School Picture Day

Yesterday was school picture day at our school. Being discerning consumers (ie cheapskates), we decided not to buy the school’s package of photos, and opted instead for a little photo session at home before school and work.

It didn’t work.

James was mad the whole time, and I couldn’t get him to smile at all; in fact, I got a couple of pictures where he had tears becaue he wanted to ride the bus, but couldn’t. (We didn’t put them on the bus, and opted instead to drive them to school so we’d have time for a portrait session.) Anna was the complete opposite, and was too smiley. Of the 30 exposures I made, there might be two or three that will be worth printing, and everyone was stressed and upset.

Now I know how my dad felt when he tried to take family pictures. It was awesome. Dad is a professional photographer, and he’d always time things so we’d hit the right light, and he had these fancy Hasselblad cameras that cost more than our cars, but he could hardly ever get a decent picture of his family, because we’d pull faces right as the timer went off.

One shoot in particular stands out in my mind: We drove down to Sundance in Provo Canyon (I think), and Dad got out his camera, set it on the tripod, and set the timer. I would guess he shot two rolls of film. (For you digital natives, film is a piece of chemically treated acetate that reacts to light. Look it up on Wikipedia.) Between Andrew and me, we managed to ruin every single frame he shot, by doing bunny ears, pulling faces, or (no joke) sticking our fingers in each others noses.

Ahh… karma. I guess I got what I deserved.