Preparing for Your School Photo Day

As school photographers we want you to have the best experience possible, and to get as much out of your school’s photo day as you can. It’s why our whole process is designed to make life as easy as possible for you – the school – so you can get on with running your school!

It’s also why we’ve put together a short guide to help you prepare for photo day and make it a fundraising success.

Before Photo Day

A big part of the success of your photo day is determined by how much prep work is done beforehand. We’ll have everything covered our end and will walk you through the process with regular email reminders. However for the best success, there are a few things you’ll need to do too:

About 4-5 weeks before photo day, you need to start promoting it. Put up posters everywhere you can, reach out directly to parents and get them involved. Excited parents mean excited kids, better photos, and more photos purchased! You should also get permission from parents for photos to be taken nice and early – this will save you a lot of time later on.

Around 1 week before the photo day, send out reminders. Parents have a lot going on and can be forgetful (we know, we’re parents too!). Remind them that their child’s cleanest uniform or a change of clothes will help their child look their best. This is also when we will confirm all of the final details with you, such as planned start and end times.

The day before photo day, it’s time to prep your space. We prefer a 4m square space at least to work in. Make sure that space is tidy, clean and clear of debris. Double check there is power to the area, and that we’ll no block fire exits. Oh, and send out one final reminder to parents!

On Photo Day

Get ready! Your photographer should arrive about an hour before the session starts to set up, ready to hit the ground running. We like to work fast for a fun session, so ensuring a constant flow of children is the recipe to success!

It can be helpful to assign someone to organise the children. This means getting them all lined up and ready, cleaning noses and brushing hair. Make a list of every child to be photographed and tick off as you go so that no one gets missed.

Now it’s time to pop the kettle on (photographers run on coffee) and have fun! The kids will notice your energy and match it, so get into the spirit of the thing and enjoy it.

After Photo Day

Phew! That was a busy day! So make sure you treat yourself when you get home. It’ll be a few days before you need to do anything else. We’ll have everything in hand back at HQ, sorting images, printing proof forms and uploading images to parent galleries online.

Once we have sent your proof order forms (usually within a couple of days), hand them out to parents right away and let them know how they can order. Spend some time cooing over the photos with parents, and after about a week send out a reminder about ordering. We’ll send you reminders posters, emails and all you need to keep parents on track!

Maximising Your Commission

One of the big benefits of doing school photos is the opportunity to snag some extra fundraising for your school or nursery. You do that with commission made from everything purchased. Whilst you can’t force parents to place an order, we have found there are a few ways you can maximise your commission, including:

• Handing parents their proofs quickly.
• Ooh and ahh over the proofs with parents and tell them how much their child enjoyed the day.
• Remind parents about the deadlines and any early bird discounts.
• Give them a few nudges to order over the next few weeks.
• Make a song and dance when orders are delivered – some parents will still order even after earlybird deadlines have passed if they feel they’ll miss out.

Above all, plan early and enjoy the day! Photo day shouldn’t be stressful, and at Smiles at School it’s our mission to leave no smile – including staff – behind. If you’d like to know more about our school photography services, just get in touch with the team today. It’s a simple 3 step process:

1. Complete our contact form
2. We’ll chat about how we can help you
3. We’ll find a date to suit you and all will be managed from thereon in!