Occasionally on this blog, I like to give you some photography tips. Today, let’s talk about what not to wear for school pictures. Planning for these pictures can bring some anxiety — not just for the students but for moms as well. But sometimes the best pictures happen when things don’t go as planned. When my friend Laurel saw that pictures would be on the very first day of school and made sure that her boys were ready. (Personally, I’m very impressed that with all the craziness that comes with back to school, she was on top of this!)
After discussing the options, Carter, her seventh grader, settled on a favorite green shirt. She agreed with the choice because last year the background had been grey and the bright color would pop nicely. She also reminded him to check his hair before the pictures and gave him some tips to get the perfect smile. What could go wrong?
That afternoon as they talked about how the first day of school went, Carter mentioned that maybe another shirt would have been a better choice because of the green screen they used. Laurel wondered how she missed that memo (it’s since been confirmed that there wasn’t one), but all she could do what hope for the best. When the proofs arrived via email a couple days later, it was confirmed: the shirt perfectly blended with the background and Carter appeared as a floating head (with a perfect smile) in a series of hilarious photos!
Laurel has a great sense of humor so instead of rushing to looking up the picture retake day, she did what a sensible mom would do and shared the pictures on Facebook saying “Which one should we choose? I’m kind of partial to the flags.” I’m so glad she did!
They pictures are all pretty funny and over the weekend people started commenting on their favorites, adding fun captions and sharing the posts. It wasn’t long before the list of comments was pages long — way beyond Laurel’s circle of friends! The most popular appears to be the one where he seems to be wrapped in a United States flag. Currently, it has over 100 comments!
Some of the comments were as funny as the pictures. Kathleen O. noted that in one of the photos Carter appears to be a mounted head in a hunting cabin —yikes! My favorite is the one where his head is floating across a bridge surrounded by beautiful autumn trees. It reminded me of a scene from the headless horseman — I’m not sure why since it is actually the reverse, maybe the head-only horseman?
This now viral post has taken on a life of it’s own — almost 10,000 comments and 40,000 shares! Carter’s floating face is now recognized by people around the world. I’ve enjoyed watching this story unfold and Laurel posts updates on the media blitz around these epic pictures! As for Carter, I’m sure he’ll never forget this unusual start to the school year.
If you live under a rock and have some how missed this story, or want to get the first person account, you can read Laurel’s story in herpost on Love What Matters.
