Saving School Photos

Wednesday March 24, 2010

This week one of my granddaughters had her kindergarten class photograph taken at school. The taking of school and class photos is a much bigger deal now than it was when I was a kid. Back then you were herded into one very long line and plopped down on a stool in front of a plain screen. You were given about two seconds to look up and smile, hopefully in the right direction, before being herded off again. One memorable year the school photos were taken directly following P.E. class and everyone's dirty, sweaty, and exhausted image was captured for posterity. Nowadays the photographer is likely to bring a variety of backdrops and props and take more time with the shot. I have also actually seen teachers and aids straightening the clothing and hair of the children. The resulting photographs turn out much better. This is good because your photographs are important.

During disasters many people loose their precious photographs. This past week a lady named Cathy Long gave me a helpful suggestion regarding the safeguarding of your photos. Cathy is a teacher who lost her family photographs, among many other possessions, during Hurricane Katrina. However all was not really lost because Cathy always had extra copies made of all her pictures to share with relatives. Following the disaster, copies were now made of the relatives photographs and sent back to replace what she had lost.

So it pays to be generous and share all of your family photographs (even the school ones) with a friend or relative living outside of your area. You would be not only be brightening their day with the photos but would also be establishing a backup collection of your family's photographs.

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