Do you want to take my picture?

I wanted to take professional pictures of my kids pretty much as soon as I became a mom:) But between my organization skills and my decision making (compounded with hubby's 'why do you have to take them to a studio when we can take great pictures ourselves-just find a nice background, etc), it hasn't happened.



In the last couple of months I became determined-the local baby's r us now has a studio; there is a local target now; one of my friends does professional photography; AND I found someone very very local with a very impressive ad in a local circular. Plus, I bought my kids matching outfits in November in anticipation of a sibling photograph. And at the end of March I realized that Eh is about to grow out of hers. So I somehow remembered to check out this local photographer's website and FINALLY made an appointment for sunday.



And, yet again, this is how I fell victim to advertisement.



I enjoyed the gallery of my photographer neighbor (pn) but I liked the 'about me' page even more. The page spoke to me, I almost identified with pn. It said that she has patience for her little clients, she gives them toys and plays with them to make them comfortable. Basically, 'about' page said that pn likes kids as much as she likes making beautiful photos. What else did I need?



I finally unpacked the matching outfits. I drycleaned a pretty made-for-pictures dress that I bought for Eh and was eagerly unticipating our appointment.



The 'studio' was in the basement- not a problem, I still wanted to support local business. And then things went downhill from there:

1. Eh had to put on the matching sweater so the pn 'helped' me by putting the sweater on her head without unbuttoning the neck buttons. No rushing a session there.

2. My mom, who came with us to assist me was told to move to a side because apparently she was actually able to keep kids entertained (and they were looking at her and not the pn). No please, no sorry, no thanks.

3. The pn didn't seem to have much patience for Eh and at one point just dragged her from one point on the prop to the other. A far cry from portrait sessions that are 'never rushed'.

4. The baby kept trying to jump off from one of the props and instead of trying to sit him on something else or on the floor I was told to stand by and try to catch him quickly if he was falling.

5. First the kids were put on the prob and then the lenz was adjusted, etc. An obvious inpatience was heard in the pn's voice when the kids weren't doing what they were 'supposed ' to do.

6. The kids were talked to like adults and very few tricks were used to make them feel comfortalbe with pn. So much for loving to make kids feel comfortable as much as loving to make beautiful photos.

7. Eh was given a noise making toy for entertainment while SiM's pictures were taken. Then pn asked Eh to stop making that noise because it distracted SiM. Bad judgment call or just a bad day?

8. I dressed SiM only in onsie to capture his chunkiness ( even though the climate in the 'studio' was pretty cool). When I asked if pn got any pictures of his legs there was a surprised "oh, you wanted to photograph his legs?'. No, I just wanted him to be cold.

9. At the end of the session, she was pretty dismissive of Eh's last outfit. If you want to end the session, tell me so. Politely. It's just better for business. Plus, more shots=more potential business.

10. The lights in the studio were turned off before we left. Blah. Did she consider a-leaving after us and then turning off the lights; b- returning to the studio after we left for the energy saving routine.

These weren't the only offences but 10 is more than enough. Yet again, I fell victim to advertisement. I just hope that one line of it is true and I will get my "tug of the heart' portrait that I'm looking for'.