Oh wow...we didn't have cap and gown photos, nor school pictures in senior year. Our Senior pictures were used for the yearbook. There was always a special section for the senior class. The whole yearbook was black and white, except for the senior pictures, which were color. You picked whichever one you wanted in the yearbook and handed it in, and that's what they used. Everyone else got the standard school picture with the photographer they hired, and those pictures were usually not the best. Then we also wrote "Senior wills" where we left things to underclassmen. "I leave my memories of the speech and debate trip to so and so, and pass on the tradition of annoying this teacher to so and so." There was a girl who wrote a very mean senior will when I was a freshman that bullied me. I had made All-state music as a freshman, which most freshmen don't make, and this sophomore girl was jealous and had been using her friends to threaten to beat me up if I didn't stop trying to outsing her since I was in elementary school. I got solos and she didn't, I made special choirs and she didn't, I scored higher than her at solo and ensemble festival...she was just jealous that I was a better singer. She tried to sabbotage me at homecoming my freshman year where the teacher didn't want to make a decision between the two of us to sing the national anthem. She had seniority, but I was more reliable and a better singer, so the teacher decided we'd do it together. But there was no arrangement, and she didn't want to sing with me, so it was decided that I'd improvise a harmony part and she'd sing melody. No problem. But then she just didn't show up. We were supposed to meet outside the announcer's box before the game and she didn't go, so I had to sing it myself. Then she didn't show up for All-state auditions, so the teacher replaced her at Honor choir, which she had only given the spot to her because she had seniority, with me. So the girl really hated me. Her friend's senior will was something like "I'm willing my singing voice to ---- so that she can kick a certain person's ###, because she's not nearly as good as she thinks she is." and other such comments. My brother was in yearbook, and it was shown to me, but the school refused to print it and she had to change it. I'm glad they didn't just do away with senior wills, because the tradition was pretty fun usually. It was nice to look up your friends' to see if they "left" you anything. It would have been a shame to get rid of the whole thing because of one person writing something nasty. I suppose in bigger schools, there's no room for such a thing, but there were only around 30 kids per class in my school, so we got our own yearbook section.
And yeah, those professional photo packages are really expensive. We didn't have $1000 to spend on pictures. We only had to pay for the film, travel expenses, and developing.