School Pictures Question

[mommylamb]

How do school pictures work in your school? We just had to pick out the package we want before DS1 even has his picture taken. I don't like that. What if the picture is awful? Obviously, the picture company wants you to commit to buying the picture, so even if it's not a great picture you're stuck.

Also, it seems that they get year books instead of class pictures. I really think it's nuts for a Kindergartener to get a year book. That's just a petty gripe, but I think you shouldn't get a year book until you're old enough to write messages to your classmates at the end of the year.

Maybe this should have gone in the BP, but I'm just curious how this works in other schools.

And, they have fall and spring pictures. Why twice a year? Again, that seems like overkill to me. Maybe I'm just expecting everything to work the way it did when I was a kid.

Just call me Scrooge.

[Green_Tea]

Nope, not Scroogey at all. I completely agree.

Our school used to do the upfront fee before the pictures were taken, but I think it backfired and lots of parents simply declined to buy any package. Now they do it the way they did when we were kids - you see the photos and then decide.

Yearbooks for Kindergarteners are lame.
So is pictures 2x/year.

[mik8]

We're not obligated to buy any of the packages at all. They take pictures of all kids whether a parent placed an order or not. However, I occasionally buy the cheapest package (less than $15) just to support the school. My DD is in 4th grade and I haven't bought a single yearbook since kindy.

[MMMommy]

Regarding kinders and yearbooks, I have to say that at our elementary school, the kinders love being in and having a yearbook. And why shouldn't they be a part of the fun, since they are a part of the school too? The kinder teachers set aside special time for the kinders to sign each other's yearbooks, and they all go around to each other and sign their names and/or a brief message. It is very sweet and the kinders feel so grown up and proud to do this. I'm not kidding when I say that several of the kinders even asked me to sign their yearbook when I was volunteering in the classroom. Very cute!

[buddyleebaby]

We have fall and spring photos.
The fall package you have to choose/pay for in advance. The spring package is sent home and if you like it, you can buy it.
I have returned the fall package previously for a full refund because the photo was terrible.

[mommylamb]

Nope, not Scroogey at all. I completely agree.

Our school used to do the upfront fee before the pictures were taken, but I think it backfired and lots of parents simply declined to buy any package. Now they do it the way they did when we were kids - you see the photos and then decide.

Yearbooks for Kindergarteners are lame.
So is pictures 2x/year.

Maybe I should have declined to buy it. But, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I did buy the second smallest package, and if it's a great picture, I might have bought a bigger one. I'm likely to pass on the Spring pictures though.

[belovedgandp]

Sounds like our set-up. Not my favorite. They will do re-takes on a designated day if you hate the picture. My only goal is to get one 8x10 to put in a scrapbook. It is a ridiculous amount of money for that one photo.

Fortunately only once a year. They do a class photo in the spring that I do buy.

I do a yearbook but mostly for me. Our school is huge and I like putting names and faces together. My boys are awful with names.

[MMMommy]

Wanted to add that I do think the "Fall" and "Spring" picture situation seems over the top and a pain. Why two pictures in one year? Seems unnecessary. I also don't like buying a package without having seen pictures. Our school used to do it that way with the photographer they used to use. Now they use a much better photographer. Our new photographer gives an online code for viewing your child's pictures, then you can pick and choose which picture you want (out of multiple shots) and what package you want. We can also choose to pay for the actual image so we can print it ourselves.

[mommylamb]

Regarding kinders and yearbooks, I have to say that at our elementary school, the kinders love being in and having a yearbook. And why shouldn't they be a part of the fun, since they are a part of the school too? The kinder teachers set aside special time for the kinders to sign each other's yearbooks, and they all go around to each other and sign their names and/or a brief message. It is very sweet and the kinders feel so grown up and proud to do this. I'm not kidding when I say that several of the kinders even asked me to sign their yearbook when I was volunteering in the classroom. Very cute!

Oh, I"m sure we'll end up buying the yearbook. I just like getting the class picture more than the idea of a yearbook. But that's not really a big deal to me. It's more that I object to having to choose a package before seeing the picture.

[ellies mom]

We have pictures taken in the fall. We pay for whatever size package we want up front. If we don't like the pictures, we can have them retaken or return them and get our money back. We don't have to keep them. We also get a class picture. There is a yearbook but we don't always buy one. I think they take pictures of all the kids and the teachers must get a few copies because picture crafts have come home.

I think it was kindergarten when we had to have DD1's pictures retaken. DH did her hair that morning and it was awful. Combine it with a smile that looked like she was being tortured and yeah, retakes were necessary. Thankfully, the retakes came out much better. Thanks to a Christmas craft, we do a copy of the original picture for posterity sake.

[katydid1971]

We have to pre-order the pictures too but there is a retake day if they don't turn out, its about a month later. I don't mind if the pictures aren't perfect, I look back at my old school pictures and laugh at the bad hair and weird smiles. I agree that yearbooks are weird until middle school or high school. As far as the twice a year thing, its just to make more money. With the spring pictures we get to see them before we order, Kinders was terrible but last year was cute and I ordered a small package.

[cmo]

This is the first year that I did not pay up front for my kids' fall pictures. In the past, they have mostly turned out crappy, even after retakes. Instead of the finished photos, we recieved a set of proofs, with shadowed 'do not copy' over all of them, so I can't take a photo of the photo in order to keep it. I do have the option of ordering a bare-bones package at about $15, or more. Go figure, this is the first year that DD1 actually looks good in the photo. DS look OK, DD2 looks like an inmate. But no $$ has been spent yet!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Some years they do 1 others 2/year. They email me a digital proof and we can have retakes. You can opt to buy or not after you see the proof.

They do have a yearbook. Totally not my thing!

