Two press packets crossed my desk this week that, according to local custom and usual procedures in The Monroe Evening News, should have included recent photos of the honorees, but did not.

We also have had a parade of local political candidates coming to the newsroom this week to drop off their candidate announcements. Some of them have said they are scrambling for photos to include with their write-ups.

There is a time and place to have formal press portraits taken.

Anyone who is running for political office, holds a prominent role in the community, or is a leader in the non-profit / faith-based / business or volunteer arenas, should have a fairly recent and decent picture ready to submit on short notice. If you don’t have a current photo, get one.

Example: just before this blog launched in 2007, I asked the Evening News photo department to shoot a new press photo of me. It’s not one of my favorite press pictures (see my about page), but I can always update it later. (Following up: my press photo was updated early 2009.)

Furthermore, any youth who is an Eagle Boy Scout, Gold Award Girl Scout, top 10 or summa grad from a local high school, or scholarship winner from a local high school, charity or foundation, should have a recent photo submitted with their newspaper announcement.

In some cases, the award committee makes the photo arrangements. When my daughter earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the Girl Scout council made the photo appointment and paid the studio fee. As her parents, we paid only for the photo prints we wanted.

But in most cases, the honoree or family will be asked to “please provide a photo.”

If you want to arrange and pay for your own studio photo, go ahead. We did that when my daughter earned Girl Scout Silver Award.

But for my daughter’s scholarship announcement that was in the newspaper Thursday, we did her press photo on a budget.

We went to the gardens at Sawyer Homestead for about a half hour one afternoon. I took several photos on her pocket digital camera, walking around the gardens so we had a choice of background and light results. We uploaded the prints to Walgreens on-line photo center, and we paid I think 19 cents to get a decent picture to submit with her newspaper announcement.

When it’s that easy and cheap to get a print-quality photo, why is there any excuse for someone’s newsworthy announcement to be listed with the phrase “photo not available?”