I love our “first day of school” pictures.
I love that they’re natural, and not too posed, and they show the kids’ real personalities. I used to order the actual school pictures every year, but the photographer who took them gave the kids so many instructions — “Look this way!”, “Not there, over here!”,”Don’t smile, it looks too fake!” — that by the time he snapped the pictures of them, they looked all:
So personally? I much prefer our own back-to-school pictures, taken in front of our own house or school. We’ve been taking them for ten years now, and I’ve collected a few tips over the years to make those pictures go a little smoother. (Also, read on for a free printable to use in your pictures!)
Tips for taking first day of school pictures:
- Make sure to allow plenty of time. When I plan for our first day of school, I always forget to add in an extra 15 minutes or so for pictures. And the kids don’t take good pictures when I’m yelling at them to hurry up and sit still and just look at me once really quick. It gets especially tricky when you have more than one kid, so be sure to allow enough time to take some nice pictures without having to rush.
- Make sure you get candids. I love the annual picture in front of our house. But don’t forget to take some as the kids get on the bus, or bike to school, or see their friends for the first time in a while. Those are all fun.
- Make sure you get in some. You don’t have to take one like this mom (though if you do, I totally want to see it!!), but make sure you’re in some of the pictures. We moms don’t get in nearly enough pictures, and these milestones are pretty special.
One word of warning, though — be careful of taking pictures with identifying things in the background. I’m leery of publicly posting where we live, or where my kids go to school, but it’s easy to forget that when I’m taking pictures. I try not to take any with our house address in them, or with our school name in them, because I like to share on social media and I don’t want that information out there.
And now — a free printable sign for your first day!
There are printable signs for every year from preschool-12th grade. You can click here for the printables
Good luck!
Do you have any tips for taking great back to school pictures?
CommentsPhotos courtesy iStock and Laura Falin
For more kids’ activities and easy recipes, you can find Laura at Peace but not Quiet, and on facebook and Pinterest.
