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Tips on Getting Best Photos of SR
I'm a newbie and my son is getting ready to go to MEPS in a couple weeks before he joins the DEP. He's only a junior in HS right now, soon to be a Senior. So, he won't be going in for about a year. I've been scrapbooking for the past 15 years. We won't be able to go to MEPS for his first time as it is about 6 hours away. But, we are hoping to make it to MEPS when he ships out to BC. I just want to make sure I get the photos that are most important along this whole process that will be unfolding before our eyes so quickly. So...please anyone with experience on how to score the best photos of your recruit...share away. Like don't-want-to-miss shots, and opportunities that are worth capturing along the entire process. THANKS! I'm so looking forward to getting to know this group more as my son's career in the Navy moves along.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sierrascrapper (ETN2) on
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Also, if your soon to be SR was in high school when he signed up, did you do anything special for his Senior year pics? We are getting ready to make plans for his Senior photo shoot and I think it would be kinda cool to incorporate his choice to join the Navy in the photos. Any suggestions????
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Permalink Reply by Doreen-ProudNavyMom on
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Sierrascrapper - well the obvious picture is his swearing in. I took a picture of him the night before he left so I could compare it to what he looked like after RTC. Amazing difference.
I then scrapbooked each letter he sent. I just used a one of those brass things to attach the corner of the letter so I could still read it later. I bought a lot of Navy paper, stickers, etc to try to make each page different. I kept the parking permit from Great Lakes and anything else I could get at PIR to scrapbook.
A friend and I scrapbooked 7 out of the 8 Saturdays he was at RTC. This helped me so much during those 8 weeks.
If I think of anything else, I will let you know.
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Thanks for your response, it's quite helpful. When we were at the recruiter's office to give permission to send our son to MEPS, I took a pic of him signing his social security card for the first time. The recruiter told him to practice his signature a few times so that it looked fluent so that all of his signatures would look the same throughout his career. It was a special moment. I plan on taking a pic of him when we drop him off at the recruiter's office on Sunday when he goes to MEPS for the first time. We won't be able to go to MEPS with him because it's too far away (like 6 hours), so we won't get that photo op. However, we will DEFINITELY go there before he ships out for BC.
I love your idea of scrapbooking each letter he sent home. Thanks for the tips. Are there are special photo ops you found when he went through PIR? Like the best place to take a photo of your new sailor etc? Or maybe something like an anchor of some special backdrop that you don't want to miss?
The idea of scrapbooking each weekend your son was at RTC is an excellent idea! I'm sure it will help relieve the emotional rollercoaster of BC.
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Permalink Reply by Helen, T-man's mom on
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Sierrascrapper,
Welcome to Navy4Moms! I took pictures of any and everything I thought I might want to scrapbook. We got pictures of him at MEPS when he shipped off to BC. They let you walk around and take pictures during the ceremony. I just found my perfect spot and stood there the whole time. Picture of the bus he was leaving in, the MEPS building, etc. You will get a box from BC that has all his stuff ~ picture. Letters from home are great. I think he wrote 4. I went on "top ten lines from boot camp". I would copy and paste my favorites to a document and print. I would send that with my letter. He said his "shipmates" really loved reading those. Some of them were so funny that I was crying. I definitely made me feel better about BC.
PIR is awesome! They seat you at an angle so you can see your sailor. You can only take pictures inside that building. Really strict on that. We went into Chicago the two days we had him. Had to wait to get him, but that's another story. Soldier Field was an awesome place for photos.
My son's been in a little over 3 years and is deployed right now. He sends me any pictures the MC group takes of him.
Depending on his rate, you might get graduation certificates as he goes along. My kids love the scrapbooks I do of them. This book is going to be his military history.
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Thank you so very much for your response Helen! This is GREAT info! My son has a ship date of 7/1/2014. So proud of him! He is going in as a Nuke so he will be going through A-school, Power School and Prototype as long as he succeeds which I have faith he will. So I hope to get some excellent 'scrapable' documents from those accomplishments. We managed to get a nice pic of my son in front of the recruiter's office with the Navy emblem on the door. My hubby also snapped a shot of my son and I together. I saw someone's avatar of the Navy baseball cap they get after they sign into DEP along with the bumper sticker he got. So I made sure to take a pic of that too. LOL Oh and I also took a pic of my son w/o a shirt as he just started his pre-BC workout program and I thought it would be neat to see the difference after a year. He was embarrassed, but hey he should know to expect these kinds of things by now after having a Mom that has been scrapbooking for the last 15 years. LOL
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I know what you mean....lol. My kids get annoyed if I DON'T have my camera. I've always been the photographer for any family events. I'm not in many but that's okay. I also do the photo books (digital scrapbooking for me). I did one for his BC graduation. I gave one to each set of grandparents. I used the 8x8 size and they loved it!
I really didn't have that much to scrapbook until now. For his medals he earned, I'm going to make the background like the ribbon. Good Conduct is easy, all maroon. The Achievement Medal has stripes but I thought it would be really cool to do it that way. I actually took pictures of what he had done prior to earning the Achievement Medal. Who knew? Now, not only do I have pictures of him recieving his award, but ones of what he actually did. Too cool!
I did tell my son to take pictures since I can't be there to follow him around and be his paparazzi! lol He's done a really good job so far.
Enjoy your last few days with your son. BC goes pretty fast. My son's a CTT (Cryptologic Technician Technical). Yeah, it's a mouthful.
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