Question: My child’s school picture doesn’t even look like them, what should I do? 

Answer: Working with an affordable local photographer means you can have photos that represent your kids as they are, with all their passion and attitude! The one-second portrait taken by the school just doesn’t cut it.

We all know how stressful school picture day is

School picture day is a whole thing. You put your kiddo in the outfit you want for their photo, brush their hair, make sure everything is perfect – and by the time photos actually come around? Who knows what chaos has happened for your child at school. They might have a slot after lunchtime, and depending on age… that can change the whole game.

They come home with the order form, and you’ve got to decide what to get, from a photo that you didn’t pick the set up for. You might’ve gotten to choose a background, but the options? Super limited. And don’t get me started on the type of retouching that happens for a lot of school photos, either. Some schools have started using AI, and I’ll spare you the details – but honestly? Some parents are finding that the images of their kids don’t even LOOK like them anymore.

Those pictures aren’t FOR you, they’re for the yearbook

But here’s the thing – those pictures aren’t for you. They’re for the school. They’re for your student’s ID, their school profile, and for the yearbook. They’re not intended to be printed for your home anymore, even though back in the day, that was their primary use. That, and those little wallet sized prints you could keep with you – I’ll try not to get too nostalgic, but oh man… those were the days, right?

Your kiddo’s personality deserves to be highlighted!

When it comes to photos that you can ACTUALLY print to have in your home, you want something more… personal. Right? Photos of your child or your children together, that actually show their smile, their personality, and their attitude! Because while those school portraits are uniform, and they’re told to smile, you know it’s not a REAL smile – the kind you get when you tell a super silly joke, or they’re talking about something they love. Those are the kinds of smiles you want in real photos of your children, and in the ones you surround yourself with in your home!

Your amazing humans have personality – and their personalities deserve to be highlighted. Not muffled by the uniform, specific, posed photos the school takes of your children. If they love soccer, you should be able to highlight that. If they’re like, SUPER into Lego? You should be able to work that into their photos if you want to.

Creating a custom session with a photographer makes it possible

So what’s the solution here? If you can’t rely on the school to take a photo of your child that you’ll be able to really cherish and look back on, what can you do? You’ve probably already guessed, from the title of this section – the answer is working with a professional photographer, for a session you book, that will mean your kiddo is the FOCUS of the session. Or, all of your family together, that works too!

It doesn’t have to be a devoted session, either, and it doesn’t have to break the bank. Studios like mine (Hi there, I’m Jessica Strobel, if you hadn’t noticed!) offer sessions for every budget. For example, mini sessions here in Minneapolis with Jessica Strobel Photography mean you come away with photos that are uniquely YOU, but that happen in a super speedy, stress-free environment, so you barely have to take time out of your busy schedule to make them happen!

No matter your family’s needs, Jessica Strobel Photography can make your session magical

It doesn’t matter whether you want to come away with forty photos, or five. It doesn’t matter whether you want photos outdoors, or in your back yard. Colorful? Amazing. Muted? Spectacular. Whatever your vibe is, whatever your vision – we can make it happen.

And most of all, we can highlight your REAL personalities – both your kiddo(s), and you. So if you know you’re headed into disappointment when it comes to your childrens’ school photos, you’ve got options you can use. Take a look at photographers near you, and if you’re in the Minneapolis area, take a look at my portfolio, and see whether there’s someone you want to work with for a family session, or childhood session! You shouldn’t be stuck with uniform images to look back on, where your kiddo had two seconds to smile, and someone with a comb laid their hair back where it was supposed to be while they were lined up to be photographed.

Looking for portraits of your kids… with personality?

If school photos aren’t doing it for you, and you’re looking for something that focuses on YOUR child, and not in a “let’s get as many photos taken as possible in the shortest possible time” – then we should talk. I want to create a family photo session that brings you JOY. One that highlights all of the things that make your family uniquely you, and that you’ll be excited to order prints of to hang in your livingroom. Who knows, maybe a family photo session will become a new family tradition, that you repeat year after year, building a whole timeline of your kiddo’s growth, like school portraits can do. But… way better. Because they’re for YOU. Not for the yearbook.