Help me decide? Grad photos!

[tjscraps]

My oldest is graduating this year (howwwwwww???) and we just got the proofs back today, I am actually really pleasantly surprised by them and I love almost all of them lol

I need to make a decision quickly to get a sale lol But they're all so good! The digital images (only) are $265 . But there is a package that includes all the digital images, plus 19 prints and 32 wallets that there's a coupon that brings it down to $227.50 ... am I going overboard thinking I should do that??? Ack!

 

[LynnZant]

Awesome photos! You probably don't have to rush for a sale. . .just saying. Speaking from experience, they will hound you for months/years afterward. I still get emails for the high school photos, and my oldest graduated college last year.

 

[tjscraps]

Awesome photos! You probably don't have to rush for a sale. . .just saying. Speaking from experience, they will hound you for months/years afterward. I still get emails for the high school photos, and my oldest graduated college last year.

Oh, really? 30% off seemed like a good deal (the original price is $325, so it's over $100 off) - it's through Lifetouch, how often do they have sales?

 

[LynnZant]

Lifetouch was (maybe still are) the company hounding me. I never paid attention to the sales because the initial cost was so high. Now I'm wondering if the sales got better the longer I ignored them. I wish that I would have paid attention.
I just took out my daughters to different locations and did photo shoots of my own with them for high school, and the one that just graduated college had photos taken by her boyfriend that learned how to use a nice camera just for that purpose. To be honest, he did a way better job than I would have.

 

[aussiegirl]

Did you ask your Senior what her thoughts are? My girls were very quick to point out what photos were their favorites and what they liked. We have taken most of our Senior photos ourselves, so we have all the photos we took. I would ask what ones are her favs.

Also, figure out what prints you actually NEED. Are you going to frame one to put on the wall (we have each of the girls Senior photos on the wall lined up). We did use some for grad party invites, so family and friends had copies of her Senior photos that way. We did make some small wallets of one of the girls to have available at her grad party, but had so many left over.

See if it makes more sense to order just the ones that are your favorites and whatever prints you want. Or if you order the digitals, are they then your property that you can make additional prints if you wanted (like print through shutterfly?)

But yes, I agree with Lynn, they will send you emails for your photos many many years from now (2 College Graduates, 2 in College and I still get emails).

 

[mmbstaley]

I wish the company that our school used offered all of the digital images with some prints for that price! The one we have only lets you buy them individually, and yes the prices are crazy high. I don't get the thinking, because I refuse to pay that much for a single image so they get nothing from me. Anyway...
Yes you will continue to get emails with 'special offers' from them for several years. That discount is pretty good though based on what I've seen over the years and if I had ever been offered that package at a discount I might have gone ahead and bit the bullet to get my girls official pics.

Like others have said, definitely ask your daughter as she might have opinions on which ones are the best if you are only getting one or two.

 

[kristalund]

They are great photos! Get em all! lol

 

[jk703]

Those are great photos, Trina! I still can't believe we will have graduates. She looks so beautiful, and I can't believe how time has flown! I love so many - you have a hard choice. With the graduation in mind, top row, #2 is wonderful. They really are all great pictures!

I got Colin's, digitally, and I can always print, so I opted for that version. I paid $239. Colin had some funny ones in there - some were so corny. I asked him what he liked and then what I liked, then the funny one. We also do Senior ads in the yearbook, and I chose Thumbs Up. lol! Cracks me up!

 

[Leablahblah]

Wonderful photos! Wow! I would hate being in your shoes because I usually want all the photos! But that price is cringy! Good luck making a decision. Life touch is so expensive. Our school recently switched to them and ugh! I hate them so much for the price hike.

 

[Romajo]

Something to consider: are you willing to get the photos of the younger siblings and spend the same amount of money as well?
In the end it is an achievement, something you and your kids night want to remember forever.

Anyway, the photos are great. And congrats! But man... don't you feel old having a kid that's graduating? I'm sure you remember the day she was born like it was yesterday.

