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Original poster

School photos, complete rip off or what?! Plus studio portrait photos...

19 replies

cloudy · 28/02/2005 13:17

School photos are so expensive for what you get, none of the set packages were what we wanted, and they don't offer alteratives. Would it be very mean of me to only order them every other year? I'm hoping the grandparents won't notice...

Has everyone else taken their children to professional studios to get pictures done? I've never done it, I'm afraid that one or even all of my 3 will have a major paddy and it would be a waste of time... and money. What experiences have other people had?

OP posts:

noddyholder · 28/02/2005 13:20

i buy them cos I feel like bad mummy if I don't!They are a rip off though

Cod · 28/02/2005 13:21

Message withdrawn

spagblog · 28/02/2005 13:23

I don't buy them. I can take a better picture at home as DD normally looks terrified of the photographer!

LIZS · 28/02/2005 13:24

I'm still trying to reprints of ones taken in October for the grandparents (only 2 copies of particular size included and we need 3 - grr!). Didn't get the original pack till Christmas, too late to send out with cards.

amynnixmum · 28/02/2005 13:26

My friend sent me a link for a website that finds your old school photos.
See this

Gwenick · 28/02/2005 13:27

We bought the pack that was unmounted - got more pictures and just bought frames/mounts outselves.

scotlou · 28/02/2005 13:32

We had good studio pictures taken when ds was round 14 months - but they were really expensive! The sitting was free - but the photos started at £ 60 per picture. They look great on our living room wall - but still too pricey, I think.
I don't buy school photos unless it's a good picture. And how about the photos they take in hospital of newborns? I think they're a waste of money too but you feel kind of obliged to buy them. (well I did anyway)

pinotgrigio · 28/02/2005 13:36

I used a studio photographer to get some prints of DD for her 2nd birthday last weekend. She was brilliant. Not a tantrum in sight. Repeated offers of a lollipop for good behaviour worked wonders.

The worst part of the whole experience was getting her hair cut the day before. Rather than risk one of my dodgy haircuts being recorded for posterity in the studio shots I took her to a hairdresser. She took one look at the extremely inoffensive and VERY camp stylist, screamed and lay down in classic star shape pose on the floor.

It only took 3 toys, one lollipop, one dummy and a security blanket to get her in the chair. After that it was a doddle .

Gwenick · 28/02/2005 13:38

LOL scotlou - I have wonderful memories of the hospital photos. DS1 was born on Saturday Lunchtime, DH came in with a framed colour photo of us in the evening - the 'hospital' photographer came round on Sunday morning trying to flog me photo's at which pointed I simply pointed to my lovely framed one .

FairyMum · 28/02/2005 13:41

I buy them, but agree they are rip-offs. I prefer the photos I take myself. They are more genuine I think.

fee77 · 28/02/2005 13:43

I got some done of dd by olan mills, the crowd that go round mothercare. The photographer was really good - really patient even though there was a huge queue, and was great with dd (12mths at the time). There was a deal on, £10 for a photo, or buy packs - 5 for the price of 3. All in all it was about £50 but we got enough photos to please grandparents and close relatives, and we popped all the dinky shots in with our christmas cards.

late · 28/02/2005 13:55

amynnixmum, thanks that was sooooo LOL!

TinyGang · 28/02/2005 14:22

I didn't buy the last one and felt like a mean old mummy. They are dear for what they are, but it wasn't really that. I just didn't think it was a very good picture of my dd.

She often wears a pretty hairband and it had slipped down above her eyebrows and she looked like John McEnroe! I mean you'd think they would've moved it up fgs. We take so many photos at home anyway and they're often much better.

I try to get a 'class' one each year as a memento and it helps remind me who to invite from school to the birthday party too !

Once a year a photogapher comes to the school to do the whole family. I only buy one print and (sorry about this) we copy it for the grandparents

pixel · 28/02/2005 16:44

I only buy them if they are halfway decent. The lack of effort infuriates me. After all, if small children have dressed themselves after PE how much effort does it take to go along the photo queue untucking collars and putting hairslides straight? The last couple of times we didn't even get any warning so we could make sure they had best jumpers, hair freshly washed etc, just got told by dd "oh we had our photos taken today". Well great except that we got caught in the rain on the way to school so dd's hair was like rats' tails, and the staff are apparently not allowed to comb the childrens' hair even with their own combs.

Sorry for rant but I'm afraid you hit a sore point!

Actually, we did go to a studio for a few special pics and they were well worth it. I have a gorgeous photo of a 4 year old dd and her newborn brother. AHHHH!

Yorkiegirl · 28/02/2005 16:47

Message withdrawn

emmatmg · 28/02/2005 17:04

We didn't buy DS1's this year becuase it was exactly the same as last years.

Smae clothes (uniform), same hair, same pose,.

Pointless buying another one.

nutcracker · 28/02/2005 17:07

For the first time this year I refused to buy the one of DD1 on her own as it was awful. I had told her that she could have her hair down for the piccie so long as she didn't tuck it behing her ears for the picce, and the teacher told her she had to...result, piccie of dd looking like she had been dragged through a hedge backwards.

She wasn't impresed that i had the one of Dd2, but that one was ok and it was her first one. Also had the one of the 2 of them.

It is a con though as i ask for them to do one of them together and then they always do them seperatly too.

I recently had some done at Olan Mills of my lot. They were ok but Ds wasn't impressed at all. I had 3 sittings left and because it was a watch me grow plan they said Ds had to be present at all sittings. I refused and so haven't used the rest of the sittings.
I plan to try him in Boots the next time they are doing it and see how we go.

stitch · 28/02/2005 17:17

i felt such a mean mummy for not buying them, as i thingk they are a ripoff. glad other people like me out there.

Hulababy · 28/02/2005 17:25

We get DD's photo done once a year (well, just about to book it for her 3rd birthday) at Portrait Place - which is inside other stores like Debenhems. I pay for the £10 sitting with free photo. Both times they have been great and we have been really pleased with the photos. This is the first year and this is the second year . Also this and this . I thought they were done really well, and especially in the second year they spent ages with DD - posing and having a great time. DD loved it, as did the photgographer from all accounts and the amount of laughing going on!

Last time we were so pleased we did pay for 2 10x8 photos for grandparents, but we were also naughty - took digital shots of them, and had smaller ones reproduced through Jessops (or similar). Came out great! But wouldn't advocate it obviously!

Luckily DD's last nursery photo (same people as school) was pretty good, and we did have that too - but first one we didn't.

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