Picture day — some folks love it, others avoid it.

Either way, it is Ross Cohen's job to get the best shot to cement high school memories for years to come.

Cohen, a photographer for Peachtree Portraits, has snapped photos of metro-Atlanta area kids and teachers for fifteen years.

At Johnson High School, Cohen situates work-based learning teacher Cindy Tumblin on a wooden stool in good lighting.

"Everything looks good. Tilt your head just a little bit. Everything looks good," he told her.

Tumblin said she avoided the first picture day altogether. On retake day, she's ready.

"Having my picture taken is not my favorite thing, but I'll do it for austerity, for the archives," she said. "When I look back at pictures 10 years ago, I think, ‘Wow, I didn't look so bad.' Hopefully I'll think that about this picture 10 years from now."

Cohen said the most difficult part of his job is helping people to get comfortable in front of the lens and the lights.

It's even harder to get a genuine smile.

"Sometimes they sit down and seem all nervous. I tell them to say, ‘Yes,' and if you say it funny sometimes they smile even bigger," he said. "Plus, you've got to get them to tilt their head just right. It lights up the face. It's just more flattering."

Cohen said it is interesting to catch kids in their tween-year awkwardness.

"You get all kinds of different phases," he said. "... Sometimes you get guys who want to look all hard and not smile. The hard look - that's what they like."

Not Johnson sophomores Jaymyria Etienne and Daniel Allen; the 15-year-olds are grinning from ear to ear.

The students sought perfection from their yearbook photos and came back for round two on retake day.

"I had a picture before and my hair looked wonderful. It was perfectly curly, but my eyes weren't smiling," Jaymyria said. "I'm doing a retake to see if I can get it right this time."

Daniel said he wanted a retake because this year's picture is important. He transferred to Johnson from North Georgia Christian School this year.

"This is my first impression. I didn't know it was picture day. I didn't prepare," he said. "Today, I knew it was coming and I made myself look more decent for the picture. I fixed my hair a lot better."

Daniel swooped his black mane across his forehead perfectly this time.

"Looks aren't everything, but I do want to look nice," he said.