When marketing your yearbook potential purchasers are going to be flicking through the sample pages searching for photos of themselves. As much as we won’t admit it, we all have a streak of vanity when it comes to photos of ourselves, so how do you make the best of your yearbook photos?
Although it can save a little time to use the official school photos, some students would much rather have more informal yearbook photos. If you take your own photos you can often capture more personality and give a really fun edge to your yearbook.
Try to plan time into your yearbook schedule to take a photo of each person on your class list – these don’t have to be studio quality, but make sure you have plenty of light and use non-distracting backgrounds.
Yearbook photo backgrounds
- Photos with a white background suit any yearbook design, so unless you’re working to a certain style brief we recommend using a plain white wall in an area with natural light (so you don’t have to rely on a camera flash).
- If you’d like to achieve a professional studio look to your yearbook photos, find a large roll of white paper and a background support, or a clean white wall with lots of space around it. You’ll need two studio lights, one placed either side of the subject and a camera on a tripod.
- This is mostly down to your discretion, you may want everyone to stand face-on, or slightly side-on, or you may want to let each student stand how they wish to make them more comfortable.
- How much of each person do you want in the yearbook photo? Just the head and neck? Head and shoulders? Or head to waist? If you have a smaller year group and can dedicate a whole page per student, you could even use a full-length photo.
Take ‘Selfies’ for your yearbook
- Don’t have access to professional camera equipment? Use a digital compact camera and ask each person to take a ‘selfie’. Set up a ‘selfies’ photo shoot area to ensure you have continuity in your yearbook photo backgrounds.
For those first-time selfie stars – here’s a Wiki guide on how to take a good selfie!
