 Hey y'all, what's up? My name is Snolly and I'm a photographer here in Austin, Texas. I specialize in graduation photos over at UT Austin and last year I made this video giving my advice on how to choose your graduation dress from a photographer's perspective. And you guys loved it so much so I thought I would do it again including this year's trends and a lot more tips. Just like last year I'm going to create a blog post with a ton more dresses that I'm talking about in this video. It's going to be all nice and visually laid out so you can shop directly from there under $100 and over $100 so that there is a price point for everyone. I'm going to link the blog post down below in case you want to go ahead and start looking through it and start shopping while you are listening to this video. But let's get into it and we'll start by talking about how to prepare for your graduation shoot. The first step is to find your graduation photographer and you can simply look it up on Google. You can type in Austin grad photographer or just like your college name graduation photographer or you can search through Instagram either you can like type it out fully and usually like a couple of people will pop up because they have grad photographer in their bio. But what I usually recommend is to search hashtags or even just hashtag Austin photographer. When you're looking through all these profiles think to yourself like what style you like for editing because that's definitely going to be a big factor in who you choose as your photographer. I might be a little biased but I love true to color photo edits and I just always want the photos to be timeless because I don't want to look back in 10 years at a photo and think to myself why am I so yellow. Definitely do your research on photographers and you know get in contact with them earlier than you think because the best graduation photographers book up way ahead of time especially if they have been taking photos on that campus for years. They've already had so many referrals from the past grads so definitely do this ASAP. The next step is to find your grad dress and I'm going to give you all the advice especially from a photographer's perspective. You may not think about the little things but I have been doing this for a while now so I can give you guys the best advice to help you choose the perfect grad dress. Again don't wait till the last second to purchase your dresses because you may need to purchase from a couple of sites try them on return them maybe get different sizes or even alter them so just make sure you have enough time to do all that. Majority of my grads do their own hair and makeup but if you wanted to get it professionally done again book ahead. Overall I'd say just not to go too out of the norm of what you do on an everyday basis I mean for the makeup you definitely want to have it a little bit heavier just so it's you know photo shoot ready but what I mean by that is if you don't curl your hair every day and you're not used to curl your hair don't curl your hair if you don't do a wing every day and you're not used to creating a wing on your eye because one it's probably not going to look as great as you think it will especially because you don't do it on an everyday basis and it's just not you. My clients always ask if I recommend putting on false lashes and again if you are not used to putting on false lashes don't do it because I've had times where there are lash mishaps where the whole lash is like pretty much off and my client didn't bring lash glue so at that time that we were like figuring that out it cut into her shooting time and if you don't know how to put them on you don't have to wear false lashes but if you want them just have a friend help you out. I know the glowy makeup look is very on trend right now it's definitely one of my favorite trends but for your photo shoot nine times out of ten it's going to be really hot outside and you're already going to start sweating so I would recommend a more matte look because this will allow for fewer touch-ups throughout the shoe. If you take anything from this video let it be this bring a lip color and I'm not talking just a clear gloss and it doesn't have to be dark just something so that in post-production you're not really washed out and I would recommend bringing kind of like a nude brown I feel like these are perfect colors it's not too dark but it's something on your lip. Last thing for hair and makeup make sure you bring a hairspray and a brush because there has been many times where I didn't even know it was windy and we all of a sudden are in a wind tunnel and my client's hair is going everywhere and then just gets really messed up and there's like a lot of flyaways on the top of the head and especially if you're shooting at golden hour the flyaways will definitely show so be prepared to spray your hair down with hairspray if needed and definitely bring a brush. Now I wanted to get into trends of 2022 but before that I wanted to kind of just like go over a couple of the trends for 2021. I noticed I picked a lot of satin dresses last year for the video and then also those adjustable ties on the sides of the dresses or even like tops um with the ruching and just like a lot of ruching even like this I would say this is kind of like the ruching trend but anyways for the trends of 2022 I noticed that I picked a lot of puff sleeves slash balloon sleeves which I saw balloon sleeves last year but definitely a lot more puffy sleeves. This year is the year of color and coming for me that says a lot because I'm neutral queen but here I am in a green top and I'm loving it. I'm seeing a lot of ruffles on the bottom so just think love shack fancy skirts. We all know cowboy boots and just like the whole western theme is huge right now. I chose a couple of belted dresses and then lastly just flattering cutouts in general which I'm so here for. Before I show you guys the best graduation dresses of 2022 I wanted to get into