Gig’em Aggies!
Make your Aggie graduation unforgettable – it's all about you. Trust Master Photographer Mark Sykes to craft your special moments into lasting memories. Explore the possibilities!
WHOOP!
Capture your Aggie Accomplishments with Professional Photography.
Congratulations on graduating! After years of hard work, you are about to join the elite group of Texas A&M University alumni. As you prepare for this momentous occasion, it’s time to capture your amazing accomplishments with professional Aggie portraits.
Mark Sykes, Class of ‘97 has 30 years of experience creating professional photos, and knows the best locations to capture the photos you and your family will love!
Our Aggie Experience includes a free design session to plan out your amazing photo shoot, locations and help you pick out the outfits that will photograph best, because the outfit can make or break even the best image. Plus, we will spoil you during your session with Fiji water, hand-held electric fans and blotting towels to help keep you looking your best! Bottle of Champagne included.
After the session, we will professional retouch all of your purchased portraits to show off your best hair and make-up day! The level of retouching is all up to you… from the natural to the “cover-of-Cosmo”. We can do it all for you!
Get your family in on the session with a family portrait add-on all at no additional charge.
Book your session and immortalize this milestone in style. Gig’em Ags!
When to Schedule a Session ?
To ensure the best experience for your graduate portrait photography session, we highly recommend scheduling it 60 to 90 days before your graduation. This allows for flexibility in case of inclement weather.
Additionally, as the graduation date approaches, popular locations like the Admin Building tend to be crowded with other students being photographed. Scheduling your graduation portrait session earlier helps you avoid the rush and ensure availability. Our first available slots are usually three to four weeks out, so we highly recommend calling to schedule at the beginning of your last semester.
NOTE: we have only 1 date still available before graduation.
We are currently booking sessions for after graduation.
AWARD WINNING PHOTOGRAPHY
Honored by the Professional Photographers of America, “Parade Rest” won Mark an international print competition award and was selected to travel the world as part of PPA’s Loan Collection Exhibition in 2020.
What to Expect at Your Aggie Session
What’s Included
Up to 3 Hours of Photography with International Award-Winning Master Photographer, Mark Sykes
Handheld Powered Fans to Keep You Cool
Fiji Water
Blotting Towel
Design session to help you pick out the outfits that will photograph best, and your choice of locations.
Bottle of Champagne included for the champagne spritz shots.
Locations
Mark will create your college graduation pictures at multiple locations on campus. Popular places are:
Aggie Ring
Kyle Field
Academic Building
Admin Building
Sul Ross
Military Walk
The Gardens
Aggie Park
The Dixie Chicken
Bottle Cap Alley
Unlimited Clothing Changes
Bring as many different outfits as you want.
Bring Your Pet, Family, or Soulmate
Graduation is a special moment you want to share with your loved ones. You can bring your pet, family, and partner to your graduation portrait session, and we will capture the joy and excitement of the occasion.
Price
Your graduation memories matter; we've got you covered! Our session fee not only covers your time with Master Photographer, Mark Sykes, but also an exclusive one-on-one consultation to design your dream photo experience. Mark, known for his meticulous attention to detail, will make sure your hair and outfit are picture-perfect. He'll even guide you through the best poses to capture your true essence, ensuring you look your absolute best.
Mark will work his magic to capture your unique personality, meticulously curate and enhance your images, and create a proof gallery for your review. And that's not all! Mark will personally walk you through the selection process, helping you choose the perfect products that fit your style and budget. Plus, he can even show you how your chosen portrait will look on your wall, so you'll never second-guess the ideal size for your home decor.
Let us make your graduation moment unforgettable!"
$195
Prints and digital files sold separately.
Free Mini-Session with Your Family
Consider adding a complementary family mini-session to your TAMU session to update your family portrait. The session takes only 20 minutes and is the perfect time to capture your family while everyone is still nearby. Once the kids move away and begin their careers, it can be challenging to get everyone back together.
Add your own distinct style to show off your Aggie spirit, or create a simple, timeless portrait. You can even do both!
Why Professional Photographers Use Flash on Bright Sunny Days
As a professional photographer, Mark understands the importance of using flash, even on bright sunny days, to enhance the quality of college senior portraits. Here are the ways flash helps produce better results:
Create Dimension
Shadows in the right places can add depth and create a three-dimensional look on a two-dimensional surface. Without shadows and highlights, faces can appear flat and featureless. By using flash, professional photographers can achieve beautiful highlights and shadows that reveal the wonderful curvature of a person’s face, adding a touch of light that brings out the sparkle in their eyes.
Balance Light
On bright sunny days, harsh shadows can form under the chin and nose and in eye sockets, resulting in unflattering raccoon eyes. Flash can be used to open up these dark areas and decrease the heavy contrast between the sunlit and shadowed parts of the face. This leads to a much more pleasing and balanced portrait.
Enhance the Sky
When photographing subjects against a bright sky, the sky often appears overexposed and washed out, appearing as a bright white or light grey. Professional photographers use flash to balance the amount of light on the subject with the amount of light in the sky, resulting in a more natural and vibrant blue sky.
