School pictures. Love them or hate them, it’s something we look forward to every year. However, the odd thing is, I think we secretly hope they’ll be bad. And maybe we can even go viral with how ridiculous our kid looks. Like what happened to this family when her son wore a green shirt without realizing it was a green screen.
That’s AMAZINGLY Hilarious!
And once we get those photos we’ve waited for, we are conflicted on whether or not to buy them. You want to document this time in their life, but you don’t actually like the photo OR need 25 copies of the same photo cropped with different backdrops. Many times, you buy because you feel like you have to, but you don’t really want to, AND you’re left with several prints that will never be passed out or used.
My friend, there is a better way! You see, those photos are missing key elements that are must-haves in my photos and what I strive to create when I work with clients.
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Personality
Each age brings something unique, doesn’t it? Whether it’s a sweet innocent smile or a blaring silly face or no smile at all. I want to see that laughter and realness shine through. That makes the photo!
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No distractions
School pictures do offer one thing – a dated look. I mean who doesn’t have this crazy neon backdrop from the 90s. Yep. That’s me. Well, you know that I can’t talk about school pictures and not show off one of mine. We are NOT EVEN going to talk about the glasses and perm – m’kay!?
It’s true though – even though right now the backdrop seems fine with its trees and trendy colors, but 10 years from now, we’ll know exactly when it was taken just by the backdrop. Give me classic, please. I want my photos to look great now and 20 years from now!
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Variety
One pose. That’s all we get and then we get to choose from 15 different backgrounds. Hello, Mr. Generic Photographer Company, the background is not the most important part! That’s no fun at all. Of course, we want the smile, but I want to see that adorable outfit and remember how much they loved their new school shoes. When you capture the light and personality of the subject, the background shouldn’t even be noticed!
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Originality
I know there’s no way possible to offer something different for each child when you are photographing hundreds. School pictures are what they are because they have to be. And even though I have three main poses I work through, I go 100% for what those kids want to do. Those make the best memories. I invite them to show me some fun poses. Some do, and some just want to be sweet. Either way…originality and variety are what you get!
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Displayable
What do you do with those photos? Maybe you frame them and replace them every year – looking back on the previous years’ photos when you fill it with a new one? Or maybe just put them away in the photo draw because you have 15 extra wallet sizes and no one to give them to. No matter the photo, I want it to be special enough to display and unique enough to stick around in the spot for years.
Photographing preschools sort of fell into my lap while my children were in school, but it’s something that I have actually enjoyed. Every year, I am amazed at how adorable these photos are and what a treasure my clients seem to find in them.
With these photos, you’ll not only be able to document the age in a school photo form, but these are the photos that you’ll actually want, you’ll be anxious to share, and you’ll have professional quality photos taken by a professional who has been photographing children since 2009.
I’ve also recently added a silhouette option. These really are an amazing memory. Would you love to have this of all your children?
Do you have a local preschool looking for these adorable photos? Check this out because I offer a give back program as well.
Are you in preschool or elementary or are you a homeschooling family and you NEED adorable photos like this? I open these up twice a year to the public. So, check it out and see if it’s available right now.
Love what you see and want to get your family in front of my camera, drop your email in here and you’ll be on the list to learn more.
As a bonus, I’ll send you my Top 10 Tips for a stress-free family photo session!
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