what not to wear to your graduation shoe and definitely take this with a grain of salt because I want you to wear whatever makes you feel confident, whatever makes you feel happy and comfortable but I did want to add in a couple of these pointers from a photographer's perspective so obviously wear whatever you want on the actual graduation day but these pointers again are more for your graduation photo shoot. First when picking the color of your dress you definitely want to keep in mind the color of your stole. Obviously you don't have to take all of your graduation photos with your stole on but I will say majority of the photos I take a lot of my grads have the stole on. I shoot at UT Austin where every grad gets a different color for each of the colleges so if your stole is just plain white then that is perfect and disregard this. Keep the patterns minimal. I feel like a year ago I would have said absolutely no to patterns but I'm kind of letting them back into my life you know loving them a little bit more but I will say just don't choose anything too loud because it will kind of just like interfere with the backgrounds and you kind of want it to be timeless and classic. Stay away from the asymmetrical dresses especially like a one-shoulder dress. I guess it doesn't really matter for the bottom of the dress if it's like a high low or it has a slit on the side totally fine but it does look a little odd when the dress only has one strap and your stole is sitting on you it just like doesn't look very symmetrical so think symmetrical when you are purchasing your grad dress. I mean a halter works straps work anything pretty much other than a one-shoulder dress. Another tip for the stole is to make sure the dress is more flat like in this area because you don't want any frills or any like puffy colors to obstruct the stole from laying flat. I feel like this is an obvious one but make sure your dress is not too short because you will be doing a bunch of different kind of poses so we'll be standing you'll be sitting and you don't want to flash anyone during your shoot. Keep it classy when you are picking out your grad dress. I know you know I love to show off my cleavage sometimes but there is a time and a place and just remember that your parents will probably be blasting this all over their Facebook pages so you just don't want to show too much. You'll notice I didn't put too many black dresses in this video because I feel like there's so many other colors that can make you stand out and look stunning so I recommend wearing any pastel colors, jewel tone colors or neutral colors. The goal is to have timeless photos that you're not going to look back and regret so make sure to take all these tips into account but also again wear what you want wear what makes you feel confident and comfortable. I offer unlimited outfit changes but I know some of their photographers have an additional charge for that so just make sure that your photographer is okay with you know multiple outfit changes because when I was taking my grad photos I had about like three to four outfits and I ended up only liking one of them so even if you tried on days before it might not just photograph well and you might just be feeling more confident in one than the other. Now it's time to finally show you guys the best grad dresses of 2022 and why I think they work. I have them all on my phone so if you guys see me looking down that is why but we'll start with this first one it is a romper actually so this could be great for you know all those sitting poses it's white it's neutral and I feel like it covers enough while showing you know a little bit of skin and as you can see it cinches in at the waist which is always really flattering. If you guys are a loyal subscriber follower I feel like these choices of dresses are definitely going to shock you because there's a lot of color that I chose but they are stunning and I'm kind of loving the colors these days I'm definitely like reintroducing some stuff back into my closet but I definitely still want them to be like good basics that I'll wear over and over again and if I was graduating and wore this dress I definitely see myself you know repurposing it for other events or honestly just like an everyday you can like dress it down wear some sneakers but anyways I think it's beautiful for graduation this is where kind of like the ruffles comes in um if you guys have seen those love shack fancy skirts they are super popular very very overpriced they remind me so much of the Air Apostle Abercrombie you know ruffle skirts back in the day but I feel like this dress is definitely approved by me it definitely has that feminine feel but it's also kind of structured especially with like the sleeves up here I've been seeing a lot of these belted dresses and this kind of ties back into that more western cowboy boots trend right now but I could totally see especially a UT grad wearing this with her cowboy boots I feel like the belt buckle is just really unique here is another belted dress and I think I love it so much because it looks very structured and I feel like any structured clothing piece just looks so expensive when I'm pretty sure this dress is like under a hundred bucks you probably can't see the belt on this one but there is a white belt and I love kind of like a strapless dress I think it's so classy and your shoulder bones can just pop off and if you add a little highlight here you're just going to be glowing and obviously white can go with any color stole so that's a win had to throw in a red number and I thought this was gorgeous because it looks really breezy even though it covers a lot of skin so if you're taking photos in May when it's hot it should still be breathable and I know a lot of colleges like UGA a lot of people wear the colleges colors my college colors were black and gold and so I tried to wear a yellow dress but it just like wasn't it but I feel like red is just such a beautiful color that really