Thursday, September 2, 2010

School Pictures


After waiting with my 3-year-old

to get her photo taken only to have her

frown with her eyes and smile with her mouth

{at the same time}

or stick her tongue out

or lift her dress

or look away . . .

I think I have decided

that in the future

I will not buy school photos.

The kids can take their pictures for the class picture and the yearbook.

But then I will take the money that I would have spent

and buy snapshots instead.


The day of "school pictures" is loaded with anxiety.

And why not? 

There is the pressure that THE photo taken today

will go down in infamy as the way you looked

in 2010, or 1979, or 1962.

And is it really accurate?

The forced smile.

The awkward discomfort.

The stiff clothing that you don't normally wear.

The hair poofed or slicked down in a style that

makes people think

Who is that?


So, grandparents, don't be surprised

if you get one of these

for your wall

instead

of the traditional stiff pose.

{say cheeeeeese!}


7 comments:

  1. The life photos (as my friend/photographer Amy calls them) are more real and authentic. We skipped school pictures last year and will again this year. I always wondered what made us parents doll our babies up and beg them to smile thier biggest and try to look perfect..don't mess up the hair or wrinkle the shirt...(I remember when they gave out combs and moms would lick their hands and slick hair down:):) Children are far more precious in the moment...a moment to savour and remember... Love the authentic photos I get from you at Christmas...keep on snappin'

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  2. I think that is a great idea to do them yourself! A one shot deal at school hardly ever turns out... they don't seem to care if you look like a dork! ;) Your personal photos are SO much better!

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  3. We have decided to buy no more school pictures! Most of them are just boring, do not show the personality of the child and are way too expensive. We also think that the pictures we take of Kaefer are way better and you can get her quirky character. The pictures here on your site are VERY beautiful.

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  4. We will be happy with any and all photos you send this way of our grandkids. Bought three new "matching" 5X7 frames today for this year's pics........

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  5. You know last year we did that. No school photos. I mean every single school photo we do have still sits in the cellophane from Scholastic:( and that is like 30 dollars worth of pics for each child!!

    I find that snapshots are waaaaay better and that is what decorates our home...blown up snapshots of my family!!!

    Your family is darling by the way:)

    Leslie

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  6. Yes, I can see what everyone's saying. But after growing up with 4 siblings, and seeing 5 X 12 sets of photos, it's one of our favorite things to look through. Some of them we just look so silly, some awful, some are sleeve's are all messed up -- but to us, that was a part of growing up. Our family loves looking through my mom's albums of these silly things.

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  7. these are my absolute favorite kinds of pictures!! i am always telling my kids... "don't smile!" " don't look at the camera!" lol

    i think they might need counseling when they grow up...

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