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Señor pictures

Last week after returning from vacation, I got something in the mail. Apparently I was due to have my pictures taken for the yearbook. Next year’s yearbook. My senior yearbook.

At my school, it used to be that seniors had their pictures taken early in the school year, around September or October, just like the underclassmen, but since they had to dress up for the camera, they were scheduled to go in on the weekend rather than during class. That’s why I was wondering whether it was really necessary to have my picture taken so it would appear in a yearbook that I probably won’t see until, say, September 2007. (Instead of getting our yearbooks at the end of the school year, we get them at the beginning of the next year so they can go to press with photos of the spring sports, prom, and graduation.)

Anyway, this piece of mail told me that I was scheduled have my pictures taken at the school on Wednesday, June 14, at 11:15 A.M., that I should expect to be there for an hour, that the necessary clothing would be given (the tuxedo coat, shirt, and tie), and that the cost, to be paid at the time of sitting, was $0.00. It also said they’re not just taking yearbook photos, but other, non-yearbook photos as well, so it might be a good idea to bring some sort of prop (like your instrument if you’re in the band, a football if you’re on the football team, a calculator if you’re in the math club…). I didn’t want to, though. I just dressed up relatively nice and hoped that that would do. Oh, and I also made a pretty decent attempt to tame my hair. I can’t imagine having to do that every day.

I was expecting that there would be a lot of people there, but I figured that I would know at least some of them, so I would have someone to talk to while waiting in the long line to have my picture taken. So I got a ride to the school, went into the auditorium only to find… two people getting their pictures taken. Apparently the “appointments” were scheduled on an individual basis rather than making the A-L people go on this date and M-Z go on that date. I guess it’s a good idea, but it sort of made me feel as though I had been put on the spot. And, as it turned out, I did know Kyle, one of the people there, so we sort of said hi.

It wasn’t long before I had my pictures taken. First they did the non-yearbook ones. It was pretty crazy. Stand on this X, turn your body this way, turn your head that way, look another way, move that arm there, this one over here, do this with your hand, move your chin down, and down a little more, and smile. It was pretty annoying, but I guess they knew what they were doing. So after using about 11 different backdrops and 40,000 poses, it came time for me to take the yearbook photo. I got to put on the fancy outfit — well, maybe the top half of a tux isn’t exactly fancy. The guy taking those pictures had me move every which way also, but I guess it’s good that you have a choice of which photo you want to be published. I think you have a choice, anyway. I’d assume.

After that, I was free to go, but I had only been there for 20 minutes and it was going to be another 40 minutes before my ride came. So I just hung out outside the building when I saw Lacey. Her last name is slightly before mine in alphabetical order, so I knew that she was a little late. Then this other guy came who was after me in alphabetical order. I just sat in the back of the auditorium while they had their pictures taken. Then I talked to the other guy for a little while until my ride came. His name was Jordan, so that should be easy to remember. The whole experience was pretty strange. It was weird going to school during the summer and talking to acquaintances about how their summer was going rather than how it had gone. And, to tie things up in this little story, the photographers said I should be getting the proofs of the photos in two weeks. We’ll see how they turn out.

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One year ago: “Oh, and by the way, your carpets hate you too.”
Two years ago: “They also like crafts and hand-painted wooden things, but I digress.”