OMG Senior Pictures $$$$

[MN_Gal]

I took my son's senior pics 3 years ago and got by for under $50.00 which included enlargements and wallets. My youngest has already said that I can take his next year.

If you are taking your own, try printing through www.mpix.com

The photos I got were great and were reasonably priced. I loved that the wallets came 4 to a sheet and were pre-punched so I didn't have to cut them.

 

[powellrj]

When my son is a senior I'll pay for the lovely $15 package at J.C. Penney. Senior pictures are such a waste of money.

We had to use the schools photography to get our pictures in the yearbook. I hope your DS is more cooperative than mine was. It was pretty much a one shot deal. He agreed to one change of clothes, casual and dress one and that was it!! I bought the cheapest package from the schools photographer because I knew I would never get him to go to another one.

 

[Box]

Perhaps I can shed some light on it for some of you.

There are restaurants that serve $1 hamburgers, and those who serve expensive fine meals. You can buy $5 wine or spend as much as you want. You can stay in a Motel 6 or a Disney Resort.

The same is true of photographers. There are low end and high end. I am one of the later. Our clients spend $500-2000 on senior pictures. For some, no way would it be worth it, but for our clients, it's worth every penny.

For our clients, it's much more than just a picture. The quality is altogether different. We use top of the line equipment and years of training to produce images, the quality of what they see in magazines. And the experience for them is amazing. Especially the girls, many of whom have such low self esteem now days. By the end of their session, they usually hug me, thanking me for making them look and feel more beautiful than they ever have. They see image on the back of the camera and say they never knew that could be that pretty. What is that experience worth? We offer to buy portraits back from our clients for double what they paid, no way would they consider it.

We use $10,000 cameras (not a $600 Rebel), the best lights, we take the time to make every detail PERFECT. Then our portraits are retouched to perfection and printed by a pro lab, and coated with a gelcoat containing a UV inhibitor to make them last for years and year. Those cheap drugstore prints will be fading or shifting color in a few years. Ours won't .

Something you might not have considered is that we have a wall of honor in our studio, clients whom we have lost. We have had six of our clients pass away this year so far. Their portraits from us are now PRICELESS. Would you rather be left with a $15 ugly 8x10? Or a beautiful portrait that captures who they are and will last for many years?

For some people, it's not worth it. It's not where they place their values. I am amazed at the people who will give their kids expensive cars, $400 phones and designer clothes, but have an issue spending money on portraits that will FAR outlast the car, the phone or the clothes. We have 5 children ourselves. 2 are now gone in college. Our walls are covered with portraits of our kids and family. Our children are our most prized possessions.

Compare the images from a REAL professional to those from the "someone with a camera". There is no comparison. There are traditional styles and contemporary. If you want to see our portraits, Google "Box Seniors" you may compare them to what you see here and many school photographers.

Honor your kids. They are worth more than a $15 portrait.

 

[Darcy03231]

We just had senior pictures done last year. Because the school contracts with a photographer for the yearbook photos there is no sitting fee and each graduating senior is entitled to their yearbook picture for free.

Package prices are high, but no where near as bad as OP's. We got a package with 1-8x10, 4-5x7, 24-wallets and it was $150. We did have to put down a deposit on the proof book when we picked it up ($75) but it went toward our order. If we opted not to order we had to return the proofs within 2 weeks to get a full refund.

 

[ancestry]

I did my daughter's senior pictures myself - total cost $0! She sat out in our backyard on a sunny day on a big rock in the fall with all of the different color leaves in the background. Her pictures were way nicer than most of her friends who had paid $100s of dollars for them. People thought the trees/leaves were a backdrop in a studio.

 

[jenseib]

Not sure why "Box" brought this back to life. It's an old thread, and this is Box's 1st post.

 

[jenseib]

Not sure why "Box" brought this back to life. It's an old thread, and this is Box's 1st post.

It could be he is trying to promote his business?

 

[Colleen27]

Wow, that is SO not the norm here. If it was most families wouldn't be able to afford senior pictures at all!

The photographer we use for special occasions is the most popular for senior pictures in our town. He charges $25/hr for in studio sessions, and $50/first hour $25/additional hour for on location sessions. Yes, the prints are expensive (starting at $2 per wallet and going up to $100+ for larger prints, photobooks, and other speciality items) but he makes the proofs available to view online and doesn't push packages. You pay the per-print price for exactly the sized and quantities you want. For large orders like senior pictures, he offers discounts based on your total bill - 10% off $200+, 15% off $300+ or 20% off $400 plus. And he does beautiful work, much better than the studio where I had mine done. He's excellent with the personality/creative shots and uses some really neat locations for shoots based on the subject's interests.

 

[SandrA9810]

Not sure why "Box" brought this back to life. It's an old thread, and this is Box's 1st post.

Don't you know it's customary that a new user revives an old topic?? Of course now, people probably won't realize the date of the topic and keep it going... If anything, always read the first post, and then the last post to make sure you're on the same topic.

 

[auralia]

I did my neices pics for her... when my dd was born instead of wasteing a whole bunch of money at a photographer I bought a really good dslr camera for about 800$... so i can take great pics we still go professional once a year but my guy ... who I LOVE for 200$ you get a proof book of 24 4x6 of your choice as many outfits as you can fit into 2 hours AND 8 8x10s AND the rights to the photos... he usually does arcitecural photography and stuff for magazines, but he does family photos on the side in his studio after hours and he could charge sooo much more.

 

[jenseib]

Don't you know it's customary that a new user revives an old topic?? Of course now, people probably won't realize the date of the topic and keep it going... If anything, always read the first post, and then the last post to make sure you're on the same topic.

