Senior Portrait Question

msf

I recently received a question to one of my ads on craigslist, that surprised me.

They asked what schools accept my work.

It never occured to me that a school would be picky about what studio a portrait would come from, as long as the material is of quality.

They mentioned they have alot of parents with the PTA that are looking for a good choice for their upcoming seniors.

So my question is, do you have to get approved by a school or does this person not really know what they are talking about?

Cantfeelmyfingers

Well, at our schools here it depends on what you're photographing.. If you're photographing the 'yearbook' shot, then usually the school has a say in things like background colour, direction subject is facing, clothing perhaps and so forth.. Usually the PTA is the one that decides that either ONE photographer photographs all the students (to keep the photos uniform for the yearbook) or decides what the criteria is. IF you're just shooting 'senior' photos (pics for mom, grandpa, aunts.. etc) None of that should be a problem, as it has nothing to do with the schools themselves..

Matt S

Hmm it's very different here. The yearbooks have requirements as to submission times and quality. But nothing about the shot itself (seniors only, all others are done by lifetouch on campus). We do a full shoot and then the family selects one for the yearbook and I handle it from there by contacting and submitting the photo to the appropriate staff at each high school. As far as I know the PTA has nothing to do with it. Now I will say that I did make an effort and contact each high school about the requirements before I ever took on any seniors.

WingsOfLovePhoto

msf wrote:

I recently received a question to one of my ads on craigslist, that surprised me.

They asked what schools accept my work.

It never occured to me that a school would be picky about what studio a portrait would come from, as long as the material is of quality.

They mentioned they have alot of parents with the PTA that are looking for a good choice for their upcoming seniors.

So my question is, do you have to get approved by a school or does this person not really know what they are talking about?

Most of the kids in my neighboring schools have to use the photographer that is contracted with their school for the yearbook picture ( ie: most around here are Lifetouch and they stink! ) This way the schools say they can maintain continuity. Some of the smaller schools though can choose to go around that and go to an outside photographer and then I provide a disc with a 2x3 picture that they pick out for the yearbook. I guess it all depends.....

Matt S

Ha Ha Sandy it appears we are chasing each other around this forum! I just posted back to your other thread BTW.

WingsOfLovePhoto

Matt S wrote:

Ha Ha Sandy it appears we are chasing each other around this forum! I just posted back to your other thread BTW.

Stalker!!!!!

Matt S

Ha ha