Bad school pictures
The apathy in this country never ceases to amaze me. And I realize that it might be hard for someone who doesn’t know me to make the jump from a bad school photo to all the troubles of the world, but hang with me for a moment.
My daughter had her picture taken by the school photographer this year. We didn’t used to do this because Daniel is a photographer and the pictures are much better etc etc. However, as the kids have aged, not getting your picture taken has become a social faux pas. So we’ve sucommed to our childrens’ peer pressure and indulged them.
What a complete waste of money. The only upshot of Danae’s picture this year is that we didn’t buy many of them. This is Danae’s photo for fourth grade:
What adult doesn’t help her push her headband up? Or help her comb her bangs down where they belong? What about families who can’t afford pictures and this is all they get all year long? I was incensed and enraged.
And for me it immediately come back to people not caring, and not taking the time. When we were little, or perhaps, I should say, when I was little, we stood in line, we had a little comb they handed out, our teachers looked us over before we were allowed to sit down, collars were straightened, buttons buttoned. Unfortunately in this day of “do you want fries with that” teachers have 30 students, and no time for the niceties.
So no, next year, instead of paying for pictures, I’m going to stand tall – hand over wallet photos that they can share amongst their friends and remain firm. Because until we stop paying for bad pictures, why would they stop taking them?
Clare Troutman
clare@troutmanphoto.com
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Making Money $150 An Hour
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I’d get retakes just for the principle of the thing.
Mike feels the same despair when he sees what other advisors have done to their clients’ portfolios. Fortunately, by that point, they’re HIS clients and he can touch them right up to model quality.
Maybe Daniel could offer quality “school” portraits to parents who want them. Set a price in advance, (the hard part), set up at the school (economy of scale) on a different day than the assembly line photog., maybe after school or a Saturday. I don’t know if/how to get around the using public buildings for commercial use, but they DO invite in the other guys.
Even better: Make it a fundraiser. Inflate the price a tad above what you want and gain exposure (that’s a photo joke!) and hopefully, new clients in the process. Win-win-win.
Can the kids be included in the class portrait sheet if they don’t purchase a package? Maybe an enlightened teacher would let him take a fun shot of his/her class (say, Danae’s…) that could be included as part of his package.
The hardest part is pricing and an artist’s natural perfectionism. (see: Art and Fear, this blog)
Just some thoughts.
Work is a Blessing.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101267379&ft=1&f=4538138
oops—s/b attached to the other post I made. Will redo. Still new at this!