Search Results for: blog school shooting

Old School Mother’s Day Photos

Does your mom long for the good ol’ days? While it may be impossible to gift her with a trip back in time this Mother’s Day, there are ways you can bring back those nostalgic feelings through photos. Advancements in technology allow photographers of all skill levels the opportunity to create nostalgic images with modern day cameras. One of the easiest and cheapest ways to achieve a retro look is to invest in filters. For example, sepia filters add a yellow tint to pictures, making them look as though they were taken decades ago. Another option is to employ a … Continue reading →

Dealing with High School Tragedies

Like most of you who have heard about the tragedy in Ohio, my heart has felt broken over the loss of life. Yet another high school shooting, with the death toll now at three. It brings back memories. Not just memories of previous high school shootings—such as Columbine—but memories of my 17-year-old son’s first year of high school. You see, at first it was thought that the shooter in this latest incident was bullied. Since then it has been said he wasn’t “well,” something is psychologically wrong with him. That was the case nearly four years ago when a high … Continue reading →

Has School Security Gone Too Far?

It’s the stuff urban legends are made of: A 10-year-old boy from Tennessee is bored out of his mind while eating lunch at his elementary school cafeteria, so he decides to chew off pieces of his pizza to resemble a gun. He then proceeds to wave the slice of pie around like it’s the real deal, and ends up getting being banished to the “silent table” for the rest of the semester. Sound absurd? Perhaps, but it’s also 100 percent true. According to news reports, Nicholas Taylor will be dining in silence for allegedly using his teeth to form a … Continue reading →

Shooting Spring Sports

We are less than a month away from the start of baseball season. The pros throw out the first pitch on March 31st while many high school and intramural teams batter up in just a couple of weeks. My nephews are diehard baseball fans and even bigger little league players. They live, eat, and breathe baseball throughout the year, but spring, summer and fall are the only times I can capture them with my camera on the field. Last year I failed miserably trying to get a few frame worthy shots of them in action. This year, however, I have … Continue reading →

Shooting Indoors

I am sick of winter. And I know I am not the only one who feels that way. Sure, I spent the holidays in Hawaii with my family, but that getaway only made it harder for me to deal with the constant snow and cold that has made Wisconsin its haven for the past four months. Don’t get me wrong; I made the most of the pretty winter landscapes by snapping them with my new digital camera. However, one can only take so many snow shots. These days most of my seasonal shooting is done indoors at my daughter’s sporting … Continue reading →

In a Rush to Graduate Your Kids from Homeschool?

My family had a conversation last night about when we would graduate the kids from homeschool. We started talking about SAT scores for my son that we should receive on Tuesday and the fact that we couldn’t graduate him next year if he took the PSAT and qualified for the National Merit Program (he took the SAT first as a practice for the PSAT). Because the PSAT had to be taken in your Jr. year to qualify for the National Merit program, we were trying to figure out if he had to wait another year to graduate even though he … Continue reading →

Tips for Taking Your Own School Pictures

Did you know that some schools allow parents to take photos of their children with their own cameras and submit them to be published in the yearbook? I had no idea. However, I’m not surprised that class photo day has come to this. After all, by handing off photography duties to parents, teachers have fewer squirmy kids to keep in line on picture day. If you are looking to cut costs on class photos or you simply can’t stomach shelling out hard earned cash for overpriced pictures of your kids that are far from frame worthy, then check with your … Continue reading →

School Photo Tips

I always dreaded school picture day. Always. Even as a first grader. Even as a Catholic schoolgirl, who wore a uniform to class everyday, regardless of whether it was picture day. I just despised picture day. And it wasn’t as though I was forced to wear an elaborate dress that compromised my playground activity. Nor did I have long flowing hair that required me to sit like a statue until picture time in order to avoid looking like the Amy Winehouse. I simply couldn’t stand smiling on demand. If your young child has similar issues with school picture day, then … Continue reading →

Snapping School Photos

When I was in high school taking senior class photos was a big deal. Seniors were the only ones who had the privilege of appearing in the school yearbook in living color (the rest of the annual consisted of boring black-and-white shots). What’s more, the picture-taking sessions took place at a professional photo studio rather than in the corner of the school cafeteria. These days senior photo shoots are more elaborate than ever. Most professional photographers specializing in senior portraits offer packages that allow a student to choose from 15 to 40 different poses per session. In addition, students have … Continue reading →

Dating Violence in Schools

Dating violence is becoming more and more common. Possessive boyfriends that become jealous, demanding, isolate young teen girls and then finally become violent with them are not usual even on school grounds. Sometimes dating violence has fatal consequences that can end a young life and leave her family in ruins. Just two states mandate teaching kids about dating violence in schools. Texas mandates awareness education on dating violence, although the specific education requirements are not specified. Other states say they encourage this education, although it is not required. But Rhode Island is progressive on the issue. It recently passed a … Continue reading →