It’s important to note that a camera can only average the amount of light between a subject and its surroundings. It cannot balance the light to achieve the desired effect. Only a flash or other lighting equipment in the hands of a skilled professional photographer can achieve the perfect balance of light and create stunning Aggie portraits.
Photo Editing Services
Retouching
Retouching is included in our services. You can remove unwanted imperfections to look your best in photos.
Mark personally takes the time to retouch every image he sells. He ensures your complexion is smooth, lightens dark areas under your eyes, removes stray hair, and corrects facial blemishes.
Additional Artwork
Thanks to COVID, some of us have added on a few pounds. Mark can provide additional artwork to slim your arms, legs, waist, or backside. He can also edit your hair to look fuller, fill a gap, or be a different color. Please get in touch to learn more about our pricing.
Swaps
An otherwise beautiful shot where you and your family look stunning can be ruined if one person isn’t smiling or looking at the camera. Not to worry! Mark can help you to find another image where that person looks great. He will take them from that image and seamlessly insert them into the image you like to create the perfect portrait you’ll love! Contact us for details and pricing.
New Background
Mark can change the background to create the portrait of your dreams. Often cars, people or ugly objects in the background can ruin your picture. Not to worry, Mark can skillfully enhance your image to remove the distractions and make the photo all about you!
LET’S MEET
Let’s schedule a meeting to discuss your photography session. Mark prefers to learn more about his clients, their goals for the session, major, and their vision for their Aggie portraits so he can bring their personality to life.
Mark will provide ideas and help design a session that reflects your interests and your story. Whether you prefer to meet at the studio or by phone, Mark would be happy to meet with you.
Investment
Pricing
Each of our sessions include a session fee and a credit towards your portrait selections. The session fee includes a personal design consultation with Master Photographer Mark Sykes to plan your ultimate photography experience, his time to create your portraits and cull, edit, and create a proofing gallery and to personally assist you during your purchase appointment in selecting the best products to meet your lifestyle, discuss any enhancements you may want, and he can even show your wall portrait on your wall so there is never any second guessing of that perfect size wall portrait for your home.
FAQs
Do you do retouching? Yes. Retouching is included with all of our prints, albums, and books. Standard retouching includes removing facial blemishes, major stray hairs, soften dark areas and lines around the eyes, whitening teeth (by request), and enhancing the eyes. You tell us how you like for us to retouch your portraits. Some clients prefer a more natural look with little retouching, while others want to look like they just came off the cover of Cosmo. Typically Mark strives to give your portraits the look of it being your best hair and makeup day!
Can I wear more than one outfit? Of course! Mark recommends students bring at least 6 to 7 outfits, but honestly, more is better. Mark recommends having a lot of variety from the dressy to the casual to fun! Bring multiple footwear from slip-ons, to open toe, to boots, to heels. You can also bring props like your favorite hat, jacket, football, pot (Aggie hardhat), or whatever you wish. Mark suggests bringing your outfits in a cart and a parent or friend there to assist you should you need help changing or if we need to adjust your clothing during the shoot.
Can I bring my dog? YES!!! Mark loves fur babies and they make for some great portrait opportunities!
Do I get the digitals? Of course! Sharable digital files are included with any of our portrait prints, wall portraits, albums, or books. Printable digital files are licensed with any purchase of a album, book or folio box.
Can you make me look thinner? Sure! Mark is often asked to assist with thinning the face, arms, or waist. We all want to be thrilled with our portraits, and sometimes we need just a little help having the figure we wish we had. During your purchase appointment, just let Mark know what you would like done.
Can you remove wrinkles? We get asked this a lot, especially about the A&M sash, and the answer is Yes, we can remove the folded creases. If you would like wrinkles removed from your outfit, just let Mark know.
Can you put my images online? Most of our clients have parents that live out of town, and we are more than happy to schedule a Zoom appointment to reveal your portrait proofs and assist you in placing your order. We will start with a beautiful music slideshow displaying all of your portraits, then, we’ll go back to compare your portraits by pose to help you pick out your favs. Mark will be able to zoom in on the face to help make it easier to decide which image you like best, and will give his recommendation. He can show you different color options such as black and white, sepia, or modify the crop and even show your portrait on your wall to find out what’s the perfect size.
How far in advance should I schedule my session? Mark highly recommends 3 to 4 months prior to graduation. This will provide time for rescheduling should the weather not cooperate, or if something unexpected causes a conflict. The closer the date is to graduation, the more likely there will be a crowd at your favorite locations, often causing a wait of up to 40-50 minutes.
Peace of mind for years to come
All of our printed portraits include a 20-year guarantee. Should anything happen to your print, we will replace it.
We also archive all of your purchased portraits to give you the peace of mind should you loose your images. Simply email us and we will send you a link to re-download your digital portraits.
Should you loose your prints or albums due to a natural disaster, we will be able to replace them! When Hurricane Ike blew through Houston, we were able to replace wall portraits and albums for our clients as far back as 2006.
Your moments, immortalized in style.
Embark on a visual journey with Master Photographer Mark Sykes,
turning your milestones into unforgettable portraits that speak volumes!