The Price of School Photos

jellyhead

Violetta wrote: »

Seems a bit odd printing and giving us so many copies too , how many people would be tempted to return the pack with 1 or 2 missing in the hope they'd not notice. I couldn't do that but, and I know this is terrible I am tempted to scan the pic.

If you send it back with a photo missing then the school has to pay for the missing photo out of their profits. school has to count the photos and write down who has brought which photos back in. the kids who just don't bother bringing back the pack or the money cost school the most because school has to pay for those photos too. but just one missing photo would still cost the school, and it would be the school admin staff who sort it out so the school would know whose parents did this.

scanning the pic isn't so bad lol! the printing machines in boots etc. ask if you have permission to reprint the photo, and if you've bought the CD then that usually gives you permission to reprint. i got the proofs of my son's pics (2 so i can choose which one i like best - or feel pressured to buy both?) today and the CD is £27, or by email it's £26 :rotfl:

my little sis scanned in the photos of my kids and reprinted them on backgrounds, such as grass and sky. they looked lovely lol! i paid for a single print, because the proof couldn't be scanned.

it's christmas though, and some relatives actually want a photo. the cheapest option is £15 for one 8x6 and two 5x6.

last year i bought a fridge frame, my nan had no room on her walls for extra pics but plenty of room on her fridge

Poppy9

One thing I just remembered from my primary school days is when the school photographer came they always told me to take off my glasses for the picture. This reinforced to me that my glasses didn't look good on me. Do they still do this?

jellyhead

maybe the flash glares on the glasses? i don't know, didn't wear glasses when i was young. if that was the case they should have told you, rather than let you think the glasses looked unattractive!

amandada

Poppy9 wrote: »

One thing I just remembered from my primary school days is when the school photographer came they always told me to take off my glasses for the picture. This reinforced to me that my glasses didn't look good on me. Do they still do this?

They certainly don't at my daughter's school, and I'd be well peeved if they did!
I think glasses are seen in a much more positive light these days, now there's no longer the "stylish" national health frames!

zippybungle

Oh, I love School Photos. The Class photo I bought last term was around £6, which I think is reasonable and the individual photos could be bought as part of a big pack (lots of different sized photos) or just one big photo, again I thought this was reasonable at approx £18 max...........Pixie Photo is another matter though! :eek: (the ones who take pictures of babies in Boots/Woolworths etc).

Zippy x

Poppy9

amandada wrote: »

They certainly don't at my daughter's school, and I'd be well peeved if they did!
I think glasses are seen in a much more positive light these days, now there's no longer the "stylish" national health frames!

I didn't have the pink NHS specs. I had stylish:o black frames with a silver butterfly in each corner.

Jellyhead wrote:

maybe the flash glares on the glasses? i don't know, didn't wear glasses when i was young. if that was the case they should have told you, rather than let you think the glasses looked unattractive!

it could well have been the flash reflection. I just remember it as an automatic comment, it may even have been the teacher telling me, when they used to tell you to use the comb the photographic company gave free so you looked nice in the picture.

jellyhead

one of the mums said last week that she didn't think the nursery staff were allowed to comb the kids hair. i'd have thought that if they can wipe her bottom they can comb her hair?

brightonman123

why not get your kid to pose in the uniform, and take pic yourself?

jellyhead

I'm rubbish at taking pics

A couple of my favourites are pics my husband has taken, but I still think the ones taken in school are very good and I'm glad of them.

Maybe we are just lucky to have photographers who know the exact moment to take the picture, but everyone agrees that the photos are excellent and all my friends end up buying them even though there's no pressure.

I did notice that at toddler group they printed the whole pack of photos of our babies, presented with the huge photo on top and they looked so cute that everybody bought them. The playgroup and nursery sent home a little card with a proof photo, same as schools so but it's the same company doing it - they must be confident that everyone at toddler group will fall in love with the large pic of their smiling baby and not be able to hand them back to be destroyed ...

pigunderaroof

mspig wrote: »

My son brought his home last week, there was no option for it to be put onto a cd, and the smallest package that they did was £24.99 which had 1 8x6 photo, 2 7x5 photos and 4 little ones. The dearest pack for the same as above but with a slightly bigger picture and 8 keyrings with pictures was £49.99.

Not sure where they get the prices from.

As a photographer and parent I can see the concerns.

The reason for small proofs with proof on them is to stop people copying them and not buying any.

The price of a print on CD is because once you have that image you also have the copyright and can copy it as much as you like and print it as many times as you like. For that the photographer has been paid £25 even tho he/she has to buy stock and spend time preparing the image and burning to CD then getting it back to you. Time is money.

If he/she was to sell you a 10 x 8 print for £10 you would not normaly buy the copyright and would have to go back every time you wanted a re-print so he/she can make more money.

The cost of a digital set up is massive. My basic digital camera cost me £1000 second hand with no lens. That was extra. A portable flash studio set up is hundreds. To set up a fixed studio fully kitted is around 20 grand.

He/she has to drive to (cost money to run a car), turn up and set up, all time not earning. Take picks then dismantle and drive home and unload. Then process the days work. All unpaid thus far.

He/she has spent years training for no money but spending plenty.

He/she has to be CRB police checked thts why he/she can take picks of kids and parents cant as a classmates parent could be dodgy filthy stinking peedos.

He/she may wish to join various organisations to show he/she is competant at the job. All cost money.

Advertsing and web sites cost money.

To promote the business cost money.

Does your dentist only charge a fiver to pull teeth or the garage a couple of quid to change your engine? It is overheads that push up the prices.

A night out at the pub with mates cost about £60 these days.

I have a job and do photography part time from home with very small overheads and am therefore stinking cheap, but not everyone can do this. I did a wedding last sat and spent 7 hours taking the picks (after driving 3 hours round trip) and then 14 hours the follwing day post processing them (I took 400) Then the third day spent 3 hours putting them on my web site. So far no money has come my way because I have to wait several weeks for all the family to view them.
So far about 3 days work and at min wage this is about £140. I then pay tax and NI on it.

To buy an album trade cost me £150 and so on...........

It is not just snapping a photo.;)
Once the memory has gone it is too late. Good Luck