Joe's YEARBOOK
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Yearbook photo no big deal to him, but Mom’s excited
By EUNICE KIM
The Patriot Ledger
WEYMOUTH – A button-down blue shirt, khaki slacks, a dark blue tie with yellow dots and a brown belt. It’s Joe Ruvido’s go-to outfit.
He’s worn it to semi-formal dances and to his track banquets. Last night he pulled it out of his closet for his senior photos.
“I knew I’d wear this,” the 17-year-old says as he gets ready at home for his 6 p.m. appointment at McGrath Studios in Braintree.
Ruvido explains that he picked out the outfit, along with a more casual ensemble – a green and white striped shirt and cargo pants – just a half-hour ago. No weeks of planning. No major deliberation.
To Ruvido, there’s no reason for all that; senior photos aren’t a big deal.
“I’m kind of indifferent to it,” he says.
Ruvido doesn’t plan to give his senior picture to friends, a ritual he says some students enjoy.
“Giving pictures of yourself to your friends – it’s corny,” he says.
Corny or not, his senior picture will be in the Weymouth High School yearbook and will be given out to family. So Ruvido wants to look good. He jumps into the shower. It’s 5 p.m.
In the kitchen downstairs, his mother, Nancy, says her son downplays everything.
“Nothing’s a big deal to him, so I take my cue from him. I’m excited, though,” she says of the upcoming photo shoot.
Nancy Ruvido knows the importance of senior pictures. She still looks back at her yearbook from her senior year at Braintree High School, 1978.
She pulls it out and flips to her black-and-white photo. Her hair is longer and half pulled back, and she’s sporting a plaid shirt.
Looking at the picture, Nancy Ruvido can’t believe her son is about to get his own senior photo taken.
“I’m just in disbelief that we’re doing all this stuff,” she says.
Ruvido shuffles into the kitchen wearing his “formal” attire and carrying his other outfit. Stuck on his face is a piece of tissue. It’s covering a cut on his chin – a shaving accident.
Ruvido tries holding a paper towel to the wound.
“When is it going to stop bleeding?” he asks his mom.
“It’ll be fine,” she says.
The two chat with neighbor Gary MacDougall, who stopped by, and his daughter Julia, 6, for about a half-hour. There’s time to kill because Ruvido only took about 15 minutes to get ready.
Eventually, he and his mother head to McGrath Studios, taking separate cars. Ruvido’s thoughts are on his shaving cut. A piece of tissue is still stuck on his face.
“I hope this clears up,” he says, looking in his rear-view mirror.
At the studios, Ruvido removes the tissue and walks inside.
Studio photographer Greg Caparell presents Ruvido and his mom with three options for the photo shoot: a blue background, which is free; an all-indoor shoot with different backgrounds and lighting for $30; or indoor and outdoor for $55. They settle on the middle option, which comes with about 18 proofs.
Ruvido checks himself in a mirror one last time before stepping inside the dark studio. Then the shoot starts. First, there’s a simple pose – Ruvido sitting on a low stool in front of a dark blue background.
“Smile. Eyes right at my camera,” Caparell says. “Looking good.”
Caparell takes a few shots, directs Ruvido to turn left and takes a few more shots. After a couple of other poses, Ruvido changes into his casual wear.
For this go-around, Caparell mixes up the poses and backgrounds: sitting, standing, fake brick background, nature background.
“He’s pretty photogenic,” Nancy Ruvido says as watches as her son.
She points out the scar on his right eyebrow. Ruvido got it just before his second birthday when he fell onto a glass coffee table at home. His mother says he didn’t get stitches; doctors said it would heal.
“It never did,” she says. “The hair never grew back. It’s like his mark.”
For the last part of the photo shoot, Ruvido puts on a maroon cap and gown. Caparell explains that these proofs will be sent to the Ruvidos’ home in April – just in case they want to buy them.
“You’re going to graduate, right? I’m not jinxing anything?” Caparell asks Ruvido as he adjusts the cap, which features a “2006” tassel.
“Yeah,” Ruvido replies.
Caparell takes a few pictures, and then, just like that, the photo shoot is done. Fifteen minutes and it’s over. Caparell tells the Ruvidos that the photo proofs will be available online in two weeks.
Ruvido will submit a digital senior portrait to the high school for the yearbook. His mother plans to order a bunch of pictures for family.
“I hope they came out good,” Ruvido says.
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