What are Your Thoughts On School Portraits?

I usually buy the portraits. I don't buy the biggest package they have usually the one that cost about $15 I love the fall pictures they take as you get bookmarks and things like that with them I have never bought the Christmas card kind I do send them in Christmas cards sometimes.

I do purchase my childs school portraits. You are right. They are way too expensive but i normally buy the cheapest package. Children do change a lot from year to year and it is precious memories that one day you will be glad you spent the extra money for. You cant put a price on memories.

I have been doing this for a very long time and I feel that it is very necessary.A child has to enjoy every bit of school life and all the trappings that go with it.In their formative years kids do not change very quickly from year to year,but this does not matter because this is not what these photos are all about.The price for this does'nt matter at all to me,because the joy I have for being a Parent is "Priceless".

At one time I had 4 children all in school, so the school portrait packages were very expensive when ordering 4. At that time, I decided to order the smallest package but it had to have a 5x7 and enough wallets to give grandmas and the 5 aunts. Ever since then, that is what I order. I dont' send them in Christmas cards. I get tons of Christmas cards with others kids pictures in them and they are nice to look at, but then what do I do with it? I usually throw it in a drawer because I would feel bad throwing it away. When my son graduated, I did get a bigger package. I still went with the 5x7 sizes because they are nicer than the huge ones. My goal is to have all 4 of my childrens graduation portraits on my wall....I still have years for that to happen.

We are fortunate to not have too many people in the family, because we are able to buy the less expensive package. I do buy them every year, because though there is little change, I still like to have them to send in Christmas cards each year..

I do not buy the picture packets from the schools. I have more fun and I think better pictures when I take them myself. I have fun personaling the pictures. Earlie this year, I took my kids all around town to several different places to take pictures of them. We had a blast, and my family all loved the pictures.

i have never experienced having a portrait sold in our school when i was studying we just didnt have it... i only think we have when we are at college annd that was during graduation. hehe

Back wen my children were in svhool we bought eh package deal all the timne. Now we have 2 grandsons in school and have bought the packages prior to this year. Now they are asking WAY too much for a small package. May as well wait and have them done at a studio like Sears etc for the Holidays. We just share the packages usually with our daughter. I have no idea if she sends any out as gifts etc. HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~

I bought a full package last year when he was in Kindergarten and sent most of them to family overseas - The largest size is on our family portrait wall at home. I think it cost me $40 some dollars for several different sizes. This year I only purchased a few ($21) and will be sending them to his Grandparents and my siblings. They love it when I send photos of my son. Part of their Christmas pressie. It's quite funny how my hubby and I went all out when he first started school i.e. photos, fundraising and sorts only to find this year, we are pacing ourselves and only taking part in fundraising activities that don't cost too much money. It can become costly.

How odd that you asked this as I homeschool my kids and we just went today and had school portraits taken. There was a photographer at the library that took photos and we could buy packages. However, the packages were expensive as the photos were $7.00 per sheet. I was shocked! I did buy a few because we haven't had photos done is a couple of years. However, I will take the kids someplace else the next time. I will give these with Christmas cards,which I plan to mail Monday.

I buy them, but I get the smallest package available. I only give them to my close family, so I don't need a bunch of them. They get pretty expensive. He also gets Spring pictures taken and I like those better, so I buy a little bit bigger package of those.

I get my sons' school photo packages every year. Before they started school, I would get their photos taken with Santa every year. I find the package prices too expensive, for sure. However, I have 3 sons, all in the same school, so I get a bit of a deal. The first 2 packages I pay for, and then the 3rd is free (assuming they are all the same package). Each year, I get the package that has three 5x7's and a few smaller sized ones as well. I keep one 5x7 for us, and then give the others to the grandparents. Well, the boys give them to them as xmas gifts. The photography company our school uses does a nice thing, and they give ALL of the students a copy of their class photo group shot to keep, for free. I think that's fantastic, because not everyone can afford to buy the pictures, and it really is nice for the kids to have those class photos to look on years later. I have all of mine from Kindergarten right up to high school, and as I get older, I really do appreciate them all the more. I will continue to purchase the boys' school photos every year, because I consider it to be a tradition now. Also, I have some really cute frames that have mattes in them, with printing underneath stating which year the picture is from. Soon I will be able to hang them up on the walls (they aren't full enough for my liking just yet, as the twins are only in grade 2, and the older boy in grade 4). It's a nice way to see the changes in the boys from year to year.

i do like to get them as you can see when the kids are older how much or little they have changed over the years.but my daughter this year didnt like her picture so told me i wasnt allowed to get it.another reason for not getting it was the price it has shot up so much from last year.but if she had of wanted it i would have found the money from somewhere.we do send my oldest daughters pictures to her grandad and aunt on her dads side as they live a few hundred miles away from us and dont see them.even though she doesnt have contact with her dad its nice for the others in her family to see what she is like.even now my mum has got all the pictures from myself and sisters when we were at school and we do cringe at the.one even got posted on facebook

My mom never purchased our pics. When they let us take them home to show our mon we just kept them, but that was back in the days, i dont know what they are doing now a days. i think it is a way of getting money out of people, cause they are expensive. Why should you have to pay so much for a pic of your children you see them every day for free. I guess you can have one expensive kid pic to look at when you dont fell like looking at the real one. get you a nice camera do it your self you will be glad you did.

Hi heavens, I'm sorry to hear that you're having difficulty "figuring things out." The portraits of your son sound amazing, and I wish I had more I could offer you. I do think it's important to purchase some photos each year, if we can. I didn't end up getting my daughter's grade 7 ones, or last year's. I do regret this now, but it was just too hard financially at the time. I didn't bother with her's this year either, because the grad photos will be taken in the new year. I'm determined to get these, and have been told they're very costly. The good thing about them is, that you can order them for an extended period of time. Love and Hugs to you.

My Mom usually got a small package of photos so she could keep track of how we changed each year. But, I would highly recommend taking your children somewhere for professional photos. You can control what your child looks like right before the photo, and I think most professional studios have a lot more options. School pictures are great for everyday, but if you're going to send them out, you might as well make sure your child looks his or her best.