Annual school pictures have been a well-kept tradition for generations. Have times changed enough to turn what was once priceless into a waste of money?
A Priceless Tradition
Looking at the school pictures of our parents and grandparents, it’s easy to say that these photographs are priceless treasures. Part of their value comes from their connection to us, but much of the value comes from the scarcity of photos in general. Pictures of ancestors are rarer the further back you go. In those days maybe only a graduation portrait and a wedding photo were taken.
School pictures were a priority for my mom. September was the tightest month of the year, since as a college professor, my dad wasn’t paid during the summer. Still, for her, the annual school photos were priceless. To this day she still regrets the one year there just wasn’t any money for school pictures. I don’t remember a thing about it, but it still weighs on her.
A Waste of Money
It’s pretty safe to say that the children growing up now are the most photographed generation in history. The average American now carries a camera in his pocket and likely has an even better camera at home. Just in the first year of life, our babies have been photographed more than all their grandparents combined! We aren’t limited by film or printing expenses. We aren’t even limited by storage. Aside from the initial cost of the camera, most of our photographs cost us nothing.
With the ability to take unlimited free pictures of our children, why would we spend money on pictures that aren’t even very good? Between the awkward smile, goofy photographer-styled hair, neon lights background and unnatural head turn, school pictures are often pretty awful (which oddly may be part of the draw).
Our Experience
When our daughter started kindergarten, we bought school pictures. I think we spent around $20 to get the smallest package that included a class picture. While I didn’t want to spend the money in our tight debt-payoff budget, I went ahead with the tradition.
For the record, my husband thought spending money on school pictures was unnecessary (we have hard drives full of pictures of our kids), but since he knew that I felt strongly about the tradition, he didn’t object.
The pictures were surprisingly decent. Still, we did not cut them up or distribute any. We did not frame them or scrapbook them. Two years later, they are sitting in the same envelope they came in, gathering dust.
When picture day rolled around last school year, the price doubled for us, as we had a kindergartner and a first grader. I thought about how much we hadn’t done with the previous year’s school pictures and decided we would keep our money and take our own photos. This year, there’s no question. We’ll handle our own kid photos.
Although we won’t use the school photographer, we’ll still make the annual pictures an event. Even though we have gigabytes of candid photos of our kids, I still like having formal pictures. We try to get family pictures taken at least once a year, which usually includes individual shots of the kids. This year we’re planning to take our own “school pictures” but without the sterile background (or shooting lasers) and uncomfortable posture.
What do you think?
- Are school pictures worth the money to you?
- Do you have a tradition of purchasing school pictures? Why or why not?
- Have you been successful taking more formal portraits of your own kids?
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Theresa says
August 24, 2015 at 4:55 amPriceless! I can’t wait to have the entire row of pictures on the wall at each of my kiddo’s graduation parties. Yes they are very well photographed children but nothing can compare to school photos. I had an adult friend who hung all the 5x7s up on a wall it was so much fun. I also distribute them to my family.
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:30 pmThat’s great that you actually distribute them to family. It is fun to see the age progression with all the pics hung up on the wall!
Jodi says
August 24, 2015 at 5:20 amI have three kids now ages 11 to 18. The preschool class photos are precious to me. But as they got older I stopped spending the money on class pica. I found that I wasn’t giving them away or framing theme, either so it was a waste of money for me.
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:32 pmI know what you mean. Even though my mom always bought school pictures, 90% of them are still in the envelope somewhere. She did sent a copy to my out-of-state grandparents though.
virginia says
August 24, 2015 at 7:04 amMy kids are now 28 and 30 – personally taken photos such as the first day of school are as precious to me as the school photos (those that I have) At the time, as a single mother, there was just NOT enough money in the budget for those sorts of things – so i took photos at scouting events, etc and those document their school years. I dont miss the “official photos one bit. Yearbooks? what a ripoff! I told my kids i would pay for 1 a year and they could share it or pay for another with their own money. My daughter still has hers, so son threw his away long ago.
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:33 pmYes! I do take first day of school pictures. 🙂
AA says
August 24, 2015 at 7:16 amMy children are not photographed as much as I was. They don’t want me to take their photos often so I respect that. My Grandmaw had an obsession with photos. At the time of her death almost 3 years ago every inch of every wall of her home was covered in framed photographs. She had to add in tables and shelves to have more space to put photos up on. She had boxes upon boxes on photographs that she had taken off the walls or never put up. She insisted, and paid, for us to be professionally photographed yearly on top of the school photos. My parents also had a really nice 35mm camera with a ton of lenses that they bought in Japan while we lived there.