 

[AmieN1]

LOVE!! I always use the 'excuse' that I'm a scrapper & need ALL the products to create! We don't do grad photos like that here in the PNW but we are currently scheduling cap & gown sessions! SO crazy our girls are graduating!!!

 

[tjscraps]

Something to consider: are you willing to get the photos of the younger siblings and spend the same amount of money as well?
In the end it is an achievement, something you and your kids night want to remember forever.

Anyway, the photos are great. And congrats! But man... don't you feel old having a kid that's graduating? I'm sure you remember the day she was born like it was yesterday.

I have a huge age gap between my girls (8.5 years), I'm sure this price will triple before then the way things are going lol

And yes, feel really old that she's 18 and graduating! How is that even possible???

 

[tjscraps]

LOVE!! I always use the 'excuse' that I'm a scrapper & need ALL the products to create! We don't do grad photos like that here in the PNW but we are currently scheduling cap & gown sessions! SO crazy our girls are graduating!!!

I didn't realize they'd do 'glamour' shots too, I thought it was just going to be cap & gown. as well. We sent her Kindergarten graduation photo with her and thought that would be cute - love how it turned out!

 

[tjscraps]

Those are great photos, Trina! I still can't believe we will have graduates. She looks so beautiful, and I can't believe how time has flown! I love so many - you have a hard choice. With the graduation in mind, top row, #2 is wonderful. They really are all great pictures!

I got Colin's, digitally, and I can always print, so I opted for that version. I paid $239. Colin had some funny ones in there - some were so corny. I asked him what he liked and then what I liked, then the funny one. We also do Senior ads in the yearbook, and I chose Thumbs Up. lol! Cracks me up!

$239 makes me feel better for our package - seems on par then ... I bit the bullet and got the package with all the digital files, plus some prints (it was cheaper than just getting the digital files) and I'll get them printed on my own.

 

[Cheryl Ashcraft]

They are all gorgeous! I don't know how you're going to choose. And I cannot believe she's graduating. I mean, I've watched her grow up on your layouts but still it feels like a surprise. LOL

I believe I got a single image for both Olivia and Daniel. I don't remember what I paid. It was under $100, but that was just for one image. I did photo shoots myself so I have plenty of photos of that time to scrap.

 

[lizziej]

My son's school used Lifetouch when he graduated in 2018. I think I bought a couple of poses - I paid for the session that included the casual poses with changes of clothing. They kept bugging me about buying the CD. My son's friend took environmentals, which came out great, so I didn't feel compelled to buy the CD! Then, I think it was right before graduation when they offered me the CD for $60. I snatched that up and had Persnickety Prints do the printing. See if you can talk to parents with kids who graduated last year to see if LT reduced the prices even more.

Your daughter's photos came out great! I really like the cap and gown photo where she is holding her kindergarten photo.

The cap and gown of my son that I really wanted was crooked (as were other shots)! My husband said that the young girl doing the photography did not use a tripod - she hand-held the camera, which is fine, if you're good at it. I called LT, and they told me nothing could be done about straightening it. Sure enough, when I got the CD, I was able to straighten it in PSE. Some of the photos were dark, so I had a chance to lighten them up a bit.

 

[laurabobaura]

YIKES! I would probably end up asking what my senior's favorite ones are and order a package that is somewhere in the middle in terms of price range.

 

[EvelynD2]

$239 makes me feel better for our package - seems on par then ... I bit the bullet and got the package with all the digital files, plus some prints (it was cheaper than just getting the digital files) and I'll get them printed on my own.

Trina, I think her photos all turned out so beautiful! It's great that you have some prints and the rest of the digital photos! I have had some photos printed through Amazon and they did a great job.

 

[HeatherB]

I think ours were Lifetouch and my youngest's package configuration was way better than my oldest's. I ended up ordering an 11x14 years later for my oldest and I was happy they still had the negatives to do that. I did not get the digital images because I didn't know what resolution they would be in. I did that once and the resolution was just for a 5x7 so I was really disappointed.