Recently, I read an article in The Atlantic asking a question a lot of parents have been whispering for years: “What’s the point of school anymore?” by Annie Midori Atherton.
And honestly… I felt that. It’s actually what got me involved in the business of school photos!
Between the rising cost of everything in Brevard County and the fact that parents take thousands of photos on their phones, the traditional school-photo model feels more outdated every year. Packages starting at $28 and climbing over $100? For families with multiple kids, especially here in Central Florida where budgets already stretch far, that adds up fast.
Even with all that, parents in Merritt Island, Viera, Orlando, and beyond still buy school pictures. So why?
Let’s dig in.
The Price Shock Is Real - Especially for Florida Families
The article points out how expensive school photos have become, and as someone who runs a school photography business in Central Florida, I hear this from parents all the time.
When packages start near $30 and quickly climb past $70 or $100 for a couple of digital downloads, parents might feel taken advantage of.
Especially when:
they have multiple kids in school
they already take phone photos daily, and
they want flexibility without pressure-selling or complicated packages.
Here in Brevard County, where families often juggle extracurriculars, commutes, child-care costs, and inflation on basics like groceries, high cost of home-insurance - school-photo day can feel like just one more financial guilt trip.
But There Is Something Magical About School Photos
This is where the article resonated with me. Even with awkward smiles, crooked collars, and forced poses… parents still buy.
Why?
Because school photos, the real, printed ones, mark time in a way that phone photos don’t.
They professionally capture:
the missing front teeth
the uneven haircut from the night before
the stage between toddler cheeks and big-kid confidence.
While parents take hundreds of phone pictures a month, I also see a lot of what phone photos struggle with (or the operator of the phone!): blurry movement, poor lighting, and busy, distracting backgrounds. Those things are normal for everyday life, but they often hide the details parents want to remember later.
School photos, when done well, offer something different, tack-sharp focus, clean and contemporary lighting, and simple backgrounds that let the child be the whole story. In an age of Instagram-perfect setups and constant digital noise, the charm of an honest, beautifully lit, distraction-free school portrait feels refreshing. It becomes a childhood timestamp that says:
“This is who they were this year.”
How School Photography Needs to Evolve (Especially in Florida)
Families in places like Merritt Island, Cocoa Beach, Viera, and Lake Nona are increasingly savvy, just like in other parts of the US.
They want:
Affordable options
Digital-only choices
No pressure, no guilt upselling
Quick turnaround
Photos that actually look like their child, happy, natural, real
That’s part of why I started handling school and preschool photography differently in my own business here in Central Florida:
Transparent pricing
No overstuffed packages
No minimum purchase
Clean, natural, timeless portraits
Parents deserve options that feel modern, honest, and accessible.
So… Are School Photos Still Worth It?
Yes! When they’re done with intention, fairness, and care.
Buying school photos shouldn’t feel like a luxury tax for parents. It shouldn’t feel like a fundraiser disguised as a portrait session. It should feel like what it used to be:
A simple way to capture a child in the environment where they grow the most.
In Merritt Island and across Central Florida, families value memories deeply, but we also value transparency and authenticity. If school photography keeps up with those values, the tradition will not only survive, it will get better.
A Note on "Cheesy" School Photos -
Why We Do Things Differently
One thing in the article that made me nod (and wince) was the description of school photos looking “cheesy,” with kids frozen in a deer-in-the-headlights stare, bangs crooked, collars wrinkled, or props swallowed up by a staged backdrop. I get it, so many families in Merritt Island and across Central Florida have told me similar stories. This is exactly where our approach is intentionally different. We skip the overly themed props and busy digital backgrounds that some parents love (and others absolutely don’t). While we keep things modern and clean, we still try to meet in the middle, with options that feel contemporary and child-focused rather than cheesy or outdated.
Before a child ever steps in front of my camera, they’ve already spent a moment with one of our assistants who helps them relax, straightens their shirt, smooths bangs, wipes faces if needed, and gives them a warm, human moment before the shutter clicks. Once they’re camera-ready, the photographers spend about a minute with each student, not rushing them through like an assembly line, not treating them like they’ve just stepped off the proverbial conveyor belt. We use a gentle posing and modeling system that helps kids look natural, comfortable, and like themselves, not startled, stiff, or staged. It’s a small thing, but it’s everything when the goal is an authentic, timeless portrait.
Why School Photos Cost What They Do
Especially for Small, High-Quality Studios
The article talks a lot about high prices, and yes, parents feel that. Something that often gets overlooked is how expensive it is to run a small, high-quality volume photography business, especially if you want to do things differently from the big box companies she mentions.
A few realities:
We pay our assistants and helpers a real, livable wage, because the quality of our portraits depends on the quality of their interactions with kids.
We invest in clean, modern online galleries so that parents in Merritt Island, Viera, and all across Brevard County can view and order easily, no paper envelopes, no confusing packages.
We don’t upsell aggressively, and we keep packages flexible, which means we earn only from what parents genuinely want.
We absorb the cost of fair labor, equipment upkeep, insurance, registration, and high-quality printing.
We also participate in long-standing industry norms, like school givebacks, teacher freebies, and admin resources, traditions created decades ago by the big national companies long before smaller studios entered the market.
Finally, I want to thank the author for calling attention to something many people don’t realize: downloading or screenshotting school photos without purchasing them is illegal. It’s not just a small harmless shortcut, it’s direct copyright infringement that hurts small studios the most. Running a quality volume photography business in Central Florida already operates on thin margins; when images are copied without payment, it undermines the wages we pay, the time we spend with each child, and the resources required to provide families with a polished, modern experience. Her mention of this issue is an important reminder that these portraits are someone’s skilled labor, not just files floating around online.
All of these pieces add cost, but they also add meaning. They let us create school photos that feel human, thoughtful, and aligned with what Central Florida families deserve, not rushed or outdated.
I’d Love Your Thoughts
Do you still buy your kids’ school photos every year?
Do you feel the packages are overpriced?
Or is the nostalgia worth it?
Drop your thoughts! Especially if you’re here in Merritt Island, Brevard County, or anywhere in Central Florida. I’m genuinely curious how families are feeling about this tradition today.