When my oldest was a baby she would send me coupons and my grandparents sent me a Smile Savers card for Sears so I could his pictures taken for them every 3 months for the first year, then twice a year after that until he went to school. When I told her we were stopping with the school photos she was sad until I explained that we had cameras that we could take the same quality of photos with. Then we could have them sent to her local Walgreens to look through. She could let us know which ones she wanted in what sizes and we could have those sent there too. She LOVED when all her grandchildren got digital cameras to take pictures of her great grandchildren for her.
When my Grandpaw passed away 6 years ago my siblings and I bought her a digital picture frame with a 32gb sd card. I scanned pictures or took pictures (at her insistence) and took pictures from our social media pages to put on her picture frame I didn’t even get half of what she had on her walls. She had me set it up at the funeral so everyone could see the rotating pictures of their 63 years together. When she broke her hip 2 years later she took it to the nursing home with her so she could see her pictures still. While there my brother got her a connected picture frame so we could all text her new pictures which she loved as well.
When my oldest was in public school I got the pictures for him because I didn’t want him to feel left out the day that the other kids got their pictures. I’d always buy him the smallest package that would allow him send send a picture to each of his grandparents, great grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins and give out to his friends. The schools he attended didn’t offer class pictures, they did do things like sticker pictures. He always hated the school pictures and by second grade he didn’t want to do the pictures anymore so I didn’t get them for him.
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:36 pmThanks for sharing your experience. The digital picture frame is a great idea for someone who is picture obsessed! 🙂
Joan says
August 24, 2015 at 8:34 amMy oldest is almost 32 and my youngest will be 20. I bought every school year pics, dance recitals packages etc and personally went crazy taking pics for no real special occasions. (Just kids playing in park, school Halloween parades, school plays etc) Even though money was very tight, to this day. I don’t regret it! I set up photo albums by age, labeled with dates & occasions, people in pics. We would go thru them during rainy days when they were young, telling old family stories to go with the pics. One way to keep family history alive. I presented the albums when they moved out on their own.
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:38 pmThat’s great that you have all the pictures organized in albums. My grandma does that and we all love looking through our book when we go visit.
[email protected] says
August 24, 2015 at 8:58 amWe generally go with the least expensive option and send all of the pictures to grandparents, great-grandparents, and aunts and uncles. For us, the pictures are just pricey. But, for the extended family, they are priceless.
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:40 pmThat’s nice of you to appease the extended family. I bet they love them!
Debbie says
August 24, 2015 at 11:00 amI take the 1st day of school photos that mean more to me, however i get the cheapeast package i can because i would like for them to have their class pictures. That is something my husband never had and he feels its important. I on the other hand have most of my grade school class photos and occasionally I’ll look back and laugh, etc. That’s really the ONLY reason I buy the package, same with sport pictures, i only want the team photo. Otherwise I can take my own!
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:41 pmI do like the class pictures too! 🙂
Darbie says
August 24, 2015 at 12:34 pmI vote priceless. I love that they aren’t the greatest pictures of the kid. I love that the expressions are usually not their normal “good” picture expressions.
These days, some photographers have a digital option and allow you to just purchase the image on the disk and print them yourselves much cheaper at Costco or whatever. I have done this through 2 companies our school has used. It is usually only $10 and that is worth it for me to get the image and capture that year of school. We get much nicer professional pictures of our kids each year that go on the wall, but I love the quirkiness of the school picture.
Also, the company our school did pictures with the last 2 years stated on the form that you had to buy a print package in order to purchase the digital image. I just ignored that and marked the digital image and sent in my $10 check. Both years I was given a cd with the picture and no one ever said anything about not buying a package. Just something to consider!
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:45 pmThat’s awesome that you were able to get the digital image a la carte for $10! I took a look at our order form this year hoping to take your advice. Ours was $17 to add on a digital image. 🙁 The quirkiness of school photos is pretty great. I had some pretty classic quirky in my day… I should have my mom dig them out so I can show my kids!
Becca says
August 24, 2015 at 2:10 pmFunnily enough, my husband hates formal studio shots, but insists we buy the school pictures each year. I wouldn’t bother; except he likes it so much, and my mother always wants a photo of a certain size so that all of her grandchildren photos match. Growing up we never got school photos; but my parents would take us to Sear’s or whatever for a formal picture – my mom claimed it was cheaper and the quality was better. My sisters take their kids in for studio shots once or twice a year; my husband always thought that was a terrible waste of money and poo-poo’d the idea; but as soon as our children started school he was, “Oh, but we HAVE to get the school photos, they’re so important!”
