We’ve all had them… bad school photos. Sometimes, you just look like you’ve been punched in the face a split second before the photographer takes the photo. Sometimes, your child looks like they were just forced to eat a raw turnip in that split second before THEIR photo. Sometimes, the shutter opens at the wrong 1/160th of a second, and sometimes you get lucky and it doesn’t. Unfortunately, the nature of the beast in your children’s school pictures is that time is not on anyone’s side. The photographer has only a few short hours to photograph a few hundred children. That equates to between 20-30 seconds per child in some schools, and that may include more than one photographer set up to do the work.
I recently photographed over 400 children in less than three hours. We had two photographers shooting, and two people posing the children, so there was no dead time, and things would move smoothly. The school’s yearbook coordinator kept the train running on time by seeing to it that there were always two classes “on deck” and never kept us waiting. The kids (K-8) were awesome – lots of smiling faces and happy children… well, all but a few. Some of those kindergarteners presented a challenge or two, but we got what they’d give us and felt pretty good about it. After editing the photos, I determined that out of 411 children, at least six of them deserved a “reshoot.” Twisted expressions, reluctant smiles, and an eyeblink, and I knew the images were nothing short of “bad.”
That’s what “make up day” is for. We need to go back and photograph the half dozen who were absent that day, so I’ve already informed the school that I want them to also bring me those six that had “bad” school photos and give me another shot at them. No guarantees they’ll be perfect, but I guarantee I’ll try. In the end, school photos, good or bad, are a keepsake that some parents just can’t live without. They’re a memento and a representative of that child’s year at that school… period. Love ’em or hate ’em, you can’t do without them.
And for that reason, I will ALWAYS try to produce the best possible school photos I can. Wish me luck!