Monday, September 25, 2006

School pictures once again

Last year we had a bit of a fiasco around school pictures and me, oh, throwing them out accidentally. His picture last year was so good that it was on the poster advertising this year's photo shoot and I expected something similar this year. The proofs are now on-line and in his portrait he's got a nice little expression on his face but a strangely deformed body. He's slouching so his chest is concave, his shirt is all bunched up making him look very short waisted, and he's leaning against a bench in such a way that it makes him look as though his lower body is hugely disporportionate to his upper body. I don't have a copy of the picture to scan so you'll need to trust my judgement. He's got nerd bod.

There are also some proofs that are nice candid shots of Sam so I emailed the photographer and asked if she could just swap out the horrible portrait shot (I didn't say horrible since I'm so diplomatic and all...) for one of the candids I like and no, of course I can't do that because blah blah blah. My options are to take a credit or have him sit for a re-shoot. I'm not big on the re-shoot idea since who knows, it could be worse than this one and I'd still be stuck with a picture I don't like. In this age of digital photography you'd think you could get away from the school pictures from hell; my sister had one of the worst school pictures I've ever seen and no, I'm not going to post it to prove I'm not lying. I'm sure she'd vouch for my assessment of the photo. I'm just saying it's unnecessary to subject people to unflattering pictures in this day and age.

Refusing the package through the school means he wouldn't get his class picture but frankly, I have many of my class pictures from grade school and can't remember who anyone is so I question the value. I'm projecting that he won't care about such things either since he doesn't really strike me as the sensitive thoughtful type at this stage of the game and based on his parents, I doubt he's genetically predisposed to those particular traits.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's ridiculous that the photographer won't substitute the photo you like. It makes no sense. I can't imagine what difference it would make to her, or is it that she wants you to buy the candid shot in addition to the terrible shot? I agree with you on the group shots. Lukas is only 10, and I can't remember the names of most of the kids in his preschool pic (and he can remember even fewer, of course)

Yes, for the record, my 9th grade picture was one of the worst on record. The photographer probably has an album of worst photos ever, and mine is probably on the first page.

Anonymous said...

Is there a downside to having him sit for another photo shoot? if you are definitely not gonna buy the first portrait, might as well see if you get a better one next time, especially if you still don't have to buy it.

I agree about the class picture though - he will never care about it!