Cheese

With the second birthday coming next week, I decided it would be nice to get some photos taken to mark the passing of another year. The last time we went in for a sitting was a year ago so it felt like it was time. Having done this a few times prior, I told myself this time will be different. For anyone who has never had this excruciating experience, it goes something like this.

There is much thought about what she should wear and how to do the hair etc. etc. Then you get in the room with the photographer who is all of about 18 years old and quickly realize that you are going to have to take control of the situation. They offer no suggestions or advice on how to get your cute little darling to look at the camera, much less smile, or even stay in one place. It's painful but you persist and hope for just one money shot that will be worthy of the memory books. When the photo shoot is finished, you wait.

About 20 minutes later, if your child hasn't already melted down they soon will as you sit down at their fancy computer to view the results. This is where I begin to meltdown. A little known fact about me, I have no trouble making the big decisions in life it's the small ones that I anguish over. I guess I'm really afraid to make the wrong decision and end up with post purchase dissonance. There I am looking at all the photos and having to pick one, so as not to break the bank on photo purchases. Packages usually start in the $150 range and that's for a so/so (I was here) sampling. But I only want to spend $50. Well, that gets me just about nothing that I will be happy with. It goes on and on and sure enough, I walk out with a $140 bill and a few photos to show for it. At least I got one of every shot I sorta liked and I feel kinda ripped off but I ultimately dismiss it because it's for the history books.

As I said, this time was going to be different. This time I'm going with backup. Another Mom and I went with our almost two year olds and we both seemed relieved when the other agreed to go. It turned out that photographing a 2 year old was much easier than at 1 year. The smiles come easier and she didn't try to dash outside of the sitting room and into the mall every time I stepped back for the shot. It was nice having another opinion, or at least someone to validate mine, on which photos to choose and how many. The nice people at The Picture People allowed us to do our photos individually but as one sitting. We were able to purchase one package and split it, selecting as many poses as we liked. It was still overpriced but at least I got more for the money and a few pictures I'm really happy with.


Why is this important to me? I wondered this myself but what it comes down to is I want it for the little one. When she is older, I want her to be able to know her history and what she was like as a child. I have no photos from my childhood taken at a formal sitting and I only have one baby picture all told. There are a few school photos from odd years that I somehow stored away and saved in my own memory books. I look at my husband's photo archive and it is rich with pictures of him from age 0 through high school. He had regular sittings, almost monthly, when he was a baby and it's nice to have to look back on. I hope she enjoys them, I know I will.