makes you pop speaking of colors I love when people wear this like icy blue color in their grad photos I don't know why I think it just looks so beautiful so I had to put it in here and I'm pretty sure this one's a romper as well this next dress is for anyone who wants to look super glam I feel like this could totally be a moment especially if your stole is white it has like these rhinestones it looks like or some kind of sparkles and I know this would pop off during golden hour next up is the epitome of the most perfect grad dress ever I might be a little biased because I love a good neutral but it's also structured so beautifully it's this tiered dress and I feel like this would fit a lot of different body types I previously stated I wasn't a huge fan of florals but I don't mind it when it's all kind of like the same color I feel like I really like this blue and it kind of reminds me of like an agro combi pattern I'm not sure because I don't really own anything like this but it looks like something agro combi would have on their site and I thought this was a gorgeous kind of like silhouette for the dress I know this one's a bit pricey but I'm obsessed with the high neck and the narrow V in front I feel like it shows skin but it's also super classy and I had to throw it in because it also comes in white this next one's a mini dress and I definitely don't think you guys should be scared of mini dresses I think they are stunning and they look so classy especially for full body photos so if you are bringing a couple of outfits definitely throw in a longer length dress but just make sure it's not the dress that you wear in the fountain because at a lot of schools I know people take pictures in the fountains like UCF and UT so make sure to plan ahead of time what dresses you're wearing at what locations I thought this color would be perfect for all of my spring grads and it has a little bit of like a pattern so it's the same color but it doesn't look too plain the last two grad dresses are definitely more fun colors so the first one we have here is this bright pink dress and it definitely has those puffy sleeves that are trending right now and then lastly we have this beautiful orange dress that has the most perfect silhouette I feel like this is more of a basic dress for sure but if you dress it up with you know your stole your cap your gown it's gonna look so good all the dresses I just mentioned will be linked in the blog post but I wanted to quickly list off some stores that have amazing dresses for grad season hello molly show po these two are australian boutiques so just make sure you have enough time to order from them because I know that their shipping is a little bit longer than usual and then we have Nordstrom obviously revolve definitely some pricier dresses but I feel like if I were to splurge on a dress it would be either graduation or my birthday and then lastly we have Windsor and Nasty Gal which definitely has the most affordable dresses out of all the stores I just listed but you can find some amazing deals lastly I wanted to talk about some things that you can bring to your grad shoot so that you are very prepared for it obviously you need your cap stole and gown and I don't care how ugly the gown is and I don't care if your stole is ugly bring it because the more pops the better sometimes we're awkward we don't know what to do with our hands so if we use the stole the cap and the gown to you know create a pose with I feel like the photos definitely look a little bit more candid and just genuine you already know lip color was going to be on this list and again it doesn't have to be anything super dark or super crazy like a red color that's not what I'm talking about I just need my clients to wear something on their lips like a nude or brown just so that they don't look too washed out in post-production make sure to bring a brush hair spray lash glue blotting sheets and face powder in case you need a little bit of a touch up here in there graduate season can get really freaking hot so just make sure to eat a good meal before and hydrate the whole day and also just bring a water bottle because you never know like the heat can do weird things to our brains some other props to bring our signs champagne and confetti which I'm not like the biggest fan of but if you are going to bring confetti please please buy the biodegradable confetti I will link a couple of options down below but it's so important and make sure to clean up your mess after doing the photo some people bring glitter and I highly recommend not to bring glitter because it just gets all over you and it's just not the vibe it's just not the vibe that wraps up this video and again I will have all of the dresses that I mentioned in this video linked on that blog post as well as a bunch more so you could shop directly from there make it easy on you save you some time because I know it takes forever to go through every single site and find the perfect dress so I already did all the hard work for you so visit that link and if you guys purchase one of these dresses definitely send me your grad photos because I love stalking people's god photos if you are stumbling upon this video and live in Austin or are visiting Austin I would love to work with you guys I am a photographer here in central Austin I specialize in grad photos but that's pretty much March to May so the whole rest of the year I usually do couples families newborn maternity sessions branding sessions I pretty much do it all except for weddings and you can follow me at Sonali Productions on Instagram and if you want to book a session or find out about my breaks you can DM me straight through there comment below where you're graduating from and don't forget to subscribe to my channel and I'll see y'all in my next video bye literally just finished filming this video realized I had a whole bunch of mascara on my eyelids so if you saw it don't mind it but I'm gonna see you guys in my next video bye