# Hope my daughter didn't ruin this photographers day too badly.



## CMfromIL (Apr 11, 2013)

Today was 'picture day' at the Jr High.  My daughter knowing that we don't buy school pictures decided to be creative today.  She didn't tell her mother and I of her plans until dinner today (after the deed was done).
The results had my wife and I nearly doubled over laughing, with me actually crying from laughing so hard.
When it was her turn, she took her long scarf and draped it over her head like an old Russian woman, put on the most sour look, and then gave some sort of 'model' pose as she put it.
The poor photographer wasn't quite sure what to do, paused then asked her if that was what she really wanted.  Without losing a beat, she replied 'it's the way my mom wants me to do it...she's european'.  Apparently he said ok, then took the shot.
This caused the kids behind her to decide that they too needed a 'european' look/pose.  A friend of hers nearly took 10 minutes of the poor man's time by over exaggerating every thing he asked.  "Head back....she stared at the ceiling, head down a little....stare at toes, you get the idea".  Finally in exasperation he took a shot with her looking nearly backward, staring at the ceiling with a goofy ass grin.
As a former Jr High substitute teacher, I can only assume some of the hijinks this man had to endure for the rest of the afternoon.
The sad part is, these pictures are going to be so bad, I am going to be compelled to actually purchase one for a keepsake.


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## AnnieHuley (Apr 11, 2013)

Oh my oh my!

Parenting: you're doing it right!


Reminds me of a time in high school band class where the band teacher let us have a day off so we were all playing cards, and could see in the window a man no one had ever seen sitting at the piano in the directors office looking down at the piano playing the same note, over and over and over... Then periodically he would slowly turn his head and look out the window towards us while still playing the note... then look back down. We decided to play jokes on him so every time he looked down we would all switch places and continue playing cards. Then as the joke grew my identical triplet brothers arrived and quickly got in on the joke ad went to the two windows and hid underneath and had us signal when the man looked up and they slowly rose up into his view with identical creepy faces....


The guy was laughing every time but KEPT playing the note!! We finally left for lunch and ran into our director and told him there was a man in his office playing the piano to which he responded "Please tell me you didn't bother my piano tuner. He's the best in the country, we flew him in" (So that's why he was playing one note over and over...) We assured him we left him alone!

LOL


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## CherylL (Apr 11, 2013)

I sorta feel bad for the guy, but on the other hand may have gave him a good laugh and a story he will tell for years. 


Hope he wasn't cranky like this one:


[video=vimeo;30133754]https://vimeo.com/30133754[/video]


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## Josh66 (Apr 11, 2013)

HAHA - That's awesome.  I bet the parents of the kids after her will be pissed.


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## CCericola (Apr 11, 2013)

I was a school photographer and that sounds funny. The only downside I can see is if they get into trouble with the principle. These pics are given to the office for her permanent record ( nope, not the retakes, just the first round). They are also used for school IDs so she may have to take it over with a teacher watching. 

I know a school I did in Chicago made all the joke people take their picture over with the Vice Principle watching. When they were done they headed home. The principle suspended them. Personally I thought it was funny and the principle was too harsh. 

Class pictures were fun. We had to PS all the middle fingers so they looked like they were just holding up a fist.  But we had to give the principle an original so he could punish the kids that did it.

Some people have no sense of humor. The only time it sucked is if the parents paid for a package and the kid was being an ass. Then we had to print, retake and sometimes refund. That sucked because of the money we would lose.


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## CMfromIL (Apr 11, 2013)

CCericola said:


> I was a school photographer and that sounds funny. The only downside I can see is if they get into trouble with the principle. These pics are given to the office for her permanent record ( nope, not the retakes, just the first round). They are also used for school IDs so she may have to take it over with a teacher watching.
> 
> I know a school I did in Chicago made all the joke people take their picture over with the Vice Principle watching. When they were done they headed home. The principle suspended them. Personally I thought it was funny and the principle was too harsh.
> 
> ...



