Due to a change in regulations for Palo Alto High School senior portraits this year, individuals can now submit their own photos, opening up a new industry for student photographers.
Meet some of Paly’s skilled and accessible young student senior portrait photographers, available for those in need of cheaper, but high quality portraits:
![Senior Karina Chan. "You’re really getting a bang for your buck," Chan said. "It won’t cost extra to get rid of a watermark or anything like that, so it [getting pictures taken by students] makes a lot of sense." Photo by Emma van der Veen.](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_1902.jpg)
watermark or anything like that, so it [getting pictures taken by students] makes a lot of sense.”
Photo by Emma van der Veen.
Senior Karina Chan was the first of multiple students to offer their services as a senior portrait photographer. Chan enjoys taking photos at the Stanford Dish and around Stanford University campus. Although Chan has never taken paid portraits before, she often takes photos of her friends. She became interested in offering her services for senior portraits in order to use the proceeds to fund her senior trip, a tradition at Paly.
“The closest it’ll get to is like taking somebody’s profile picture, which is very laid back,” Chan said. “But it’s the same thing pretty much, you just have to be more aware of making people look perfect and think about like what it’s [the photo] going to look like in the yearbook.”
If interested, students can set up a meeting time through Facebook. Sessions are $30 for a half hour and $60 for an hour. This payment includes a post-shooting photo choosing time, any edits to the photos and a guaranteed offer that the portraits will fit yearbook requirements.
To see some of Chan’s work, visit her online portfolio at karina-chan-photography.tumblr.com.
William Dougall:
Senior William Dougall made himself a senior portrait photographer because he thought the high prices of professional photographer portraits seemed unreasonable.
“I know a lot of friends who wanted senior pictures, and I have the resources to do it [take their portraits],” Dougall said. “I felt bad for people who are paying a whole lot of money for senior portraits, so I made myself available.”
Dougall has participated in three National Geographic photography workshops for photography, submitted photos to Scholastic Arts and submitted to national photography competitions. Dougall is currently the staff photographer for Paly’s Verde Magazine. According to Dougall, his favorite place to take pictures is at Skyline during sunset, which makes for very great lighting.
Dougall is offering his photography services for free to his close friends, and is welcoming others to contact him through Facebook messenger.
To see some of Dougall’s work, visit his online portfolio at http://williamdougall.22slides.com/
Photo by Emma van der Veen.
Alisha Kumar:
Senior Alisha Kumar has previously taken pictures for her friends and loves it. According to Kumar, it’s something she does for fun.
“I guess they liked having me take them [their pictures],” Kumar said. “Once word got out that you could get anyone to take your [senior] pictures, a whole bunch of them asked for me to take their senior pictures.”
She has taken school photography classes and has taught herself techniques, as well. She especially enjoys taking photos in San Francisco.
Kumar is not charging for taking senior portraits and can be contacted through Facebook messenger.
To see some of Kumar’s work, visit her blog bythebreezeblog.com
![Senior Ashley Crichton. "I have done stuff like this [taking portraits] before, but I've never been paid for it," Crichton said. Photo by Emma van der Veen.](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_2018.jpg)
Senior Ashley Crichton chose to offer her services as a senior portrait photographer because she often takes photographs anyway, so the profits are simply an additional benefit for an activity she enjoys.
“I would be taking pictures in my free time anyway, so why not make money at the same time,” Crichton said.
Crichton’s credentials include the current robotics team’s photographer, publication in National Geographic Magazine and other various awards. Gamble Gardens and Stanford are among her favorite locations to take portraits.
Portrait sessions are a minimum of one hour long, priced at $50 per hour. Contact Crichton through Facebook messenger.
To see some of Crichton’s work, visit her blog at https://initfortheart.wordpress.com/
![Senior Danielle Bisbee. "A friend of mine asked me to take hers and I decided to offer to take others'[senior portraits]," Bisbee said. Photo by Emma van der Veen.](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_2264.jpg)
portraits],” Bisbee said. Photo by Emma van der Veen.
Senior Danielle Bisbee was first asked by a friend to take her senior portrait, so she decided to expand and make herself available to others as well. Bisbee especially enjoys taking photos at Foothill Park and Gamble Gardens and has a lot of experience in photography.
“I took Advanced Photo and AP [Advanced Placement] Studio Art,” Bisbee said. “I’ve been taking portraits with one of my friends since before freshman year.”
Bisbee is offering her services free of charge for up to one hour of shooting. Contact her through Facebook messages.
To see some of Bisbee’s work, visit her online portfolio at http://daniellebisbeephoto.tumblr.com.