Senior portraits

JUNIORS: To learn about “Senior Portraits” please read on … the deadline for the Class of 2024 portraits will be in late October or early November of 2023.

(The Senior PORTRAITS portal for the Class of 2023 has closed. The Minnehaha Academy Antler yearbook’s deadline for 2023 Senior Portraits was Friday, Nov. 4, 2022.)

 

You will find detailed instructions as well as a portrait submission link on this page.

If you already know the basic instructions, you can scroll down directly to the submission link.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

DO I REALLY NEED TO SUBMIT A PORTRAIT?

Yes. We will include a vertical portrait of each senior in the graduating class. We value every student in our school, and we will do our best to represent every student.

WHEN SHOULD I START THINKING ABOUT TAKING A PORTRAIT?

Now. We want you to be happy with your portrait, but we also have a deadline. Experience has shown that procrastination isn’t the best plan for getting the portrait you like.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS FOR GETTING A SENIOR PORTRAIT TAKEN?

You have four basic options. In the past, all four have been used. 

1. Go to a professional photographer. The Antler does not endorse any particular studio, nor does the Antler require families to submit a professional portrait, but most families choose this approach. Senior portraits, like wedding portraits, are a major part of many photographers’ business activities, so they will be very familiar with the process. Please note that every high school asks for senior portraits, so if you choose this options, we recommend that you make reservations as soon as possible. We need to receive your portrait by Nov. 4.
2. Take the portrait yourself, or find a relative or friend who is adept in photography. But DON’T just pull a photo of yourself off a website or social media, because the image resolution/file size will probably be inadequate for yearbook printing.
3. Take the school portrait day seriously. It’s a tradition for seniors to take goofy portraits on school-portrait day, because they intend to use a different photo for the yearbook. School portraits, which will be taken by Lifetouch this year, are used in the yearbook for grades 9, 10 and 11, and for faculty, staff and administration. But seniors can use their Lifetouch portrait as their senior portrait if they dress and pose appropriately. We wouldn’t use the goofy portrait as a senior portrait.
4. Ask the Antler staff or a qualified teacher to take your portrait. Staff members take some senior portraits every year, and a few teachers have also taken excellent portraits, so please ask us if you think this is your best option.

ARE THERE FORMAT AND STYLE REQUIREMENTS? YES!

• Orientation: We need a VERTICAL portrait. If you send a horizontal, we will crop it to make it vertical, but we prefer to have you send the portrait exactly the way you want it.
• Framing: When published, senior portraits are slightly smaller than a driver’s license, and the purpose of the yearbook portraits is to remember everyone from high school. Therefore, we would like the student to fill most of the frame in their portrait, and we want to see faces clearly. Therefore, we recommend a “head-and-shoulders” or “half-body” composition. A full-body composition, or a composition that emphasizes the landscape of a favorite location, may look nice in a framed photo that you display in your home, but the yearbook portraits are quite small, and we want to see faces clearly.  The

We recommend a half-body or head-and-shoulders framing:

Please DON’T use a full-body framing, which would make the individual’s face too small when printed.

Please DON’T submit a horizontal photo. All of our senior portraits are verticals.

• Location: Portraits may be taken indoors or outdoors, as you wish, but please emphasize the person, not the location.
• Clothing: You may dress casually or formally, as you wish, but please use common sense and avoid wearing hats or sunglasses, etc., because we want to be able to identify every senior. Also, please respect the school’s dress code.
• Technical specifications:
  • Resolution: We need a high-resolution digital file. (Technically, that’s 300+ dpi at the published size of 10 x 15 picas, or  You typically cannot tell if the photo has adequate resolution by viewing it on a screen, but the file size may give you a clue. High-resolution photos are typically larger files, often 1 MB or larger; don’t drag an image from a website or social media, where files are typically 72 dpi. 300 dpi (dots or pixels per inch) or higher at the published size (10 picas wide x 15 picas high, which equals 1.67″ x 2.5″). The ratio of most digital cameras is 10 x 15, and if you set your photo quality to the highest level it should be fine. You can determine a file’s resolution using Photoshop, Preview or another photography application. Experienced amateurs usually know how to determine this, but please ask the Antler staff if you need help.
  • File format: JPEG. This is required by our publisher, Jostens.
  • Color mode: RGB. Also required by Jostens. (Color portraits are the norm, but we accept grayscale images, too.)
• Amateur photographers: If you use a digital camera, the default settings will generally meet our technical specifications. With smartphones, please set your camera preferences to “most compatible” format (JPEG), not “high efficiency” (HEIC).
• Professional photographers. Please avoid borders, special effects or watermarks.
• Finally: Parents and seniors, take a look at the senior portraits in a previous copy of The Antler, which your son or daughter should have, and you will see which distances, poses and styles tend to work well for senior portraits.

HOW DO I SUBMIT THE PORTRAIT?

You or your photographer will upload a digital file directly to Jostens, our yearbook publisher:

1. CLICK THIS LINK TO BEGIN THE PROCESS. 
2. If you are prompted to enter a user ID number, copy and paste:  0bTYWtmife4ToCZyxxa8Qfw
3. Choose the photo to be uploaded. Each student may submit only ONE photo.
4. Provide parent or photographer contact information. (The person uploading the photo should enter his/her information.)
5. Provide IMAGE information: Type the student’s first and last name as you would like it to appear in the yearbook. It is extremely important to spell the student’s name correctly. Select “grade 12” from the drop-down menu. In the description field, type Senior Portrait. Click the box to agree to the terms and conditions.
6. Click on “upload chosen images” in blue box to complete the process.
7. You will see a confirmation page and should receive a confirmation email shortly after your submission.

NOTE: Photographers uploading several clients’ photos may upload more than one student’s photo at a time.

COPYRIGHT ISSUES

When senior portraits are submitted, our intention is to use them one time in the senior portrait section of the yearbook. We do not distribute the files outside of school, nor do we use them in other journalism projects, such as the newspaper, website or social media. Portraits may be used for end-of-year school purposes, such as the Senior Honor Night program or other graduation-related events. If photographers wish to block such uses, please contact me and we will respect your wishes. Thank you!

Reid Westrem, journalism adviser

[email protected]