Senior Portraits . . . Let's talk $

Ok, give it to me straight. How much are these things gonna cost me? It's $70 just for the sitting fee.

I'm talking about Prestige Portraits. Do I need to start selling my good kidney or what?

 

To me, these are a RIPOFF. We generally do not buy school pics. We take much better ones.

What I also object to is the inability for a student to bring in an appropriate photo on a jump drive to have included in their yearbook. Or just be able to upload the picture they wish onto the website for inclusion. If we can doit for grins and giggles for this board, there should be no objection (other than diminished profits) by the yearbook and school photo staffs.

If the schools are being rewarded in any fashion from the photographers, whether contracted or not, there should be transparency as to where that money goes, and whom it benefits.

Sitting fee of 70 bucks. I call NO WAY on that. With the economy as it is, this further penalizes those who don't have the disposable income, or else might have a better place in which to invest this. 70 bucks can go a long way at the grocery store for us.

 

70 DOLLARS???? Per kid?? And they go through like an assembly line?

It's five to ten bucks anywhere else for professional pics and they have to wrangle toddlers for an hour.

I say sit for the yearbook pic and get the cap and gown pics done elsewhere - if that's possible.

 

We just bought ours a few weeks ago and it started around $275 I think. Ridiculous!! But they look great. Once in a lifetime thing, so we got them.

 

$70 includes 35 poses inside & outside and a bunch of other stuff. It does not include the pics themselves. I was just talking to a coworker who spent $250 for 1 11 x 17, 1 8 x 10, 2 5 x 7's and some wallets. CRAZY!

I think what I have decided to do is to take her to another professional photographer in the area who does the pics much cheaper and just take her to Prestige for the cap & gown and the yearbook pics.

I've been told to start saving money now because senior year is going to get very expensive. UGH!

 

Call Tammy Fisher, Fisher Photography. She is not the cheapest but she ROCKS, especially at Senior portraits!! Check out her website, www.FisherPhoto.net
She is very creative & you get truly custom photos. Call her for a consult, it will be worth your time

Good Luck, and congrats to your Senior!

 

unless things have changed, they don't do the cap/gown pics in the summer, just the Sr and yrbook one. THEN they do another round of cap/gown ones in the spring - we did not do those. We did use Prestige for dd's Sr ones - we did a less expensive package than the one you posted, and they turned out awesome, they did an excellent job, we were very pleased!

 

These are done at their studio - not like normal school pics. Lots of backgrounds, props, b/w, color, etc.

 

we just did the yearbook one at school and went to Ken Tart for the other pics. we did 5 different outfits and the pictures were expensive but worth it. The quality of the pics are much better than what the school does and of course my daughter went to different locations to have hers taken such as the beach, a big old white house in dunn, railroad tracks, a lake.
You may want to sell a kidney and a few other things too.

 

OMG!!! How in the world will my kids be able to do anything senior year?!?! I'm stunned looking at these prices. Just stunned. And the amount you get...ridiculous. Do they still do rings nowadays and letter jackets?? Just curious as I have a few more years to go but quite a few to go through high school. And in consecutive years. I will try to start saving now. Mine is just going to be a freshman this coming year. You guys are all scaring me. I know it is a once in a lifetime thing but there has to be some common sense w/ these companies and money they charge. I can only imagine what prom costs nowadays...yikes!

Stephanie--mom to 7

 

We spent $350 on a class ring last year and it was ONLY the sterling silver, not the platinum or gold.

I don't even want to talk about prom . .

 

Why no date for the prom??? I will be your escort..:lol:

 

God, it's been 23 years since I went to a prom. Where did the time go?

 

We just did Kyle's year book picture at Prestige. They wanted a deposit, non refundable, and went to WalMart and had his other pics done. We did let Prestige do his cap and gown pics and got a good deal on them There was a graduation special, which we got and it was A LOT LESS than the Sr Pics. I personally don't think you have to spend that much for pics. A friend of mine from KS just took her digital camera and went to different locations and took her daughter's pictures. She had to have a school pic for the year book, but other than that, those she gave away, she did on her own

Yep Senior year is EXPENSIVE!!!!

 

28 years for me!!!

 

how the hell am I going to be able to afford TWO Seniors at one time? I just don't know how folks do it!:?

 

OIC. When I was in school, you went to the school cafeteria and girls got a drape and boys got a fake tux front and there were your yearbook/senior portraits. I have never heard of different backgrounds, props, colors... going to an outside vendor.

And 350.00 for a class ring? It seems like things of tradition have become things for these companies to bank on. Proms with limos and triple digit price tag dresses? My kids will probably have to go without alot of these things unless they have jobs and pay for it themselves - and that will be unlikely after they see their car insurance bill. :lol: Is it true it is 2-300$ a month to add a new driver to your policy?

I am just aghast at these prices, for one year of your life that is over so quickly - and then you move on to college and/or the workforce and rings, yearbooks, and photos get thrown in a box up in the closet.

/rant over.

 

I am hoping to dodge the class ring bullet myself....what a waste! I have already told mine that they will have to have some kind of part time job to help pay for car/insurance/gas....or get one license to share.

 

Hey, that's a a good idea. One license to share. :lol:

I think it will be easier for those of us with boys to dodge the class rings, my 14YO is all about being masculine so I'll just tell him rings are gay. That will take care of that.

 

PERFECT!! That will work for mine too!