Saturday, October 06, 2007

School Pictures

School pictures are so much fun to take. It's a neat thing, if you really think about it. I'm sure there are many kids that would never get their picture taken if it wasn't for the annual school photo! I can't imagine why a parent would not want to purchase their child's picture every year (and not just because I'm a photographer!). Seriously, kids change so fast and it's so important to have a picture that records this history.

When I started doing the school pictures here at GBS, I also did class pictures (as a group) for the elementary grades. These pictures are some of my favorites. I had a class picture when I was in school and still have them! I love looking back at them and remembering all my classmates and teachers.

Here's a few from this year.




11 comments:

Unknown said...

Really good job on the pictures Brenda, mine look better but it is because they're pictures of me. I am upset that you didn't post my pic too. jk :)

Carrie said...

Ok, so do you want to know why parents don't want to buy their kids' school pictures? This is the #1 reason we heard--"I don't want to buy a package if I can't see what they look like before we purchase." (the school we were at used LifeTouch which requires the package to be pre-purchased.)

As for me, I always buy a package, but not knowing what I'll be getting keeps me from buying a bigger one.

Anonymous said...

You're right, the class pictures are especially enjoyable. Often you can see personalities coming through in the poses, etc. How fun!

Jana said...

Enjoyed the pics!! Khara and Kelsey had theirs taken a few weeks ago. Now, if they would just get them back!!! I always anxiously await "the results". :-)

Kendall and Leanna said...

You do such an awesome job! If more school pictures looked like these, parents would probably buy them.:)

Brenda said...

Cameron - Just wait, a picture post dedicated just to YOU, is on it's way. :-)

Carrie - I heard that reason a lot too. So, this year I provided preview proofs so they can "see" before they "buy". I haven't gotten the order forms back yet, so we'll see how much of a difference it makes.

Les said...

You do such a nice job!

Greg & Stephanie said...

I think maybe three or four families at our school bought packages this year, which is really low. I happen to be one of them, although I struggled with it (just couldn't resist having that toothless grin in the family photo album!). We use Lifetouch also, and no one wants to buy pics these days without seeing them. Also, their package options aren't totally user friendly. Lifetouch finally is able to at least have a digital photo on their screen, so I always request to be out there when my kids go through the line. They are always more than happy to retake if I'm not satisfied, and last year's quality was very good. It helps that I am at school anyway, but I guess parents could go view the pics as they are taken. Bailey Photography (from our church) is setting up an option similar to what you do with schools, so that may be an option for us from here on out. It won't hurt my feelings to say "goodbye" to Lifetouch!

Brenda said...

Stephanie - That's interesting. I've heard several negative comments about LifeTouch. The main one is how expensive they are. I know the smallest package they had a couple of years ago was $36. Even I thought that was terribly expensive for school pictures - especially for parents with more than one child to buy for. The packages I offer are much more reasonable ($15 - $24), at least I think so. :-)

Carrie said...

The cheapest package from LifeTouch around here is $13. It includes 1 3x5 and 4 1 1/2x2 1/2s. The pictures happened to be really good this year, so I'm doing an "order more" option (the first year they've had this, as far as I know), but at $10 a sheet (minimum of 3), it's not cheap.

Too bad you're not closer, Brenda...sigh.

Maggie said...

Awesome job on pics!