The Traveling Photographer
Alright, so today I am going to go through my new job; Highlights, some low lights and the overall experience of being a school photographer.
In the last month I have been traveling to various schools in my area to take school day photos--ages Kindergarten to grade 12. WOW! What an experience it has been.
I am going to try and balance the high and low lights just to keep it nice and even.
The kids are by far my favorite part- depending on the age group. High schools are very tough for me because what I experience in high school was stress, about everything! So going back into the schools was nerve wracking, but dealing with teenagers was even more so. One of my first days on the job I was set up and ready to shoot so I asked my boss about the rule on hats for the day. As usual it was first shot without, and second shot with. So that's how I shot--Until I got to the grade 12's. Yikes. I sat one guy down and told him he had to take his hat off for one of the photos, "Well that's kinda f****** pointless isn't it?"
I was so shocked I looked over my camera at him and asked him to take off his hat again. He refused again, and continued to swear at me. I don't remember how I got out of that one, or why some kids are so angry at life.
I will go onto good things now, that was really my best "worst moments" story. As I said earlier my day depended on the age groups and how they carried themselves, so naturally all but one of my "wonderful" stories are from the young rascals.
At least three times a day I reached for a card and got a handshake, it was so cute that people are still teaching their kids how to be so polite. I got a handshake from a grade 1 today and I couldn't believe how tiny their adorable little hands are- I guess I'm not around kids that often!
I got another little guy to come and sit down for me, he had a huge smile and his face and I could hear a little sound, but couldn't figure out what it was, so I forgot about it. I took the photo and then told him that we would do one more and the little sound started again. I listened closer and realized that the little guy was saying "Cheeeeese" through his teeth as he smiled at me.
My biggest challenge for the little ones were definitely the ones that were camera shy. I had the sweetest little girl who was terrified to have her photo taken so I asked her what her favourite animal was, she responded in the tiniest little voice "Cows,".
So I looked at her and gave her a big smile and said, "Guess what?"
"What?" She asked looking at me under her big eyelashes.
"I was raised on a farm, and I got to see cows every day."
Her mom looked at her and offered to take her to a dairy farm to see Holsteins after she had her photo done and she gave me the BIGGEST smile I have ever seen. Her mom was so happy that I brought up cows she even told the principal of the school how wonderful I was, and the principal called my boss. I was nervous when I heard she had called him but he showed me the message and even told me that he rarely gets calls to say how amazing his photographers are, so I got a huge praise for that!
And now for my favourite school days photo client, even though I am not supposed to pick favourites, Honey.
Oh, and of course the artwork in the schools were amazing!
And of course the different scenery!
I think that's all for now. This job was great for me, whether I like to admit it to people or not. It taught me so much about what I want in a future career and is definitely keeping me on my path to Environmental Sciences. Working with kids (at any age) is tough, they are all so different and that's an amazing thing, I am so thankful to see kids at any age developing their personalities and how great they are, but its so hard to match those varieties. I did it, and I have done it in photography for a long time but for now I think I will go back to school myself 😊
All photos by Gralyn J.Photography 💗
In the last month I have been traveling to various schools in my area to take school day photos--ages Kindergarten to grade 12. WOW! What an experience it has been.
I am going to try and balance the high and low lights just to keep it nice and even.
The kids are by far my favorite part- depending on the age group. High schools are very tough for me because what I experience in high school was stress, about everything! So going back into the schools was nerve wracking, but dealing with teenagers was even more so. One of my first days on the job I was set up and ready to shoot so I asked my boss about the rule on hats for the day. As usual it was first shot without, and second shot with. So that's how I shot--Until I got to the grade 12's. Yikes. I sat one guy down and told him he had to take his hat off for one of the photos, "Well that's kinda f****** pointless isn't it?"
I was so shocked I looked over my camera at him and asked him to take off his hat again. He refused again, and continued to swear at me. I don't remember how I got out of that one, or why some kids are so angry at life.
At least three times a day I reached for a card and got a handshake, it was so cute that people are still teaching their kids how to be so polite. I got a handshake from a grade 1 today and I couldn't believe how tiny their adorable little hands are- I guess I'm not around kids that often!
I got another little guy to come and sit down for me, he had a huge smile and his face and I could hear a little sound, but couldn't figure out what it was, so I forgot about it. I took the photo and then told him that we would do one more and the little sound started again. I listened closer and realized that the little guy was saying "Cheeeeese" through his teeth as he smiled at me.
My biggest challenge for the little ones were definitely the ones that were camera shy. I had the sweetest little girl who was terrified to have her photo taken so I asked her what her favourite animal was, she responded in the tiniest little voice "Cows,".
So I looked at her and gave her a big smile and said, "Guess what?"
"What?" She asked looking at me under her big eyelashes.
"I was raised on a farm, and I got to see cows every day."
Her mom looked at her and offered to take her to a dairy farm to see Holsteins after she had her photo done and she gave me the BIGGEST smile I have ever seen. Her mom was so happy that I brought up cows she even told the principal of the school how wonderful I was, and the principal called my boss. I was nervous when I heard she had called him but he showed me the message and even told me that he rarely gets calls to say how amazing his photographers are, so I got a huge praise for that!
And now for my favourite school days photo client, even though I am not supposed to pick favourites, Honey.
And of course the different scenery!
I think that's all for now. This job was great for me, whether I like to admit it to people or not. It taught me so much about what I want in a future career and is definitely keeping me on my path to Environmental Sciences. Working with kids (at any age) is tough, they are all so different and that's an amazing thing, I am so thankful to see kids at any age developing their personalities and how great they are, but its so hard to match those varieties. I did it, and I have done it in photography for a long time but for now I think I will go back to school myself 😊
All photos by Gralyn J.Photography 💗
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