 

[SoonerSarah]

Well, call me stupid, but there is no way I would spend $2,000 for "Box" pictures.

Not everyone has the same taste and style requirements. Some people don't want over the top, and some people value their $15 portrait just as much, if not more, than some other person's $500 portrait.

I'm by no means a professional. I'd love to have more knowledge and proper lighting and such, but I enjoy photography. One of my sisters asked me to take her pictures a few years back, and I did so with the understanding that if she wasn't happy with them, she would go to a professional without being worried about me. She was more than thrilled with them. I of course took a lot more than this, but I was also using a 35MM.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=250124&id=857320617&l=4058ca70dc

My Senior pictures were 10 years ago, and while I realize that prices have gone up since then, mine were less than $500. I had my brother get in on some of my pictures, I had 4 outfit changes, indoor and outdoor pictures, and I think I ended up with about 50 portraits. We have a huge family, and tons of pictures were ordered.

When it comes time for my girls, if they want me to take them, I'll take them. Otherwise we will go to a professional and we will find someone that is reasonably priced and is excellent. You can certainly find someone that is fantastic without it costing $5000.

 

[SandrA9810]

I think it's asking too much for people to read the dates of these topics.

 

[jenseib]

I think it's asking too much for people to read the dates of these topics.

I don't think they are even reading the posts either, because we have now mentioned a couple of times that this is an old post. LOL!

 

[SoonerSarah]

I actually did read all of the posts. Didn't realize you aren't supposed to comment in a thread that is a few months old.

 

[pearlieq]

Honor your kids. They are worth more than a $15 portrait.

Overpriced pictures do not equal love, honor, or a person's worth.

Old thread or not, that's just bollocks.

 

[pyrxtc]

Perhaps I can shed some light on it for some of you.

There are restaurants that serve $1 hamburgers, and those who serve expensive fine meals. You can buy $5 wine or spend as much as you want. You can stay in a Motel 6 or a Disney Resort.

The same is true of photographers. There are low end and high end. I am one of the later. Our clients spend $500-2000 on senior pictures. For some, no way would it be worth it, but for our clients, it's worth every penny.

For our clients, it's much more than just a picture. The quality is altogether different. We use top of the line equipment and years of training to produce images, the quality of what they see in magazines. And the experience for them is amazing. Especially the girls, many of whom have such low self esteem now days. By the end of their session, they usually hug me, thanking me for making them look and feel more beautiful than they ever have. They see image on the back of the camera and say they never knew that could be that pretty. What is that experience worth? We offer to buy portraits back from our clients for double what they paid, no way would they consider it.

We use $10,000 cameras (not a $600 Rebel), the best lights, we take the time to make every detail PERFECT. Then our portraits are retouched to perfection and printed by a pro lab, and coated with a gelcoat containing a UV inhibitor to make them last for years and year. Those cheap drugstore prints will be fading or shifting color in a few years. Ours won't .

Something you might not have considered is that we have a wall of honor in our studio, clients whom we have lost. We have had six of our clients pass away this year so far. Their portraits from us are now PRICELESS. Would you rather be left with a $15 ugly 8x10? Or a beautiful portrait that captures who they are and will last for many years?

For some people, it's not worth it. It's not where they place their values. I am amazed at the people who will give their kids expensive cars, $400 phones and designer clothes, but have an issue spending money on portraits that will FAR outlast the car, the phone or the clothes. We have 5 children ourselves. 2 are now gone in college. Our walls are covered with portraits of our kids and family. Our children are our most prized possessions.

Compare the images from a REAL professional to those from the "someone with a camera". There is no comparison. There are traditional styles and contemporary. If you want to see our portraits, Google "Box Seniors" you may compare them to what you see here and many school photographers.

Honor your kids. They are worth more than a $15 portrait.

Some of what you said is true, but sometimes "someone with a camera" is just someone who cannot afford to go big like you did and does it because they love it. Their camera does not cost $10,000 but they know how to capture the light and bring out the gorgeous. I don't have a studio or fancy camera or special lights or anything. I do have a passion for my work and quality prints that will last forever.

Some examples ---

and the 8th grade

$60 sitting fee and $30 goes towards pictures with as many clothes and locations that can fit in 3 hrs.

 

[disney*mom*82]

I own a small photography business, nothing major, just on the side from normal job. I love taking photos, especially outdoor, I do mainly weddings, senior portraits and family photos. I charge a very small portion of what others around here charge and Ive been told mine are as good as the others. Im not out to make a ton, just enough to make it worth my time. I usually do a wedding for under $500 and that is the whole deal and I do senior portraits under $200, again the full deal. Sometimes it is crazy what ppl get charged.

 

[bucket o' butter]

Next year will be ds turn for senior picture. I have a co-worker whose hobby is photography. She is quite good. I am going to have her take his pictures. She is only going to charge one flat fee and I will have all the pictures on a CD. First she said she wouldn't charge me anything since it is just a hobby, but I definitely think she should take some money. (I told her we would talk about that later!) I can then print whatever pictures I want to as I can afford them. We will also get his pictures taken at the "approved" school photographer so his picture will be in the yearbook, but that is only around $25 if you don't purchase any pictures. My guess is that I will pay around $250 when it is all said and done. Some of my friends have paid upwards of $1000, so $250 doesn't seem too bad. If you know anyone that has a nice camera, you should check it out. With the lower cost of high quality cameras, there are a lot of people out there that have nice cameras. Good luck!

 

[Beckypooh1972]

Wow! That's crazy! When I was in high school I went in for the standard yearbook picture that was free. The company the school offered took other pics but we didn't buy any of them. Instead, my Mom took me to Sears and bought a package for less than $50.00, lol. I think the Sears pictures came out better!