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:46 pmThat is funny Becca! It’s kind of cute that he cares about it though!
Karen says
August 25, 2015 at 3:56 amWe’ve always bought the annual school pictures. Yes – we always bought the smallest package available, and yes – those pictures are still in the envelopes and were never passed out to relatives. The same is true for the sports teams they played on as kids. But, I am thrilled to have them for posterity’s sake. My favorite, though, is the class picture. We like looking back through the years to see not just how our kids have grown up but their friends as well. In our case, we live in the same suburban town I grew up in. Some of my sons’ teachers were people I went to school with, and we really like the memories of past classmates and teachers through the years. We also have the privilege of knowing several of my sons’ classmates who are in their 20’s now and in various academic and professional pursuits such as the NFL, MLB, a few international business owners, and other public arenas. It’s fun to look at the pictures and say “I remember when….”
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:50 pmYes class pictures are great! One of my high school friends recently posted a picture of our HS marching band on Facebook. It was fun to pick everyone out.
[email protected] says
August 25, 2015 at 4:48 amWe buy the cheapest package which is $12. It includes enough to hand out to grandparents. I love that our school gives us free class pictures every year. That way if parents don’t/can’t buy the pictures they still have a picture of their kids that year.
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:50 pmThat’s really neat that your school gives free class pictures!
Liz S says
August 25, 2015 at 6:38 amI did the same thing as you. Purchased school pictures for my oldest when he was in Kindergarten. They came out horrible and I felt like I had been cheated out of money. Never ordered any since then, and we don’t even do family pics! However, what I love about our school is that the kids always get one (or two) class pictures for free even if you don’t order pics. Also, the school has your child’s picture taken anyway and they send home a proof and you can always decided if you like it or not and THEN go online and order it if it happened to come out really good. But I still have never ordered any!
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:54 pmI have saved the proofs and figure that is as good as school pictures that I just keep in the envelope anyway. I think the teachers get a couple wallet-size copies of each kid because each year they make some sort of Christmas ornament with their picture on it. I really cherish those and I take pictures of them (the ornament that the child made with their picture on it) just in case it gets lost or ruined.
Cindy Parker says
August 25, 2015 at 8:13 amAs a photographer I can tell you that people have a very bad habit of never printing those thousands of free digital prints that they have, which is sad. Have you ever seen someone post on social media how devastated they are that they lost their phone and have no pictures of their kids? Skip the school photos if you want but please please start printing pictures of your kids…someday you will wish you had. Just mho 😉
Cindy Parker says
August 25, 2015 at 8:15 amCorrection on my post above…they never print the thousands of free digital “images”.
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:55 pmGood advice Cindy! Definitely get some prints or photo books and back up your computer too! 🙂
Dane Hinson says
August 25, 2015 at 2:03 pmI gotta say that school pictures are priceless. Some of my most nostalgic (and awkward) childhood photos are from school pictures. I say they’ll be a must for my little guys when they get to that age.
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:57 pmThere definitely is something nostalgic about those awkward shots. I really need to find my old school pictures to show my kids. They would love seeing me when I was their ages.
Linda P. says
August 28, 2015 at 7:47 amI’m 65. A classmate recently put one of our class photos up on Facebook, and we’ve all been having so much fun identifying each other. Another, however, put up photos of a party that included most of the people in one class (I wasn’t yet at that school) and that was just as much fun identifying people. The point? If you’re not going to participate and buy class photos or if your children are home schooled, make sure you get some group photos of your children with groups of their friends. It’s a bonding experience decades down the road.
Stephanie says
September 4, 2015 at 11:58 pmI’ve had friends do this too and it’s fun to reminisce!
Susan says
August 29, 2015 at 12:16 pmI usually buy pictures in the fall because that is the only way to see what is going in the yearbook and if you need to do retakes. I’ve bought class pictures every year for my boys during elementary school. My school didn’t do that and I would love to have a picture with my classmates.
Stephanie says
September 5, 2015 at 12:00 amI’m surprised your school didn’t do class pictures. Those were always my favorite.
Heather says
September 4, 2015 at 7:34 amI always buy the pictures, I love being able to to put them in her school years scrapbook, of course I have tons of pictures of them on my phone and computer, but there is something special to me about seeing how she changes each year in that same “School photo pose” I also buy the dance photos every year too, Im very excited to use them all when she graduates!
Stephanie says
September 5, 2015 at 12:00 amIt will be fun to see the age progression all with the standard pose. 🙂