Dear
parents,
We hope you are
doing well! We are the co-Editors-in-Chief of the Stuyvesant Indicator (the senior yearbook). We are reaching out due to your concerns about self-submitted senior portraits.
Regarding the requirements,
we specified lighting based on the knowledge of our own photographers, more specifically those who have taken professional classes on photography. We also specified lighting in the case that parents wanted a specific requirement to adhere to. However, although
we stated all of these requirements, we will generally accept portraits that resemble the sample ones included in the
portraits
requirement document,
especially since we have no means of checking adherence to the suggestions in the document. The lighting requirements are merely suggestions to ensure that portraits are not too yellow or too white (since providing the specific watts for lighting helps us
give you an objective set of instructions), but we understand that the document may have given the impression that these were mandatory. We understand that most students do not have professional photography equipment at home, so any effort to simulate the
studio lighting (whether with desk lamps or iPhone camera flashes) would work!
We would also like
to note that Ms. Ingram sent these requirements to both senior students and their parents on the same day. As for the app-based tools, we encourage students to edit in the way they feel most comfortable, as long as the photos remain high resolution and still
meet the visual requirements of the document. There are several app suggestions linked in the document, as well as video tutorials about editing on YouTube. We invite you to consider exploring these options, but if you have other tools you feel more comfortable
with, please feel free to use those instead! If you need support editing, we are happy to edit for you. (The only reason we ask that students edit themselves is that we cannot edit all 500 portraits ourselves.) In addition, we specified in the document that
if you have a similar background to the blue background we linked, you may use that instead, thus eliminating the step for editing.
Regarding specificities
about posing, we specified "30 degree orientation" in the document, but we do not expect students to sit exactly facing 30 degrees. An estimate is okay; we only added that specification to give students a general sense of body orientation, but we will not
reject your portrait if it is slightly off. We would like to reiterate that the requirements in the document are specific because other parents would like more detailed guidelines about submission, but they are only suggestions to ensure that all portraits
are standardized. If you do not have a collared shirt and tie, or if meeting the lighting requirements is not tangible given your circumstances, it is okay!
In summary,
if
your child is able to take a portrait at home that matches the lighting (regardless of technicalities), pose, and attire of the ones in the document,
we will accept it. We suggest that your child submit a portrait to us to the best of their ability, which we will review keeping the current situation/circumstances in mind.
We apologize if
any of our instructions seemed unhelpful or inconsiderate; we are merely trying to maintain the formality of the senior portraits section of the yearbook, which is the only formal portion. The specific requirements are included for the parents that requested
detailed instructions that they may simulate, but we do not expect everyone to have access to studio-level photography at home.
Regarding your concerns
about wanting your child to be in the yearbook to maintain a sense of normalcy amidst this pandemic, we fully understand, as we are also seniors and felt this lack of "senior spirit" this year. However, we have tried our best to revive this spirit; for instance,
we have plenty of rolling "Spirit
Day" submissions
(which your child may submit to), which are much more informal and will dedicate a larger portion of yearbook pages to photos. We have been working with Senior Caucus to host events; we hosted the Christmas Movie Screening back in December, and we have recently
brought back the "second-term
senior" stickers
that would have been distributed in school. Furthermore, we have been actively gathering photos for our sports teams and school clubs, so if your child is part of any clubs around school, there is a really high chance you'll find him on club pages too! We
are upset that we lost the senior experience too, and we have been working to simulate that virtually, though we know we can never truly reproduce what we would have gotten in-person. We apologize for the lack of opportunities to participate in senior events,
and we will continue working to bring more meaningful events to the senior class. Our work for the yearbook staff--from coordinating events for senior spirit to writing applications for funding to alleviate financial stress--is funneled towards producing a
memento for everyone to treasure for decades to come. We know how important this is to you, and we will move forward with your concerns in mind.
It is our intention
to produce the best yearbook we can, especially since our class has been through so much within our four years at Stuyvesant. We have received many emails addressing different concerns, so we thought it would be best to provide more specific instructions rather
than a vague set of guidelines. We understand that this situation is difficult for everyone, and we apologize if the document implied that we were overwhelmingly strict. We do hope to standardize the formal section, but we are also flexible with portraits
as long as they meet the general requirements!
Feel free to email
us if you have any further questions or concerns!
Best,
Katie and Margaret