To really hate group class photos?

[TheBadgersMadeMeDoIt]

I didn't buy DD's class photo this year because I can't bear all the fake casualness. The kids are all over the place - sprawled on the grass or leaning against trees. One was sitting on a tree-stump, sideways on to the camera for some reason. DD was arm-in-arm with another girl and scowling. The photographer had told her to pose like that with her "buddy". The girl in question is the one child in the class that DD really doesn't get on with. (Hence the scowl).

Maybe I'm just hopelessly old fashioned but what was wrong with the row of benches, folded arms and cheesy grins? At least you could see everyone's face. Is it just me?

My son's school does traditional class photos. I still don't buy them because (delightful as they are) I don't particularly want a photo of 29 other 6 year olds and their teachers.

Ha! I see I'm not the only grump bag to feel this way.

I have no earthly idea why anyone wants a picture of a whole load of other people's children, no matter how good their own child looks in it. In the dark ages when I was at school, we only had a class photo for the leaving year of secondary. DD can't be in school photos anyway, so it's moot for us (and lots of other families in school), but I don't feel we are missing anything! Pins on miserable-old-git badge

I'm with you OP - it's like Venture on glue.

Ours still do the traditional rows of kids with their teachers.
Thankfullly our school is small and there arent a lot of kids but tbh they are just for the kids to look back on, I dont have them up on display like I have their own photos. I do think they are too expensive but I get the cheapest one. Thankfully no more class photos for us as ds2 going up to high school.

DS's class photo is the same, all wacky poses, leaning on each other and bloody props. It's massive too, like a big long scroll. I want the old fashioned ones back and I want it normal photo sized! I still bloody buy them though. 😖

My DDs is done the old way, sitting on benches in rows... i refuse to pay £13 for a photo though... Pisstakers!

Thankfully our school has gone back to traditional. We had the year of "everyone including the teacher being the same height. Year 4 that was. The teacher, who already wasn't thin, must have been thrilled to find that they'd shortened him by just bringing the height down, so he looks huge. Some of the smallest children in the class who'd "grown" looked like they'd been starved for a few weeks.

However the photographer they now have does 5 rows of 6 children.
One sitting on the floor. One kneeling behind. One sitting on benches and two rows standing on the same height bench. They're not arranged by height so all you can see of the back row are a few half faces and a shoulder at each end. (mine have never been back row, so this isn't personal)
Worst still was the year my dc had a teacher who had favourites and the back row was all the ones she didn't like.

Now I'm not a photographer, but I could tell them they need a line of standing on the floor between the sitting on bench and standing on bench. Can't believe they haven't worked this out yet. I assumed the first year that it was an accident. Obviously not.

YANBU, they are pretty cheesy! we still buy the smallest print they offer though so that DC has a copy for their memory box.

You know those class photos that are made up of separate pics of clusters of kids posing together, sometimes with props or staff members? One year, a child in ds2's class ended up getting put in a cluster twice (I imagine the staff member in charge was having a bad day!), so the class photos from that year has one child in it twice, as if by magic!!! So funny! It's still up on the school wall and the kids love it 😄

At the extortionate rate all school photos are I don't buy any,I dont need pics of other peoples kids hung on the wall it's not like we all don't have cameras in nearly everything from phones to iPads and lots more so a numerous amount of pictures around us that are far nicer than school ones.14.99 cheapest on offer this time for one picture lol how on earth can they justify such a ripoff price.

I hate all the group photos including the ones on benches.

We used to have group school photos. 600 kids on benches that seemed to reach to the sky from the point of view of a 5 year old. Getting everyone in place and organized seemed to take about two hours. People routinely fainted as it was always done outside in the Summer. The only good thing was one of the girls in my class would stand at one end of a row and run around the back to get in the other end too while the camera took a panoramic shot. Because there were so many people it was pretty much impossible to work out who everyone was as well.

When my children were in fifth grade an acquaintance volunteered and took photos and video clips of the children throughout the year doing different activities, going on field trips, and the teachers doing daft stuff. She put it together into a DVD with songs that were at the top of the charts during that time. It was an excellent memento as all the children were in it at some point, and the shots were clearly not staged, but taken as things happened.

Ours does the fake casual pictures.

This year's is comedy gold, thanks to some truly awful photoshopping. DD's teacher now appears to be the same height as the children in her class. The oldest child in the class is only 6yrs old. :o

I rarely bought school photo's they're a rip off.
They are usually dressed lovely and up early on the first day back, I used to do my own, in the garden next to a nice tree or flowering bush.
I bought reception, y3, y7.

My DH also found his from the 60s and it is lovely and hilarious at the same time. If they do traditional ones I might get Reception and Y6, if not then I won't bother!

YANBU

I don't like them at all either,but still buy them. They are not for me, they're for my kids. We put the names at the back, so if they want to look at them in the future they are there.
I don't think any parent actually cares about the whole class, do they?

The cost is extortionate, it would be so much better for a teacher to take the photo, email it to parents who pay a small fee for it, and everybody would benefit.

I think the class photos are too contrived as well, and the size is awkward, but they are the only school photos I do buy. I have plenty of pictures of my own children, but I imagine mine will enjoy having the class photos as they grow up to look back on. They seem to appreciate having them.

My daughters school does traditional school pictures I bought both her individual picture and her class photo. I bought the class photo because these children will be her friends all her life and its nice to look back on I know I like to look back on mine as I'm still friends with the girls I went to school with (small town).

I wont buy the class photo every year only plan to buy another 2 one in the middle and the last one before she leaves primary. I will by every individual pic tho its a lovely record for them to have.

That said if they were not traditional ones I prob wouldn't bother.

why would I want a photo of 25+ kids I dont know?

Um...your children might? They are not really for you. I still have all mine, they aid my failing memory.

Anyway..I quite like seeing them all grow up (I do know most of them).

I don't think class photos are really for the benefit of parents, they're for the children to reminisce when they're older.

I'm so glad I have mine, they're hilarious!

Yanbu I hate them too.

I hate DS's class photos. They take photos of small groups in various poses and then superimpose them all onto a white background. It just looks odd. We've bought one anyway though (£15!) because we're mugs sentimental.

A few years ago DS's school tried the casual photo approach. There were so many complaints from parents they've never done it again and have gone back to the traditional kids on benches photos.

We have a whole school one this year.

Luckily that means I only need buy one copy. But ds2 advises me that they were shot in groups and photoshopped together.

Which is rubbish.

I remember standing outside having our school one taken and everyone trying to egg the one on the end to run to the other end so they could be on twice.

Happy days

I like them - the awfulness is part of the appeal and I've loved watching DS's class grow up. This year I'll be buying it for the comedy value alone - we've had a glorious saga where two of the boys were late so the photographer took a photo of them separately and tried to photoshop them in, but for some reason they made a complete hash of it and photoshopped one of them over the top of the (much taller) girl on the end, so he's standing there with a disembodied JoJo bow floating above his head. They are re-doing it but I want to keep the messed up one!