The honest answer is earlier than most people expect, and the reason has nothing to do with my calendar filling up.
It's about light. There are about ten good weeks for senior photos on the North Shore, and they all happen at the same time for everybody.
The short version
Reach out in spring. Shoot in August, September or October of 2027. That's it.
Everything below is why.
August
The longest evenings you'll get. Sessions start late, around seven, which is fine for a senior and harder for a family add-on with a younger sibling.
Everything is green and full. If you want the lake to look like the lake, this is the month. It's also the month where heat is a real factor, and three outfit changes in August is a different experience than three in October.
Good for: anyone who wants summer in their photos, and anyone whose fall is about to be consumed by a sport or a season.
September
The light changes here in the second week of September and stays changed for about six weeks. Softer, longer, lower. It's the best light of the year on the North Shore and it isn't close.
Still warm enough to be comfortable. Not yet so scheduled that finding a weeknight is hard.
This is the month I'd pick.
October
Color arrives with the changing seasons, and you get it underfoot as well as overhead.
October books first every year, which is the one place scarcity is real. It's also when sunset starts moving noticeably earlier, so a weeknight session has to start almost straight after school.
Then it stops
Daylight saving ends Sunday, November 7, 2027. After that, sunset in Chicago is before five o'clock, which puts the best light of the day inside the school day.
That's not a deadline I invented. It's the sun. Weekday evening senior sessions work through late October and then they don't work again until spring.
Weekend mornings stay open all fall, and morning light is genuinely good. If November or December is what works for your family, we shoot on a Saturday morning and it's lovely. It's just a different photo than the one most people picture.
Working backward from your yearbook
Every school sets its own senior portrait deadline, and they're earlier than parents expect.
The rule is simple. Find your school's date, count back four weeks, and book something before that. Four weeks of cushion covers a weather reschedule and still leaves room.
You don't have to manage this part alone. Tell me when you book that you need a yearbook submission, and I'll flag it in your 48-hour sneak peek so you have the file well before the deadline rather than the week of.
What booking early actually buys you
Not just a slot. It buys planning.
We talk about outfits before you shop, pick a location that means something rather than one that was available, and choose a start time built around the light on that specific date. You get a style and prep guide, so the week before your session isn't spent guessing.
A session booked in spring is a different session than one booked in a hurry in October. Same ninety minutes. More thought in front of them.
If your senior is Class of 2028, reach out in spring 2027 for an August through October 2027 date. If you already know your yearbook deadline, send it with your first message and I'll build backward from it.
Senior sessions are ninety minutes, one location worked from several spots, up to three outfits, and 75 or more edited images. A sneak peek within 7 days. Your full gallery within a month.
