School Photos - Is it me?
Discussion
My daughter had her school group photo done and I don't know if it's just me, but I can't stand it - I really don't like it one bit. It's too posed, it's too fake, it's too obviously edited together. I know that school photos can be dull, but to over edit it for the sake of it seems excessive.
Oh, and it's £16 without a frame.
Is it me? Am I just being an miserable t
t? The pixelated evidence:
Cheers
JTW
Oh, and it's £16 without a frame.
Is it me? Am I just being an miserable t
t? The pixelated evidence:Cheers
JTW
If thats the full quality image then that is pretty poor. When you look at it large, it looks like its been scanned in.
As for the pose and white background, that seems to be what school photo's are all about these days. I preferred how it was done when i was at school with the whole class infront of the school or on the field or something. But that is a personal taste thing, others must prefer this otherwise it wouldn't be the done thing.
ETA: I can't really see what you mean about it being edited together to be honest (obviously the faces being blanked out might make this tricker)
As for the pose and white background, that seems to be what school photo's are all about these days. I preferred how it was done when i was at school with the whole class infront of the school or on the field or something. But that is a personal taste thing, others must prefer this otherwise it wouldn't be the done thing.
ETA: I can't really see what you mean about it being edited together to be honest (obviously the faces being blanked out might make this tricker)
Edited by jimmy156 on Monday 23 June 10:54
It was taken with my phone and as I did a rush edit, the quality has suffered (more).
Looking at it, there are 5 groups:
The third child in at the bottom left's arm is oddly edited on to the child to her right - The fifth child on the left and the sixth aren't really well joined together, the group of 5 at the right seem to be just hanging, the 6th and 7th from the right children are oddly joined together and the children 5th and 6th at the bottom from right are badly edited together...
It'll be 16x6 inches and the joins will, now, glare obviously at me...
I prefer the whole "sit together" thing myself - Funnily enough, this was the second attempt as the Principal didn't like the first set that the photographer did and made him come back to redo it.
ETA : Full photo available privately for a better view as I didn't want to show faces publicly unnecessarily.
Looking at it, there are 5 groups:
The third child in at the bottom left's arm is oddly edited on to the child to her right - The fifth child on the left and the sixth aren't really well joined together, the group of 5 at the right seem to be just hanging, the 6th and 7th from the right children are oddly joined together and the children 5th and 6th at the bottom from right are badly edited together...
It'll be 16x6 inches and the joins will, now, glare obviously at me...
I prefer the whole "sit together" thing myself - Funnily enough, this was the second attempt as the Principal didn't like the first set that the photographer did and made him come back to redo it.
ETA : Full photo available privately for a better view as I didn't want to show faces publicly unnecessarily.
Thanks for the PM, i can see most of those things now that you point them out, but didn't spot them otherwise.
I too wouldn't be massively happy with those, they would glare at me when i looked at it.
Overall though i think the photographer has done a decent job, getting a group of primary kids to pose can't be easy. I think 95% of of parents just look at their kid and judge the worthiness of the photo on how their sprog looks. I reckon most would be happy, but most non-photohraphers wouldn't spot the edits i dont think.
I too wouldn't be massively happy with those, they would glare at me when i looked at it.
Overall though i think the photographer has done a decent job, getting a group of primary kids to pose can't be easy. I think 95% of of parents just look at their kid and judge the worthiness of the photo on how their sprog looks. I reckon most would be happy, but most non-photohraphers wouldn't spot the edits i dont think.
jimmy156 said:
Overall though i think the photographer has done a decent job, getting a group of primary kids to pose can't be easy. I think 95% of of parents just look at their kid and judge the worthiness of the photo on how their sprog looks. I reckon most would be happy, but most non-photohraphers wouldn't spot the edits i dont think.
1001 times better than any old school photo I can remember!No worries 
The more I look at it, the more I see it - I've edited together a photo like this with backgrounds, shadows, etc and I know how hard it can be, but I wouldn't do that sort of thing for a school photo as it's not what I would expect to see.
Last years was them all sat together and it's a nice photo (white background too) and I liked that as it was a all of them sat like a traditional photo - but when there are little errors like that, the (amateur/hack) photographer in me gets a little annoyed.
I do agree that it makes a nice change - it's just that I didn't want to spot all those errors.
The more I look at it, the more I see it - I've edited together a photo like this with backgrounds, shadows, etc and I know how hard it can be, but I wouldn't do that sort of thing for a school photo as it's not what I would expect to see.
Last years was them all sat together and it's a nice photo (white background too) and I liked that as it was a all of them sat like a traditional photo - but when there are little errors like that, the (amateur/hack) photographer in me gets a little annoyed.
I do agree that it makes a nice change - it's just that I didn't want to spot all those errors.
Amused2death said:
I had one of these the other week, sod the quality or editing.......the price alone was enough to make me throw it straight in the bin.
The bog standard school photo's are bad enough, but captive market and all that...I know people have to earn a living.
£16 seemed steep but when my daughter announced that she "wants it with the beech frame" at £29, I said flat no. My girlfriend and daughter want the photo - I don't. I just don't think it's worth it.The bog standard school photo's are bad enough, but captive market and all that...I know people have to earn a living.
I'm writing the cheque in a few minutes.
williredale said:
We've just had the same style for the first time. The editing was better than yours but there's a couple of kids who've had a growth spurt in Photoshop! It makes a change from the trad type but don't think we'll bother next time.
The poor editing is more glaring every time I look at it....There's a "little" girl in that photo who, er, has been shrunk a bit...
They're all like that nowadays and to be honest it seems just oriented towards make money more than anything else.The photgraphers know that mummy and daddy will want one, grandma and grandad will want three each.....
When 3 of mine were in school I worked out it would be cheaper doing a family sitting at a local professional than buying them via school.
When 3 of mine were in school I worked out it would be cheaper doing a family sitting at a local professional than buying them via school.
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