Patrick Worrall sank into his seat in the middle of the South Allegheny Middle/High School auditorium and covered his face.
The seventh-grader, wearing jeans and a black Tony Hawk T-shirt, didn't want his photo taken on his school's picture day.
"I just lost two teeth," said Worrall, 12, opening his mouth to reveal the gaps. "I lost one last week and the other a few months ago."
Even during a time when nearly every parent has a point-and-shoot camera or cell phone with picture-taking capabilities, thousands of schools nationwide annually turn their auditoriums and cafeterias into makeshift photography studios. And photographers say the industry is booming, despite the bad economy.
"Picture day memories are ones that parents hold as important in the lives of their children," said Kelvin Miller, a spokesman for Minnesota-based Lifetouch Photography, the nation's largest photography company.
Lifetouch has added an assortment of backgrounds, CDs and editing tools to entice parents, but it's the desire to capture each year that continues to drive sales, Miller said.
"There still seems to be that moment in time when parents want a professional portrait taken," he said. "The annual record of growth and maturity is still extremely important."
Pittsburgh area no exception
Tom Nolfi, president of Studio Ten Photography in McKees Rocks, said he photographs about 60,000 students a year throughout the region. About three-quarters of them order prints, which generally run between $10 and $35, depending on the number of photographs, Nolfi said.
How districts select the photographers who take individual, team and activity photos varies, but districts don't have to put photography contracts out for bid because they are professional services, according to a spokesman for the state Department of Education.
Districts can benefit financially from contracts in the form of bonuses. Shaler Area School District, for example, receives $3,000 a year from Lifetouch, with which it has a three-year contract. Lifetouch gave $500 or a new Apple iPad to some North Allegheny School District principals. Both districts said the bonuses are used to support education.
Bradford Woods Elementary School Principal Debra Somerhalder said she plans to use their bonus as incentives for students preparing for state tests, field-trip scholarships and recognition awards.
Brendan Hyland, principal of North Allegheny Intermediate High School, said the school has received a photo of each class that's displayed in the school's main hallway. It received a digital camera a few years ago.
The camera, he said, "was a nice gesture, but the camera was rather cheap and didn't work very well."
School pictures, said students at South Allegheny and a few other schools, tend to be more important for girls than boys.
South Allegheny seventh-graders Bailey Myers, Morgan Mattie and Kacey Sullinger said they had their outfits picked out well in advance of picture day last month. Meanwhile, eighth-graders Dino Iatrieri, Nate Boykin and Justo Hernandez said they didn't pay much attention to what they were going to wear.
"I put on whatever was clean today," said Hernandez, 13, of Glassport.
Kassidy Garofalo, 10, a fifth-grader at Pittsburgh Banksville K-5, took great care of her outfit the weeks before picture day. She said she hid her clothes in her room so her dog didn't chew or get hair on them.
Lasting keepsake
Students and parents said the pictures usually end up on fireplace mantels and grandparents' refrigerators, or inside wallets, memory books and lockers.
"We'll look back 50 years from now and remember how we were, what we looked like and what everyone else looked like," said Sean Kutch, 18, of Liberty and a senior at South Allegheny.
Senior photos are even more involved, with many students "taking it to the extreme," said Sydney Geyer, 17, of Lincoln. Students endure multiple outfit changes, locations and props; some take photos for each activity in which they participate, she said.
Back at South Allegheny Middle/High School's auditorium, Worrall eventually did get his picture taken, after a little more whining.
Laura Thompson, spokeswoman for South Allegheny, said there's no need for students who are missing teeth, have a pimple or forget to dress nicely to fret.
"There's always do-over day," she said.
