School photos do have a habit of disappointing, and some weeks later you will be presented with a pack of varying sized photographs to take home to parents. While you thought you were giving the lens your best and most charming smile, what it actually captured was a rigor mortis type fixed grin and eyes that appear not exactly to mirror the soul, more like mirror the vacant attic room.

Your parents will none-the-less purchase the photographs at an inflated price to help fund the school. They will then be passed to various relatives and other interested parties in Christmas or birthday cards. Suddenly, your image will be gracing between four and sixteen living rooms, plus all your classmates homes as well if a group shot was taken - not a pleasant prospect3.

Of course the image will be replaced annually until you leave school, but the old photographs don't go away - they languish in drawers or shoeboxes waiting to return to glory.

The glory will only become apparent when you have found yourself a prospective life partner. At this stage the school photos will make a reappearance, and the worst one will be shown most often. Your mate will show an inordinate interest in this photo because it will give an indication what any future children may look like at a similar age. It is at this moment that you will wish you had paid more attention to the preparation for your school photo.