At three months, I took Lucy to have her picture taken at Portrait Innovations...it was our first photo shoot at a studio. I had the flyer advertising the $9.95 package and I naively anticipated only spending ten bucks...
The $9.95 deal included one 10x13, two 8x10s, four 5x7s, four 3x5s and 32 wallets...and once again, I was naive (aka an idiot!) and assumed that I could choose various poses for the various size prints...all for the ten dollars...
About 150 shots and several wardrobe changes later, I was informed that all prints in the $9.95 deal had to be of the same image...
Besides that, I had gone alone and due to the multiple wardrobe changes, we had a lot of stuff...I'd made the appointment for her best time of day but they were busy and we had to wait so by the time it was our turn, she was about done...it was HOT in there and that always stresses me out...we had to take a break because she was not having it and I had to feed her...and finally, hours later (no exaggeration), it was time to choose prints from the 150 images. Luckily, GranJan came to the rescue and met us up there...to help lug our stuff, to help entertain Lucy and to help me choose my prints.
By the time we finally left there, I was a sweaty mess, I was grouchy, we had spent almost the entire day there and I had spent about 10 times more than I'd expected to. Now, three months later, quite a few of the prints are still in that big white envelope they gave me that day...
My lesson was learned about the ten dollar deal and I declared that I'd probably never go back (oh, did I forget to mention how obnoxious our photographer was? Jan can tell you about that one...)
Cut to three months later...I got something in the mail for a free photo session and "$50 worth of prints" at Sears portrait studio. I'd probably never have thought to go there but I called to inquire about the deal - what exactly was "$50 worth of prints"? One 10x13, one 8x10, two 5x7s and 4 wallets...and I could choose 2 different images in whatever combination. Worth a try. We decided to get a family portrait too so Dave came along this time.
I dressed her in her giraffe suit (what's a monthly photo shoot without a giraffe suit pic??) and packed the rest of her clothes and things. We got to the mall and walked into a very dark portrait studio...was it the wrong day? Wrong time? Dave spotted a sign and read it aloud, "At lunch from 2:00 until 3:00" (our appointment was for 3pm and it was 3:00 on the dot). We heard someone call from the back, "Be right there, sir." Whew!
I started to unbuckle Lucy and as I pulled her from her seat, it seemed like my hand was getting damp...was she just sweaty? Doubtful...I grabbed a diaper, the wipes and the moist child and headed to the ladies room. Yep...a blowout. One outfit eliminated. I bagged the giraffe suit and we moved on to the dress.
The one and only employee on duty emerged from her lunch break and brought us back to the room...she was very lackadaisical and began sorting through the background choices...occasionally holding up some hideous screen with butterflies for my approval...or disapproval...I finally told her a white background was fine and we got started on the family shots. She was talking to Lucy, looking for a smile, leaning in, playing with a toy, etc. All of a sudden she snapped...but she'd never told me and Dave to look at the camera and be prepared! Ha! I would have loved to see that image just to laugh at myself and at Dave but we never saw that one...now we knew to be prepared! She rarely snapped a photo but finally decided enough was enough. While we were getting Lucy ready for her solo shots, the employee left to answer the phone. Dave and I tried to make Lucy smile and look at the camera and the photographer apparently would not settle for less than a giant smile...there were so many times when Lucy was looking wide-eyed and beautiful - staring right up at the camera - but the gal never snapped because she wasn't smiling. Lucy was about to lose her cool and the photographer hadn't snapped a single photo! Once again, it was SO HOT in there and once again, it was stressing me out. I tried to tell the gal, "As long as she's looking at the camera and has a pleasant expression, you don't have to wait for a smile." At one point during the session, another customer walked into the room and declared she needed her photo taken. While we were changing Lucy's clothes, the photographer left to take pictures of said customer...
I asked that we get a family shot of us sitting down helping Lucy "stand." Instead, she set Lucy up under a cloud background with an umbrella next to a pair of rain boots...Dave said it made no sense to appear to be prepared for rain under a background of a blue sky and big, white clouds...Lucy was sitting up and chewing on the umbrella (yeah, that's our special girl), the photographer was trying again to get her to smile and not taking any photos, and Lucy fell backward...I scooped her up and said, "I think that's enough with these weird things." Dave said I was mean...and I guess I was/am, but I, too, was losing my cool. She said to give her 5-10 minutes to get the pictures ready and started to walk away...I reminded her of my request for our family shot of us helping Lucy stand...and suggested again that she not wait for a perfect smile. I couldn't help but wonder why she didn't snap continuously...with digital images, all you have to do is delete the bad ones...
We were finally finished and I was a sweaty mess...I guess that's how these photo shoots will go for me! Lucy was exhausted and I changed her again and strapped her into her seat...Dave and I took turns walking her around until she fell asleep. A half an hour goes by and in the meantime, another family in the waiting room asks us what time our appointment was and how long we'd been waiting...the photographer emerges and shows us our images...all 12 of them...the 150+ at Portrait Innovations was pretty daunting and made it hard to narrow down (hence my hefty over-spending) but 12 choices? Sheesh, there has to be a happy medium!! Of the choices, we only liked 4 but as we were choosing them, she left to get started with the other family. I hated to interrupt because I knew they'd been waiting forever, too...but we had to get out of there! We ordered our prints (a few more than the free ones but we left only $20 poorer) and asked when they'd be ready...in TWO WEEKS!!! WHAT?! She'll be 7 months old before we see the 6 month photos!
As soon as I got home, I called Portrait Innovations...we're going tomorrow.
Happy half birthday to my girl!! Accompanying picture is of her and her 1/2 bday gift!
