Ideas for "school" portraits

[NicoleScraps]

My kids just had their school photos taken yesterday. I bought the bare minimum package, but I already know what they will look like, and that is fine. I am happy to buy them for the record of their growth and to help the school (it is a fundraiser). However, I want to re-do their photos myself so that I will have a nice photo of them to give out to friends and family.
I am looking for ideas, any ideas really. I want to do a somewhat traditionally posed portrait. Probably a head shot, maybe a sitting down at a desk type shot, plus a few others. I do not have a studio, backdrops or lights. Just my camera, a few lenses, and a tripod.
What I am looking for are ideas for how to set up the scene without buying anything and pose ideas. Any suggestions or photographic examples (as I am sure many of you do something similar with your kids) would be appreciated.
TIA!!

[zona5101]

check with the teacher and see if you can go in after school and shoot a few shots. You'll have desks, the class room or blackboard as a backdrop and (hopefully) plenty of window light.

[NicoleScraps]

Originally Posted by zona5101

check with the teacher and see if you can go in after school and shoot a few shots. You'll have desks, the class room or blackboard as a backdrop and (hopefully) plenty of window light.

That's a good idea.

[kristenh]

how school-y do you want it to be? a lot of school buildings have interesting atria or entryways, nice arched doorways in the older ones... our local elementary school is a very old building with excellent fieldstone walls. or what about outside on the playground somewhere? (i guess i'd think about- is this so you have something that looks like a school pic for the relatives to see- or is it more so that the kids have a keepsake of their school days?- each situation seems to call for a very different kind of photo). you could maybe do shots in the yard or entryway of the school, but with props (like marble notebooks or lunchboxes) that make it instantly recognizable as a school pic. do the kids have special interests at school- violin or basketball? you could use those in your shot. or ask to go to the art room and maybe pose your child near something she has done that has been posted (or, of course, posted by you near a nice window ). in our elementary school, each graduating class gives a gift to the school and it will often be a mosaic bench or a wall of handmade tiles, something like that. you could pose near one of those if your school does that kind of thing. if your kids ride the bus and you can find one parked, you could use that as a backdrop. or, if you could figure out how to arrange it, you could pan the bus with your child standing in front.

[NicoleScraps]

Ahh, a lady on freecycle is going to give me a school type desk. Yay!! So I think for the "school" looking photos, I will seat them with a book or something. I need to create a background, maybe something solid would be good. Probably I can just put them near a window for good lighting since I have no studio lights or off camera flashes.
Then while I have them in the mood, we might head outside for some more casual portraits.

[candleman]

i'd possibly sit one of them down in the middle of the classroom, turn around at the waist as though they are talking to a friend behind them.
you can then sit behind them, shoot forward and see the blackboard, chairs and their face.
like this:


you could maybe write their name on the blackboard or the year, so thats OOF but still visable.

thats what i'd do.

[tiffythom]

I do the same with my kids and get ideas from local senior portraits. People are always posting theirs on Facebook so there are lots of poses and ideas.
This year I want to try to use a funky chair. But in the past I've used my backyard tree as a backdrop, and a local brick building as a backdrop.
Have fun!