Paying for Senior Year- Senior Pictures

I read this article with great interest!

Seniors and their parents need to heed this warning: Get a second job. Not only is the high school senior year exhausting for all concerned, but it is also one of the most expensive times in a child’s life.

A senior can easily spend $1,000 — and that’s not including prom or the essential senior trip.

“It was to the point where I thought, ‘Am I paying to graduate or really earning it?’ ” said Timothy Soo, Parkview High’s valedictorian, who will go to Emory University this fall.

The spending spree starts now, with seniors sitting for their senior portraits.

It lasts until graduation night, with a photographer on hand to capture the triumphant look on graduates’ faces as they receive their diplomas.

This is America, after all, the home of the free and the enterprising — and young people accustomed to spending hundreds of dollars on shoes, iPods and CDs.

Those who trade in trinkets and emotions have the perfect audience — children who are reaching a major milestone and parents chewing on a big bite of angst as their charges prepare to leave the nest.

Capping the cost of senior year ajc.com

Even homeschoolers are not immune from that big sucking sound coming from the bottom of your wallet! Senior year CAN be expensive if you are not careful!

Luckily for me, the big sucking sound coming from the bottom of my wallet is amplified by the vast echoes of emptiness. There’s not much in there so I don’t have much to waste! Yet I do want my kid to have some of the special stuff that comes from that last year of high school, particularly that senior picture. But I’m not willing to pay upwards of $200 bucks for it.

This past spring I bought a brand spanking new Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS70S 7MP Digital Camera with 3x Image Stabilized Zoom and I have been taking great pictures with it! I was particularly pleased with how Izzy’s first communion pictures turned out. So with that in mind, I’ve decided to take Calvin’s senior pictures by myself!

Here are some great links I’ve found on the topic.

Photography: How to take great digital portraits – Lifehacker

Tips for taking senior portraits – Digital Grin Photography Forum

Do-it-yourself high school senior portraits (Page 2)

Saving Money on Graduation: Senior Pictures, Announcements and Other Expenses.

Portrait Gallery Teens – searsportrait.com An inexpensive portrait package specially for teens!