part of our relationship with the community. There are hundreds of our clients who tell their friends about our studio and then they all call and our book just completely fills up. Because we spend so much time with each one of the seniors we photograph, we can't photograph as many seniors as other photographers who have more of a "factory" attitude.

So if anything I have said here sounded the least bit interesting to you, CALL NOW! DO NOT WAIT EVEN ONE DAY ON THIS! CLICK HERE right now to get the number to call.

SECRET OFFER! Because you have read through to the end of this special report, you qualify to get a secret offer! We have a form in our office with 9 blank openings. If you are one of the first 9 2012 graduates to call and mention that you read this article on the website, I will give you a FREE SESSION of your choice! That’s right, absolutely FREE to the first 9 to call. You must be a 2012 graduate and tell us when you call that you read through this article - we might test you with random questions, so be honest! Plus, if you choose more than one session (as most seniors do) you can will get 50% off those sessions too! This saves you a bunch of money! But there are only 9 who will get this, so you'll need to act quickly!

Call right away. We can't wait to talk to you about your senior portraits! CLICK HERE.

Thanks again for letting me tell you our story,
Michael Thresher
River Street Photography

PS. Don't put it off. I know that at this moment, you aren't sure about your senior portraits. That's fine. But, please understand that because we spend so much time with each one of our seniors, we only have limited session times for these special offers. Once they are gone, you will not be able to get the discounts off the creation of your senior portraits – we may not have any openings at all! We enjoy an excellent reputation in the community and we'll take really good care of you. So call us today. We'll just chat. No charge, no obligation, no sales talk.

PPS. One last thing. Having your senior portrait taken is such a personal thing, that you want to be sure you select a photographer who is not only really driven to help you look fantastic, but who you (or your son or daughter) also like and trust. That's why I urge you to read the comments from some of the other seniors we've photographed. They are highlighted throughout this webpage. Then you can call with confidence that we will take care of you without hassles. We will enjoy hearing from you!