Awful school photo

[daisychainarainyday]

So..cutting a long story short. We have just received our school photos in the post because the company the school used , took so, so long to send them out.

My DD's own photo is terrible!!! I mean it is the worst photo i have seen of her!! She isn't smiling and his her head down so she actually has a double chin !!!!!!!

The class photo - is slightly better but my DD is one of the six who is grimacing 😔

im just so annoyed as they were expensive and i ordered extra for family. i cannot and wont send any. she looks terrible.

can i complain? surely they didnt just take one photo??

im thjnking that i will just take my own of her i her uniform.

i feel very angry and sad about it all.

Don't you get to preview them first?

School photos are awful 99% of the time.

You don't have to buy the school photo! I never did if I didn't like it.
You can take your own nice photo and get it printed and framed.

You get to see the proof of the picture before you order it don’t you?!

Take your own. I've never bought school photos - I take nicer ones of my own - doesn't everyone?

I don't believe there is a need for the school photo anymore.

I haven't bought one for about 3 years - they're old fashioned and generally awful. My son has ASD and he said how uncomfortable the photographer made him last time telling him how to smile and where to look. I might actually take him out of the next ones.

They're overpriced and rubbish. I like to have the class one normally at the beginning and end of each school (we have infants and junior schools here) but that's it.

Surely you saw the photo before you bought it? Our school uses a company and you log on, look at the options (3-4 per child) and pick the best one. You get the password on a log in.

School have used 5-6 companies over the years and it's all the same.

Don’t buy it?

Didnt you get to see "proofs" first? So that you could decide whether to order a bunch of them?
I dont see how you can complain no.

School photographers have 100s of children to take photos of and arent going to take the time to get any one particular child to smile angelically.

I wouldnt be at all cut up about it tbh. Just take one of her yourself.
(for context I havent got any school photos of my kids)

Is it different from the preview photo?

Also confused as surely you saw previews before purchasing? If you didn't and didn't know what you were getting, then that's on you ...

In the long run, they will have A LOT of school photos across their school lives. In the whole batch, it's fun to have some bad ones.

You should have been shown the photo before buying it?

Nine times out of ten I don't buy them because they are awful. I can take a better photo myself.

Didn’t you the pictures before you ordered? The one they took for DD2 last year was awful, it was as if they didn’t even make any effort. I didn’t buy it obviously and I took mine and printed it.

I think you are seriously overreacting. Surely if it's that bad a photo it is funny? We've had some god awful ones over the years but they are hilarious

In our school we didn't.

We had to order and pay sight unseen then if we didn't like the photo once it arrived, we had to send it back for a refund.

One of my ds1's photos was terrible, they'd just had PE and were obviously being rushed. His hair was a mess, he was bright red with a shiny forehead from running, his tie and shirt weren't done up properly.

It was a new to the school photographer and apparently had loads of complaints from parents that year.

Op, I would send them back for a refund and take your own. That's what I ended up doing and got some beautiful shots.

Even back in ye olden pre Internet days you got a little proof version to see what you are buying, or not buying. How is it possible you didn't see a proof?

Did t you see it before you agreed to buy it?

Wow if I didn't see it first I wouldn't have taken a chance on it!

Lots of local photographers do a Back to school session now with children in their uniforms either so siblings at different schools can have one together or children who are Home Ed can have one.

I think originally it must have been quite a lovely thing to have a photo of your child looking smart at a time when many didn't have their own cameras a bit like when people went into the military and have their formal photo taken but now it's just an over priced money making scheme.

I've never bought a school photo.

They are from the days when people didn't have cameras so it was some people's only chance to have a photo of their child.

These days they are a waste of school time and only exist because the school need the small amount of money that they get from them.

Never known there not to be a proof photo and and order form for which package you wanted (either on line or physical). The photographer simply hasn't got the time to spend ages coaxing children to smile and look where they are supposed to. Neither is there time to brush hair and dress properly.

I hope you haven't reacted like this in front of your DD.

I would feel annoyed in your shoes, not sure there is much you can do though, other than never pay for any again.

School photos are always dreadful!...
I say this as a mother who's also a teacher!

We get SO many complaints every year. We can't win, though - we floated the idea of just dropping the whole thing & there was uproar!

To be fair, it's a huge, pain in the arse of a job for the photographer to get anywhere near decent shots of hundreds of kids in a matter of a few hours. They re-take the class ones over & over but there's ALWAYS kids not looking or pulling faces, etc. It is what it is!! 🤷‍♀️🤣

Did you not see it was bad on the proofs?
I never buy them. I have beautiful photos of my kids just taken on my phone.

There was no preview photo.
I did not react disappointed in front of my DD.
I opened them when she wasn't there.

I'm going to take my own. Any tips?uniform on ..white background ...