Should I Wear Glasses for My Senior Pictures?
As someone who wears glasses and has to go through that awkward, "do I take these off for the picture?" thing every (infrequent) time I'm in front of the camera, this post is close to home. I thought it'd be useful to share some advice that I give to clients about wearing their glasses, and also my tips for making your glasses less of an issue for pictures! So if you're feeling torn about whether or not to wear your glasses, then my best advice is to...
1. TRY A LIL BIT A THIS, A LIL BIT A THAT
When it comes to getting your senior portrait taken, it's kind of a big decision whether to wear your specs or not - so why not try both? It's pretty straightforward, right? But it's true! If your glasses are a large part of your personality, or you wear them frequently, then I think it's worth it to get some with your glasses on and some without. Your photographer will likely be happy with doing both - not only will it solve the do-I-or-don't-I problem, it'll also will it give variety to your portraits that you, your family, and your photographer will value. Not only that, it's a fun way to remember your style habits in this portion of your life.
Think about looking back on your photographs when you're older, and laughing at the glasses you used to think were cool.
My sister and I still look back at photographs from our childhood and laugh at this one phase she had; bright blonde bowl cut, and neon blue circle glasses. No jokes, I literally have a family portrait from when we were 7 and 10 where she had those ridiculous glasses above my desk in my studio, because it cracks me up and I love looking at it. At the time, we both thought she was so cool, now we realize how dweeby she was. So even if your glasses are out of style in five years (which they probably will be), they're an amazing testament to an era of your life that you'll want to remember later.
Okay, so now maybe you decide that yeah, you wanna try the whole glasses thing out, then I highly recommend you...
2. ASK YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER FOR FEEDBACK
Not every photographer has worked with glasses before, so it might be helpful for the both of you to ask your photographer to keep an eye on your glasses for you. In certain settings if your head is angled the right way, your glasses will catch the light and your eyes will disappear. Super fun. But also easy to avoid if you know what you're looking for! Check out these photos of the adorable Lara at her Navy Pier Senior Sesh.
See how in the photo on the left her glasses have caught the window behind me and are giving that weird green reflection? A little alien/cyborg-esque? Now look at the photo on the right where she tips her head back a bit - you can clearly see her eyes and now her glasses aren't obstructing anything. Just a simple head tip fixes that angle so you're not focusing on the glasses as much as you see her pretty brown eyes. :)
If you're in front of the camera, it's impossible to tell when this is happening to your specs, which is why you'll need your photographer to give you feedback on which way to angle your head throughout your shoot. With that said, even if you aren't getting feedback it's always probably a good idea to not look directly at a window if you have glasses on, because you'll definitely get that reflection. So there it is! Pretty simple right? Regardless of what you choose to do for your special day, just remember that it's supposed to be fun, memorable, and enjoyable. Try not to stress too much, cause you're going to look great no matter what!