So, who DOESN'T buy school pics???

[pannm]

For the past two years, I've not purchased school pictures. I have two girls and the cheapest package they offer is $27 per child and that is a pretty basic package...2-5x7's and the rest are wallets. I refuse to pay ALMOST $60 for school pictures when I can take them to the portrait place in town and get EXACTLY WHAT I WANT for a total of $35.

What happened to the days where school pictures were affordable and everyone got them...at least where I was from they did. Now, it's crazy expensive and I only have TWO kids!

This year, I used our new camera- got a nice one!!!! And I did their pictures at the gardens here in town. They look VERY NICE, SUPER!!! I actually got them developed at an online store and for $23 I got 4-11x14's , 8- 5x7's and over 100 4x6 prints...I had a code that I used- and got 100 free prints, for signing up as well!

I just got the pictures in the mail and they look GREAT! ANNNND, I have a ton of pics for Christmas cards now too!

 

[momplus3]

I stopped buying school pics 2 years ago! I buy sports pictures (baseball, football and soccer) of my DSs and they are much better pictures, less expensive and I can get a smaller package ( 1 8x10 and a few wallets). Besides, I like pictures of my DSs in their uniforms - they look more like themselves than the posed school pictures.

 

[redlawyer]

On the same note, when did schools start taking multiple photos during the year. I usually buy the smallest package in the fall and the class photo. But I never buy the spring photos. I get spring/easter photos of the kids together for much less!

 

[PatsMom]

I didn't buy my daughter's school pictures the last couple of years she was in school. Once she hit high school, she didn't want any pictures. She got one taken for her student Id but wouldn't even bring the proofs home for us to decide if we wanted them. She had decided that formal portraits were a stupid waste of money and we had tons of snapshots that looked much more like her.

I tried to get her to do a senior portrait but she wouldn't. We ended up using a picture of took of her at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It was a good picture of her and she said the trip to France was the best part of high school and what she wanted to remember anyhow.

 

[sherry7]

Really, it depends on the photo and whether I like/love it. If it's mediocre, I'd rather go to Walmart, Target, etc and get pics done.

On the flip side, I spent nearly $1000 on my son's Senior pics. But, they were awesome.

 

[Plumeria9]

I haven't bought school pics in a few years. It's expensive, and my girls' hair never looked right anyway. No control issues here. ha ha. I have been taking them to Target to get their individual portraits. I have a Target practically next door to me, so it's really easy. I find coupons for a $7.99 portrait package and make one appointment for one girl, on one day, then make an appt. for my other on another day, because you can only do one of these coupon/packages per day. I just had some end of summer portraits done of my girls, so I joined their new portrait club for free somehow, so no sitting fees either. In fact I looked over my Target portrait coupons yesterday and have to mark on my calendar when I need to get them in there before my coupons expire, because it looks like their cheap portrait package deal coupon is going away, I saw a new portrait package coupon and it was not as good as $7.99. Good luck!

 

[tlh0726]

Stopped buying the school pictures years ago when oldest DS (19) was in grade school.
I would however buy the class picture every year.

I also stopped, a long time ago, buying all the fundraiser stuff.
I ask how much per item or the % they make and the just donate that amount of money to the organization.
Only thing I still buy is when they sell are selling cold cut hoagies.

 

[wendy522]

I am SO HAPPY to find others that feel the same way. I stopped buying school pictures a few years ago, they just became to expensive. I have 8 kids and had at least 4 in school at the same time, this year I have 5. It has just become to expensive. I would prefer to have all my kids in one shot and pay around $20(at most) at Wal-mart. I can't even buy the class picture anymore. They stopped putting the class together with the teacher and now they just do the head shot of each child on one photo sheet.

 

[rszdtrvl]

I ordered the cheapest pack from my son's school.

Later on, I will take the "real" photos myself.

He is not very photogenic, and always looks goofy (a disney word!) in his school photos.

I can at least see what his photo will look like and get a good one to get prints of!

 

[PatsMom]

Stopped buying the school pictures years ago when oldest DS (19) was in grade school.
I would however buy the class picture every year.

I also stopped, a long time ago, buying all the fundraiser stuff.
I ask how much per item or the % they make and the just donate that amount of money to the organization.
Only thing I still buy is when they sell are selling cold cut hoagies.

I agree 100% with the fundraiser stuff. I have just been donating the cash for years. There is almost never anything that I actually want to buy - basically overpriced junk. So I just donate cash.

