Senior Class Pictures

[AK Wife]

For anyone with a teenager entering their senior year and considering what to do about senior portraits - this is what we did last year:

 

Last summer my DD was preparing for her senior year in HS and we were looking for a photographer for senior pictures. In Alaska our choices are few and prices were high. We went on the Carnival Pride in June and on the first formal night it hit me - we have all these photographers and all these backgrounds and no sitting fee!:D And of course my DD had a multitude of clothes to change into, so we set about taking different pictures the next few nights. We found that telling the photographer what we were taking them for (senior class pictures), helped him take a good picture. We needed at least one head and shoulders shot and the rest could be fun.

 

Well, we had a lot of pictures to choose from and Carnival has great prices for photo packages. I spent less than $300 and we had quite a few pictures (8x10s, 5x7s, and lots of wallets) to take home and give to her family and friends. It was a relaxing experience (we were on a cruise after all) AND it didn't take a long time to get proofs back, decide which ones to pick, and get the pictures back. In fact, we ordered final pictures on Friday night and had them Saturday. It was SOOOO nice to go home and have that done.:)

 

Of course, this means we will have to cruise again next year so my DS can have his portraits done!;)

[pierces]

Wow! You could have had Annie Liebowitz do her senior pictures for that price!

 

Of course, Annie would not have fed you, cleaned your room and showed you a good time up and down the Alaskan coastline for a week...

 

 

I guess it wasn't so bad after all! :D

 

 

Great solution to a common problem!

 

Dave

[CrazytoCruise]

That's a terrific idea! I know when we shopped for senior pictures last year, the packages were very expensive, with an additional charge for each "location." And all the seniors want location shots these days. On the ship, you could have a picture taken every night with a different background (some casual, some formal) and then pick the best ones at the end of the week. Not to mention the fun you'll have during the week!

[jrw]

I'm glad others responded to this with more info, because I was totally confused. I don't have kids (besides, at 39, I can't imagine having an 18-yr-old!)...but I the senior photos were not done this way when I was in HS (or college, for that matter). We had ours done right in the school, with cap & gown and generic colored background (college also had a fake "library" background), and pics taken with & without cap...that was the extent of the creativity and they were handled by the school w/one photo studio. Things have really changed!

[AK Wife]

Yeah - it's a huge thing. Almost as involved as wedding photos! We have one school photographer here and then several independent photographers but they charge a sitting fee, a fee for going outside the studio, and sometimes they limit the number of poses you can choose from. You can bring a change of clothes - like some of my DD's friends did pictures in team uniforms, dressed formal, and really informal. Some even have theirs taken with their truck or snowmobile (it is Alaska!). It can get very pricey!:eek:

We just found it ideal on the cruise ship. All the backgrounds were set up, you could run back to the cabin and change, there were formal and informal opportunities. Even some backgrounds give you the feel of being outside, at the beach, or in the garden. It was a good choice for us.

I double checked our bill and it was just over $250.:cool:

[bakechef]

This is a fantastic idea.

 

Back when I did senior pictures, in 1992 I think my parents shelled out close to $800 for pictures!:eek:

 

The cruise ship photographers are usually really good, there was this very unfortunate looking lady on my last cruise, the photographers did a great job of posing her, and I when I saw it in the gallery, I hoped that the family would be able to buy it, she looked so nice.

 

My mom was asking when we would finally get our picture taken together, so we did it on our last cruise, just $22 for a nice portrait, no sitting fee!

 

MAC