School picture money was due yesterday. Guess when I realized that? Hint: The answer is today.
There is a $10 late fee per child for ordering prints after the due date. So, I’m not a math whiz, but I think I can figure this out.The cheapest package is $25 times two plus another $10 times two. That’s SEVENTY FREAKING DOLLARS, people. And for what?
For these:
They amputated his lower lip for the second shot! They stuck him out in the snow and cut off his lower lip!
Hmm. Glum versus possessed. Tough call. This doesn’t even look like my daughter! (Although the messy ponytail is totally mea culpa. I forgot it was picture day.)
Seventy dollars, oh my goodness. So clearly I didn’t order any. I may have been tempted to get some sibling shots, but since Irene is in morning kindergarten and they were taken in the afternoon only, that’s not an option. I’m pretty sure the parent council pays for everyone to get a class picture no matter what. That’s all I really need.
How about you guys? Did you order school pictures this year? Maybe if orders really start dropping off, they’ll be forced to actually try and take a decent picture.
20 replies on “School Picture Fail”
In the age of digital media (we have *thousands* of photos of K on various hard drives), school pictures seem so much less important than they might have even ten years ago.
K’s pictures (only two poses) were so uninteresting. But I ordered a set anyway because I’m easily extorted by guilt (the “don’t you love your child enough to want pictures of their precious school moments?”) to the tune of $48 for some crappy wallets, a 5/7 and four magnets.
And this is why I have all kinds of bland head shots of Colum from JK and SK cluttering up my drawers.
I’m going to get them. :\ Even though my choices are about as great as yours (that lower lip thing? wth?) The extended family wants them.
Yes, that’s another thing, the extended family.
Rebecca,
Forget those photos and their late fees. Send them back saying you want retakes. The company should be offering a retake day for kids who were not there (and the obvious crappy shots). BTW my three kids were all just as bad! The good news is, when your third kid is school age, you get one package free! (From Brightpics anyway)
I’m tempted to, but then I worry the retakes will be just as bad. If you tell my kids to sit and smile those are the faces they make. They need to be engaged and then shots taken when they have natural expressions.
So funny Rebecca! You have beautiful children but I don’t think they managed to capture that. I’m getting retakes for one, ordered the smallest package for the other and refused to pay the $10 late fee (I also only got around to it today). Refusing to pay a late fee… about as rebellious as I get now a days.
You ARE a rebel! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise ;)
You would probably be better off getting a pic of the 3 kids at sears or something where you get a better choice for the same price or less.
Right? And then I get all three together too.
This year we are fortunate to get some decent shots of the ankle-biters. And while we don’t need any more pics of either of them, after the extrodianry baby shoot this July, we’ll get ONE sheet (grandparents) each $16, and scan them. That’s it.
And really: totally do retakes and completely refuse to pay the late fee.
Yes, it looks like $16 is an option for us too. The order form is completely misleading and hard to read.
I thought my daughter’s school pics were quite nice, and at her school (in Montreal), the cheapest package was only $10. At that price, I did not think twice and ordered some for her grandma’s wallet. Maybe you should inquire about the group picture. For us, there was a small note stating that the group picture only came if we returned the ordering envelope – with an actual order or not. It suddenly made more sense that I did not get any last year… btw, your kids pictures are hilarious and very cute, especially your daughter! Only small kids can smile like this :) Lol.
Good point returning the ordering envelop! I didn’t even think of that.
Even though it appears that the cheapest package is $25 you can order any of the letters to the right of those packages without ordering any of the biggest packages. I always order the “K” one, which is only $16 for 2 5’7 shots. One of the mom’s I’m friends with was also under the impression that you have to order one of the bigger packages ($25 and up) before you could order the other ones on the right. When we all got to talking it came out that a few other moms did too. It is a little bit deceptive the way that Bright Pics lays it all out. But $16 is doable I guess, and I have three kids and the third is free when you order the same or lesser value for them.
Thanks so much for pointing this out!
Oh, and you get the class picture no matter if you order or not.
I don’t ever order them. I have a good camera at home that takes better photos for gifts and cards, and we keep the free class photo as a souvenir.
Did you send back the order envelop in order to get the class picture? Why is this so hard?
I only have one getting school pics now, and I had the option to order the CD only. That was $25, but the pic was pretty good, and the grandparents like to chronicle the years. I do too I guess. Something so traditional about it! I’ll print a couple of 8x10s at Costco for our frames :)
We did get the class picture, which I really like. Just have to remember to record names on the back so he’ll remember who they are in ten years.
(I was able to order online, so I’m not sure if the school knew I ordered, or just sent the class pic anyway)