 

[dawson5]

Our baseball league just changed photographers. If it doesn't change, I won't be buying them next year. I have every year that they've played of sports. This person is the one that does the football pictures and out of the three years my youngest played in that league, only one turned out well. She offers the smallest packages for the largest amount. Not sure why they changed, but not a good move in my opinion. Youngest's baseball photos this year, he looked yellow and the background was washed out. I might just get a team photo and take my own next year.

As for school pics, we can still get smaller packages and they still seem to be decent prices. If that changes, won't be buying them either. This is at least the same company for all the schools (grade, middle and high).

 

[m&m's mom]

I don't but then I have some really bad budget logic to it.
We go on a DCL cruise every summer and I have pictures taken of my girls then.
Sooooooo I don't buy $60 pictures but I will spend $5000 on a cruise every summer.
I use the same logic on local 6 Flags. I won't spend $100 to take my girls to the local 6 Flags but I say "No, let's just go to WDW so we won't be disappointed".

 

[ancestry]

I don't buy them and never have even when my oldest (who is now 20) was still in school. I think the price is crazy and the quality is poor.

 

[leight]

HA! I am one of those who hate the photo packages. My school does say that they are fund raisers - so I buy the cheapest in the fall. I have also found that the spring packages- where they send home the pics prior to you paying for them and you purchase what you like-are much better than the fall pictures so this year I am planning on not getting anything in the fall and waiting until the spring packages. My dd#2 also gets soccer photos twice a year so it is definately overkill. If dh weren't the coach and we could just order a team pic on its own we would but we usually end up getting a cheap small pack to get the team pic to follow dh's coaching history as well as dd's soccer career-

 

[RitaE]

My youngest son's school dropped the fall Lifetouch pictures a couple of years ago and they hire a local photographer. She spends about 3 afternoons at the school and offers only one or two packages - If I remember it was about $22 for a 5 x 7, class group photo, and a sheet of wallets last year. She also gives the parents permission to copy which makes it a real deal. I've always been really satisfied with her work. Hair combed, kid looking at the camera, etc etc. I've heard rumors this year that she is going to be doing some kind of deal this year of no printed photos but you can download the photo from her website and print them wherever you want - so basically a sitting fee. That's what I'll probably do if she offers it.

Other than that - nope. The school still does the Spring Lifetouch packages with the fancier backdrops but I don't buy them.

It just got ridiculous as my kids went through school. The prices kept going up and the quality kept going down.

 

[woodkins]

I am the PTA Chairperson for School Pictures and I don't buy them!! Seriously! I purchase the class picture as a memento for my dd9 and that is it. The PTA uses Lifetouch because they make alot of money by using them, but I personally feel that the package prices are outrageous, often include a bunch of tiny sized photos that nobody uses or wants and if you want to purchase a print separately it is like $12.95 for one print. I also don't love their backgrounds and poses and it is such an assembly line rushed process that no one is watching or caring what the kids look like.

 

[Sandy61]

I have not bought school pix for several years because they just quick take the picture no matter how bad it is. We go to Walmart where we can see the pictures we want to buy and they actually pose the child and make sure the picture looks good.

One year my older son had his picture taken in the middle of the hallway with a decorative screen pulled up HALFWAY behind him. You could see most of the hall behind him. It took forever to get a retake and was difficult also.

 

[nicki.momof3]

I hate school pictires but I always end up purchasing the cheapest package for one reason - the class picture.

At our school you can not purchase the class picture seperate. You can only get one with a package.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We don't buy the individual pictures at all. My DH is a photographer, so we can get much better pictures for much less money, lol. I do usually buy the class picture at the end of the year, though.

 

[crystaldawn]

Every year I say I'm not going to order but then I do! Ugh. I usually get the smallest pkg I can that includes an 8x10. That also includes the year book which my kids like.

We tend to order the sports pkgs as well. The "best deal" for that is an 8x10 of the team and 2- 5x7s of my child for $12. I figure it's pretty good for what I'm getting... and I scrap book so I like to have them

Our neighbor was a photographer for the last 7 years (she recently moved) it was awesome for us because she would call us to ask if we wanted to model new ideas and backdrops and then she'd sell me the pics at cost. We have had some absolutely beautiful pics done by her and she charged me $1 for 5x5s for scrapping. I miss her already!