It's Jr High, so I'm not so worried about her 'permanent record'.  And if it makes it in the yearbook as her official picture, that's fine with me.  At this time, we just get an envelope with a picture on some cheap paper (not photo paper) with 'options' for borders, backgrounds etc.  It's a direct mail piece, not originating with the school so it's doubtful admin even sees them, much less cares.  She wasn't giving the middle finger or anything offensive.  If push comes to shove, I'll back my daughter, citing 'artistic freedom' :lmao:


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## vfotog (Apr 16, 2013)

photographers that think this is funny? seriously? the poor photog was just doing his job. if your daughter knew you weren't going to buy, just don't take the photo or just do it quick and get it over with instead of being obnoxious and making the guy's job harder. the photog's employers have expectations of him; being able to control brats like your daughter with a smile would be hard work. hope he doesn't lose his job over this. and then other brats do the same thing? hope all their parents didn't want pics either. then you as a PARENT think your daughter treating this guy like dirt and causing him problems is hysterical really sends a lousy message to your kid. guess you don't spend much time at home teaching your kid about respect and realizing life doesn't revolve around me, me, me. let's hope that when your spoiled child gets a little older you don't have serious issues when it backfires on you.


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## Pukka312 (Apr 16, 2013)

vfotog said:


> photographers that think this is funny? seriously? the poor photog was just doing his job. if your daughter knew you weren't going to buy, just don't take the photo or just do it quick and get it over with instead of being obnoxious and making the guy's job harder. the photog's employers have expectations of him; being able to control brats like your daughter with a smile would be hard work. hope he doesn't lose his job over this. and then other brats do the same thing? hope all their parents didn't want pics either. then you as a PARENT think your daughter treating this guy like dirt and causing him problems is hysterical really sends a lousy message to your kid. guess you don't spend much time at home teaching your kid about respect and realizing life doesn't revolve around me, me, me. let's hope that when your spoiled child gets a little older you don't have serious issues when it backfires on you.



That seems a bit judgmental and harsh. His daughter didn't treat the photog like dirt, she just chose not to do the standard smile. I would probably buy that photo over a regular posed shot. It shows personality, and will most certainly be a more memorable moment when looking back 10 years from now.

The one time I bought my daughter's class preschool shot was the shot you couldn't see her in the group ... she must have been having a meltdown. All you see is what appears to be an empty chair, but after looking closer, I noticed she was just bent completely over. I couldn't help but buy that one! 

In regards to the other kids following suit, I hardly think its fair to hold a junior high student accountable for the actions of her peers. Calling the kids spoiled brats is uncalled for.


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## tommmkelly (Apr 16, 2013)

vfotog said:


> photographers that think this is funny? seriously? the poor photog was just doing his job. if your daughter knew you weren't going to buy, just don't take the photo or just do it quick and get it over with instead of being obnoxious and making the guy's job harder. the photog's employers have expectations of him; being able to control brats like your daughter with a smile would be hard work. hope he doesn't lose his job over this. and then other brats do the same thing? hope all their parents didn't want pics either. then you as a PARENT think your daughter treating this guy like dirt and causing him problems is hysterical really sends a lousy message to your kid. guess you don't spend much time at home teaching your kid about respect and realizing life doesn't revolve around me, me, me. let's hope that when your spoiled child gets a little older you don't have serious issues when it backfires on you.



I think someone needs to chill out and stop with the insults.

Lets just hope that the parents and the photographer had a sense of humour and won't rage at a little joke like yourself.

And as for the OP he may want his child to be individual and show "artistic freedom"


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## BrandonLaw (Apr 16, 2013)

No need to get all judgmental it was just a joke, someone takes life a bit too seriously . Just because the other kids started making funny poses to imitate OP's daughter doesn't reflect poorly on OP's parenting or say anything at all about OP's daughter. I highly doubt that the photographer working that shoot is going to lose their job over a bunch of unruly middle schoolers I mean come on not even the teachers can keep those kids under control how is a photographer supposed to?


