School photos are crazy expensive

[ZipityFlippity]

For our school you can’t just buy a 5” by 7” photo. You have to buy a pack with a variety of photos ranging from £11.50 for 1 10” x 7” to £32.95 for 15 of the same picture in different sizes.

I just want 3 5” x 7” pictures for me and grandparents but you can’t buy this, why??

What do your schools do?

[raspberrysuicide]

We don't buy them, I can take a better picture of my dc with their school uniform on with my phone !

[Alanna1]

I think of it as a donation to the school, plus photographs. Schools need money...

[DunkMeInTomatoSoup]

Schools get a percentage of the money, however I never buy them.

[eyebrowsonfleek]

I got a professional of Facebook to do uniform pics. I have 3 kids at different schools and she took 15 different pics for £20. I was allowed to pick the 15 photos and give the kids directions like not to
slouch etc. I am happy that I got group shots too.

[Ecadia]

I've had to buy 2 separate ones this year. One for school and one for nursery. I got the big bundle which I clearly don't need. But works out cheaper so for £26 each, i will get 1 big photo, 2 medium in both colour and b&w, 4 small in both colour and b&w then about 30 passport size photos which will sit in the drawer with last years ones.

[BluthsFrozenBananas]

The quality is awful for the price. In last year’s photo my very pale DD was photographed against a white background and a flash was used. I honestly couldn’t tell where the background ended and her face started, she was just features hanging in mid air.

[toomuchhappyland]

I go for the cd or usb option (normally about £17) and then order prints at Boots.

[FizzyWaterAndElderflower]

I've bought them just once. Every other time the picture has been so awful it's just not worth having.

We all have camera phones now, that make it easy to get a good shot, and getting pictures printed out is cheap and easy. School photographers need to up their game and actually produce good photos to justify it in my opinion, and the vast majority don't (they're certainly not as good as the ones I got when I was a kid)

[CaveMum]

toomuchjappyland DD's nursery photographs were £50 for a CD of 4 images

[BackforGood]

Agree, they have got out of hand. With digital photography nowadays you might as well take your own photos.

[Kragghooooooullllll]

£21 for two photos emailed to me. Thought that way I can print out cheaply for grandparents etc.

[ijustwannadance]

The people who did DD's had their website you could go on with your child's reference number and choose from many more options/packs. Paid online and sent direct.

[Oysterbabe]

We've just paid £50 for the Digi photos from nursery, couldn't resist they're seriously cute.

[inkAdvantage]

Ours are included in the school fees.

One class photo, one individual photo and HQ digital versions emailed.

It makes far more sense.

[pinkliquorice]

I used to get them but they are such poor quality and overpriced for what they are, School photographer spends about 2 seconds on each child and my children always end up messing their hair up or half blinking.
My partner is a photographer so he takes far better ones of them in their uniform before we go, but tbh even with no photographic skills I could take nicer ones on my phone.

[19lottie82]

£11.50 is hardly expensive considering the photographers got to make a living after he’s paid all him expenses inc a chunk to the school. I thought you were going to say the cheapest was £30 or something!

[MaureenMLove]

Interesting post for me, as I am the one who organises the school photos at the beginning of year 7. That's the only time we do them.

I received a parcel of just 27 orders back a couple of weeks ago. That's out of 310 year 7s. I'm thinking, for the amount of commission we get from that (about £200 at the most) it's just not worth my effort organising 11 tutor groups having their pictures taken (it takes all day!) distributing the proofs, collecting the orders and then delivering the photos back again.

Did think it was a bit mean, because some families really still like them, but so far, it seems not!

[IncyWincyGrownUp]

Seconding the online option. Check your form, there’s often a username and password for ordering alternative packages.

[Thingsthatgo]

One of the mums at ds’s school is a photographer and she takes them. They are really good shots, and not with that awful background that school photos often have. We get 2 10x8 and 4 5x7 for £11

[JennyOnAPlate]

Crazily expensive and dreadful quality too. One of my dds has her eyes closed in ours (obviously blinked at the wrong moment!!) you’d think the photographer could at least check to make sure their eyes are open!!

[DeleteOrDecay]

They are expensive, we paid £20 for 3 photos most recently.

[Katedotness1963]

They're expensive, poor quality and the "packages" are not convenient. We stopped buying them years ago. We just get a family photograph done every few years.

[TeeniefaeTroon]

I paid £16 and a photo was emailed to me, I’ll print them in Tesco.

[TheDowagerCuntess]

No, we're able to pick and choose which, and how many of each photo we'd like. Still not cheap, but at least you don't have to buy excess.

[baffledcoconut]

Nursery photos were £40 for 4 nearly identical digital images... grandparent tax