2 years who they had a horrible photographer. They'd send home a complete photo package, you returned what you didn't want, got charged for what you kept. Waste of resources. Also many families paid for stuff their kids bent or begged for. Fiasco.

[kristenk]

I think DD's school does things pretty much the same way.

There are school pictures in the fall where you have to purchase the package by picture day.

In the spring, there are more pictures. Class pictures and individual picture retakes. I think we usually pass on the individual photos in the spring.

The school also produces a yearbook. All grades are in it. I think they usually have the class picture for each class and then individual photos of each student. DD LOVES looking at all of her friends and any older or younger kids she knows.

The ordering in advance thing bothers me, but I think I'm sort of numb to it now. At least with digital photos the photographer can make sure that the picture looks at least halfway decent before moving on to the next kid.

[crl]

We have two a year, which annoys me too! Fall you are supposed to order in advance, though I think you can order after for an upcharge and delay in delivery. The fall pictures get all the kids and the teacher in individual pictures arranged on one 8 x 10 sheet.

The spring pictures you get to preview before ordering and the whole class has their picture taken together. I think some of the proceeds from that round go to the school.

Catherine

ETA: Oh, and fall you can do retakes if you want. And only the fifth graders get a yearbook--not sure how that is assembled or how much it costs or anything.

[JElaineB]

OP, do you live in the same town I do? We have the exact same system and I feel the same way you do. But I've learned to live with it, even if I don't love it.

[anonomom]

I fell for this last year -- ordered the fall photos sight unseen because I didn't realize there would be more photos in the Spring. The pics were awful. In the spring, you get to see the photos before you buy.

Our school not only has a yearbook, but it isn't even pre-ordered. Each kid just gets sent home with a copy, and you either need to cough up the money or tell your happy, excited kid that they can't keep the yearbook that they would never have cared about if it hadn't been placed in their hands but now must have. I really despise that method of fundraising, especially with little kids.

[vonfirmath]

I just sent back the Fall picture order form with "Not buying anything" because they didn't have a class photo option (all I care about). I JUST got pcitures taken Memorial day of the kids separately and together. I don't need more.

[dhano923]

We have fall and spring photos.
The fall package you have to choose/pay for in advance. The spring package is sent home and if you like it, you can buy it.

Ours works the same way. We do get class pictures in almost all the fall package options but not in the spring packages. Our school does a yearbook each year as well, but I haven't bought it yet. Ill let DS buy it next year in 5th grade because he will be graduating.

[mom2binsd]

No school can force you to buy pics, if they don't do the preorder packages the process is really long and drawn out.

I don't really get the purpose of Spring photo's. We have them but we never order.

We just order a basic package in the Fall, mine were 18.00 for 2 5x7's, 3 3x5s, 8 wallets and class pic. We got to pick our background color.You can always get a retake and return for refund if you want. I"m always very happy and impressed that the photographers get such good pics when doing so many kids.

As for yearbooks, both of my kids LOVE LOVE LOVE having one. We bought one to share between them (DD had her friends sign the front pages, DS got the back pages for autographs). We have a designated time on one of the last days for yearbook autographs.

Just tonight DS was going through the yearbook showing grandma all his friends.

Our yearbook was 20.00, it's all color and very nicely done.

I wish I had one from my elementary days, as I only have class pics, but there are no names. Our yearbooks have individual pics with names.

[liz]

I usually just buy the least expensive option, 10$ for an 8x10. We take their yearly portraits at a professional studio and I buy a large package there, so I don't really want to buy school pictures that may or may not be good. One year my DS1 had such an awful picture, with a very forced grimace on his face. I am so glad I have it, because as PP mentioned it is a nice memeory to have, grimace and all. I just don't want to have multiple pictures of that image lol.

We also get a free 5x7 class picture.

[egoldber]

I have kids in 2 different FCPS schools this year, so it is interesting to me to see the differences. :)

Older DD's school does fall and spring pictures. In the fall it is just individual photos. In the spring they do a class photo and also individual, but I don't buy the individuals in the spring, just in the fall. Younger DD's school is including the class photo with the fall pictures, so I am assuming that there will not be spring pix, but I could be wrong.

I felt a lot better about things like school pix and yearbooks when I started to consider them just as donations to the school. :) I also never bought a yearbook for older DD until second or third grade, although I know I will end up buying them for younger DD too just because she sees the things that older DD has at school.

[arivecchi]

We had to prepay the pics as well. I just chose the cheapest package available. They actually turned out really well this year for a change!

[mommylamb]

Hopefully they'll come out well. I'm sitting here in my office looking at his pre-K school pic from last year, and that was such a great shot. I'm a bit loath to cover it up with the new one, no matter how good it is because I like the pre-K one so much.

egoldber- I think you're totally right that I should just think of it as a donation to the school. There was no mention of the class picture in the materials they sent home, so I assume that must be something they do with Spring pics.

[AngB]

No school age child yet but this was how pictures were done all throughout my schooling and my siblings.

My mom usually ended up buying the smallest picture package in the fall (and I think you can usually order more if it turns out great), and then would decide on the spring package based on the picture.

The yearbooks were always a big hit with us, we spent a lot of time looking at them. And our school class was mostly the same group of 400ish+ kids from about K-12, so it was fun to look back at yearbooks from elementary school of us. I think I definitely spent far more time looking at my elementary yearbooks than I ever did my middle school or high school books. (Our books were also cheap paper covers and black and white so not expensive at all...under $10, probably even under $5.)

[elbenn]

I just got our school picture information and was looking for the class picture option. No class picture option. Also, just like OP, you have to buy the package before the picture is even taken. Also, they are expensive! The cheapest package is $13 and you only get two 3x5s and four 2x3s.