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## e.rose (Apr 16, 2013)

I used to do school photography... And if anyone here knows me well, you KNOW. I have. A sense of humor... But when kids tried to pull that sh*t it pissed me off.  I had about 30 seconds to a minute, period with each kid.  If they were being inappropriate I COULDN'T take the image.

Would a couple of misbehaving students get me fired?  No, but if a string of images came back looking like that I would have been in trouble because we're not to allow them to do stuff like that.

If it were me, I would have sent any of those kids out of line, to their teacher, to explain why it is they didn't get their picture taken.  Either they were sent back and did as they were told because they were in trouble with their teacher or principal, or they just didn't come back and had to do retake day.

I am in no way calling these parents "bad parents", but I feel for the photographer.  I remember dealing with stuff like that and after a 60 hour week, and a long day, you JUST... Want to get it done.


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## pgriz (Apr 16, 2013)

Let's put this event in a little bit of context. We are all sitting somewhere reading and writing out pieces, while below our feet, the ground we stand on is several miles of geological slag floating on molten rock, while above us various forms of planet-forming debris still makes close passes to our little home. And we share this home with people with different ideologies and perspectives on what makes life worth living, some of whom are very dangerous to the rest of us. We need a little bit of fun from time to time to cope with the absurdity of life.


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## ARS.photography.MS (Apr 16, 2013)

pgriz said:


> Let's put this event in a little bit of context. We are all sitting somewhere reading and writing out pieces, while below our feet, the ground we stand on is several miles of geological slag floating on molten rock, while above us various forms of planet-forming debris still makes close passes to our little home. And we share this home with people with different ideologies and perspectives on what makes life worth living, some of whom are very dangerous to the rest of us. We need a little bit of fun from time to time to cope with the absurdity of life.



As I'm wiping coffee from the face of my phone, I'm still rolling laughing!!!! I started reading and laughed so hard coffee shot out my nose! That's awesome! I wish I'd been outgoing and creative like that in jr high...I was so scared and timid and shy that I wouldn't let myself have fun! I hope my boys will be this way as they reach jr high!

High five to your daughter! Lol tell her to never lose sight if this part of her...as we grow older it tends to slowly slip away....


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## Derrel (Apr 16, 2013)

"I'm European."

LOVE it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## jwbryson1 (Apr 16, 2013)

AnnieHuley said:


> Reminds me of a time in high school band class where the band teacher let us have a day off so we...



Do you still have the flute?


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## CMfromIL (Apr 16, 2013)

Thank you all for the folks that got the funny.  To those that didn't....lighten up.  No one lost their job, and LifeTouch made a sale they normally wouldn't get.  I have spoken with my daughter since the incident again, and simply asked that she refrain from hijinks in the future with school pictures.

As far as commentary goes, I also belong to POTN (Photography On The Net).  On that board, I got over 500+ responses.  The overwhelming majority felt that both my daughter and I should be stoned to death, then burnt.  Somehow I was turned into some sort of dead beat parent with no skills, and my daughter a teenage delinquent responsible for the taking down of LifeTouch, the beloved school photography company.  And the hapless photographer is no doubt now homeless and cannot feed his family.

I won't link to it, but I use the same user name here if you need a glimpse into the crazy.


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## kathyt (Apr 16, 2013)

CMfromIL said:


> Thank you all for the folks that got the funny. To those that didn't....lighten up. No one lost their job, and LifeTouch made a sale they normally wouldn't get. I have spoken with my daughter since the incident again, and simply asked that she refrain from hijinks in the future with school pictures.
> 
> As far as commentary goes, I also belong to POTN (Photography On The Net). On that board, I got over 500+ responses. The overwhelming majority felt that both my daughter and I should be stoned to death, then burnt. Somehow I was turned into some sort of dead beat parent with no skills, and my daughter a teenage delinquent responsible for the taking down of LifeTouch, the beloved school photography company. And the hapless photographer is no doubt now homeless and cannot feed his family.
> 
> I won't link to it, but I use the same user name here if you need a glimpse into the crazy.



