Monday, October 19, 2009

You may laugh now…adventures in school pictures

The concept of school pictures is actually helpful (in theory) to a parent. Taking your kid to professional pictures is an ordeal, involving travel & ensuring the picture outfit or outfits don't get stained & moods stay lighthearted & the subject has eaten enough and slept enough. Why not just let the school worry about it while you go about your day?

Because, folks, you might end up with this as your school picture memento:


Julia's first ever school picture.

OMG! I cannot believe I advocated to S that we should let Julia get school pictures taken. I advocated PAYING for this. What?! Lesson learned. While I'm a very, very amateur photographer, I could do better than this. Okay, a 5 year old could do better than this.

I thought they would do pictures with a nice boring blue background. Oooh, or that carpeted shelf thing for them to put their hands would be kind of cute. I could tolerate that. But...THIS???

1. The Bumbo from 1982. Really??? She is 16 months old and can stand by herself or sit by herself. Must you force her into a chair for 6 month olds? Could it at least be a neutral color?

2. The atrocious backdrop. Blue camo???

3. The matching atrocious floor cloth. In what decade was this acceptable?

4. The fake plants…nuff said.

5. The bottoms of her shoes are showing.

6. Her terrified look. I'm sure they think it's an almost smile. I think she's about ready to scream at being around this hideous collection of props with a strange person taking her picture.

7. The least objectionable prop is the teddy bear. And she wants nothing to do with it, which makes it seem very awkward. Plus it is completely obstructing her.

I want my money back!!!! I even paid for the CD. I'm such a freaking idiot.

Laughing is allowed. Please don't try to tell me it's not that bad. Because, let's be honest, it's downright awful. Who in their right mind would pick that kind of backdrop???

And here is a picture we took this weekend. We're only amateur photographers, but I think we captured her essence a whole lot better than Herff Jones. Herff Jones sucks at photography.

Our amateur photo:


6 comments:

Krista said...

I am cracking up right now and I read your commentary to hubby. Your right that picture is bad and exactly why I didn't let them take M's picture at daycare last week. Too funny! On the plus side she looks "chubby" in that picture. I am so glad Miss J has turned a corner!

B said...

Thanks, Krista, I really think the 2-3 pounds she's gained since her first birthday have pulled her out of the 'anorexic baby' category. Finally!

I really don't get all the clutter in the picture. The cloth looks like a drop cloth with paint spatters. Seriously, who would pick something like that out?

Scrapping in Circles said...

That is a bad photo. I dislike school photos because you can't see them first to approve before you pay. That's ridiculous. At least the preschool and regular school photos are pretty "standard" with a simple background and no props.

The boppy chair really seemed odd. Why would they have a child that old sit in one? Strange.

Melissa said...

I would ask for my money back definitely!!!
Do they do retakes?

Leigh Ann said...

OH MY!!! (sorry for the late post on here, I behind in blogland) Yes, that is horrible :( I was all excited that Waylon's school pics are next week. But now, I think I might be scared! They did say that they will have a picture of the background next week for parents to look at(I guess so we can match clothes accordingly). It's supposed to be a winter background. I just cannot get over the bumbo!!! Oh my....just OH MYYYYYYYYY...

Leigh Ann said...

I will add that Julia is of course cute in any picture!! And you guys did a way better "amateur" job :)