Yes, to repeat what was said above. I have done these and videos and so many photo projects (still doing them now at my older son's service academy!!). Some of this may not apply in COVID-times, but it's what I learned.
-we said no b-day parties, club sports events, etc. It was amazing that parents would just literally send DUMPS of photos to us.....100's at a time...that we could not even use, but still had to sift through. Pictures with grandparents, on vacation, etc. Our rule was it had to be at school (but this won't work for this year likely). We sort of had a flashback section (it was 5th grade promotion) and one mom sent a photo of her 8 year old daughter in the tub with her naked brother and sister. I know it is a cherished photo, but NOT for the school yearbook!!
-We got a class list and checked it off to make sure we had at least 2 photos of each kid.
-If you do solicit from parents (which you might need to since maybe your instruction was virtual), provide some guidelines (like subjects takes up at least 25% of the frame) and instructions on how to send "ORIGINAL" photos. In my experience, nobody had any idea how to check the resolution, so we streamlined some requirements (if it was too wordy or too long, nobody read it and then would send 100s of photos, so decide what you want and make short bullet points).
-Sort your photos first by resolution once you get them all - ones that are bad, put in a separate folder to use only if needed.
-organize, organize, organize. Take the time upfront to come up with a plan, maybe even a template of how you are going to make the pages. You can still make little tweaks at the end to add a photo, change a portrait to landscape, and all that. I used to think a template locked me in, but realized after the first 100+ hour projects, the template just helped me get started and made it WAY easier to tackle. You will feel like you want to dive in, but hold off until you have your file structure set up and photos all downloaded, etc.
-Along with organize, edit your photos first. Crop, fix the lighting, etc. You will feel like you are wasting time, but it's one good thing to do while you are still waiting for all the photos to be submitted.
-Decide on a font, set up font styles and color pallette/set up swatches. I made Master Pages in InDesign for each section which helped the process.
-And like someone said above, get a proof and get the teacher to WRITE her comments on the page. I made everything a PDF, told the teacher to print it out and handwrite her comments....so much easier than going through an emailed list of what to change.
-Make your deadline way earlier than you anticipate and stick to it. There are always those late parents that want to add their photos in at the last minute. It is soooo tough to say no, but one change makes more changes and more to track.
Haha, I'm getting all agitated just thinking about all of this again. Truth be told, these are my favorite memories from my kids growing up...but each time it was stressful!! Good luck!!
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