They will get over it.


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## Steve5D (Apr 16, 2013)

Pukka312 said:


> vfotog said:
> 
> 
> > photographers that think this is funny? seriously? the poor photog was just doing his job. if your daughter knew you weren't going to buy, just don't take the photo or just do it quick and get it over with instead of being obnoxious and making the guy's job harder. the photog's employers have expectations of him; being able to control brats like your daughter with a smile would be hard work. hope he doesn't lose his job over this. and then other brats do the same thing? hope all their parents didn't want pics either. then you as a PARENT think your daughter treating this guy like dirt and causing him problems is hysterical really sends a lousy message to your kid. guess you don't spend much time at home teaching your kid about respect and realizing life doesn't revolve around me, me, me. let's hope that when your spoiled child gets a little older you don't have serious issues when it backfires on you.
> ...



So remove the name calling, and vfotog has a very, very valid point. Personally, I would've opted to send the kid on her way, and not give her the satisfaction of mugging for the camera. And, if kids after her did it as well, it's a fair bet they're doing it because of her; that's no great stretch, at all.

Hopefully, one day, turnabout will be fair play, and the young lady in question receives her comeuppance...


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## Greiver (Apr 16, 2013)

CMfromIL said:


> Thank you all for the folks that got the funny.  To those that didn't....lighten up.  No one lost their job, and LifeTouch made a sale they normally wouldn't get.  I have spoken with my daughter since the incident again, and simply asked that she refrain from hijinks in the future with school pictures.
> 
> As far as commentary goes, I also belong to POTN (Photography On The Net).  On that board, I got over 500+ responses.  The overwhelming majority felt that both my daughter and I should be stoned to death, then burnt.  Somehow I was turned into some sort of dead beat parent with no skills, and my daughter a teenage delinquent responsible for the taking down of LifeTouch, the beloved school photography company.  And the hapless photographer is no doubt now homeless and cannot feed his family.
> 
> I won't link to it, but I use the same user name here if you need a glimpse into the crazy.


lol Sound like a bunch of 50+ whiners with sticks up their asses and ignorance about kids being kids. Not everyone is going to act "normal like everyone else" nor should they. I would have laughed at all of them and told them to get over it and find something legit to insult someone about.

I mean all those points are just ridiculous. If they did think all those things then they need a serious does of reality.


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## Derrel (Apr 16, 2013)

I'm afraid your daughter might be headed to a career working at some place like College Humor. Or The Daily Show. Or, God forbid, at Mad Magazine or some other horrible job, like being a writer for Parks And Recreation or something else that's absolutely awful, and which makes millions of dollars monthly, and has millions of fans...


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## Overread (Apr 16, 2013)

Photography on the Net - gah that place can be scary big at times! Sadly sometimes once a thread takes a direction it will go forever sour as it shifts away from the original topic and more into a rant against generalities.


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## Greiver (Apr 16, 2013)

Overread said:


> Photography on the Net - gah that place can be scary big at times! Sadly sometimes once a thread takes a direction it will go forever sour as it shifts away from the original topic and more into a rant against generalities.



Sounds familiar.


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## Overread (Apr 16, 2013)

Greiver said:


> Overread said:
> 
> 
> > Photography on the Net - gah that place can be scary big at times! Sadly sometimes once a thread takes a direction it will go forever sour as it shifts away from the original topic and more into a rant against generalities.
> ...



TPF threads hardly get to 20+pages of ranting though (we are far faster at intercepting them ) Plus we generally don't have many of them happening all at once over the whole site


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## Greiver (Apr 16, 2013)

Overread said:


> Greiver said:
> 
> 
> > Overread said:
> ...


I'll definitely give you that much.


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## CowgirlMama (Apr 16, 2013)

I think it's funny. My cousin showed up for picture day in a full pirate costume once. Best yearbook picture EVER!


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