How much do senior portraits cost?

I think you are going to get a wide variety of responses because of where you live. I'd check a local Facebook classifieds group and ask. Or ask other moms who have had senior photos done. There are a lot of "moms with cameras" who do senior pictures in my area. They can be done relatively cheap and I promise they look great! Besides, there's no test for any photographer where they can declare themselves professional.

I like to see FB pages and their websites. Most importantly, the referrals! They can have awesome work, but sometimes they are hard to work with or don't get things done in a timely manner.

We also did the senior holding the kindergarten picture for both of my boys. We did it as a graduation picture though. They were my favorite picture of the day.

My sister paid over $1,000 this past year, and she pared down! She was even friends with the photographer!!

My oldest graduated in 2008. We paid $725 for the sitting fee and package, which included 2 8 X 10s, 6 5 X 7s, and a bunch of wallets. We might have been able to keep some of the proofs. Youngest graduated in 2011 and the same package from the same photographer was just slightly more.

I used a mom with camera type of thing but she was the one that took a bunch of pictures for the band. She did an awesome job and wasn't that pricey. Did at least 2 locations and 3 outfit changes and gave me a few edited prints and the CD.

This is an area where there will be a huge variety.

The "professional" place that took the crappy pictures required for the yearbook charges hundreds of dollars for prints. They were pretty terrible and I did not order any of those. I think the minimum I could spend there for 4 photos was about $150.

We had her real setting done by the receptionist at my office who does photo shoots on the weekends. She charged me $200, we went to the location of my choice (a place filled with street art, had 3 outfits, and she spent 2+ hours with us. She edited all of the worthwhile photos, and I ended up with more than 200 good shots. I couldn't asked for a better session; the pictures are gorgeous. I've spent about another $50 on prints from Mpix, which was much better quality than any place I can print locally.

What a nice idea!  And that is so nice that your beautiful scenery is "free"!  I bet you would get gorgeous photos of the kids!

I told my daughter that her out-of-state tuition was our priority, and with such an expensive school (with no financial aid/scholarship) we really needed to save every penny!  I was the head of the yearbook at our elem. school, so I have a great camera, and my daughter is really good with photography. 

I hated the expense for the awkward school photo in cap and gown, but I'd regret not having it!
I've photographed the heck out of my kids, so another Mom with Camera and I are doing our sons' photos.
If love to have professional photos made, but it has slipped to a lower priority on expense list.

It will be about 1k total. My son's senior session in on Thursday. We are paying part of it and my parents are paying the other part.

I think we spent about $1200 for DD's portraits. Studio shoot with several clothing changes. About a 2 hour session that we narrowed down to 39 shots that went in a photo book that was part of our package. We then picked the prints we wanted from the shots in that book. We got one 16x20 that is mounted on what reminds me of foam core (which made it more interesting to frame), several 8x10/8x12 prints, plus wallets. At least they were supposed to be wallets. The shot we chose for those couldn't be cropped decently for a wallet size, so they ended up being 3 1/2 x 5.

My 2012 graduate's were $1600 for the smallest package offered by the photographer.

My 2014 graduate's were free!! a gift from the photographer to our daughter/family. It was a sad situation because my girl could not have the creative outdoor session she wanted and was very, very sick. I hired the photographer's hair and make-up person to help her look the best she could. Together, they did a beautiful job!! I could not believe how well they turned out. With just the right make-up and some creative posing and editing, you could not tell just how sick she was. When it was time to do the ordering I was very careful to get just what we "needed". The photographer told me to get what we wanted because she was taking care of the costs. Even the company she worked with for her printing gave her a discount!! The hair/make-up person I hired donated her time and talent!! I still ordered just the minimum we needed but when the order came in the photographer included a large beautiful photo book. I am crying now just thinking about it... I am sure the total gift was well over $2,000.