April 17, 2008

Marley's 6 Month Pictures ...


This is what happens when you procrastinate ...
Marley is officially 7 months tomorrow so I had to have her 6 month pictures taken TODAY. Wouldn't you know it, Picture People doesn't answer their phones until the store opens so the option of getting an appointment right as they open, well, it wasn't an option. I waited until the absolute last day and I didn't have an appointment, yet I somehow fooled myself into thinking that if I was at the doors as they opened, they could fit me in. I thought I was so on top of things. There I was with Marley all dolled up and expecting to get in, get out, and get ahead. There wasn't an opening until 12:20, which was nap time. And after that was piano lessons so later wouldn't work either, and after that ... well, I just don't run errands after that.
I resorted to the dreaded Sears Portrait studio. They actually take walk-ins. I soon found out why. The photographer took one picture probably every 5 minutes. I just don't think that she gets much practice behind the camera. She had to take 6 different poses or else she would get in trouble. So here are the poses that I didn't pick.This one was in the running ... but not as cute as the first.Do you like the ripple effect on the back drop? Thank you Sears for that one. Actually this one was quite cute when they zoomed in.
There were a couple of other pics but due to Blogger having some issues - I kept getting an error - I will not be posting the others. They weren't all that great anyway.
Anyway, when all was said and done, I did get a very cute picture. I did have to pay twice as much for it as I would have at Picture People. Beggars can't be choosers though, or should I say Procrastinators can't be choosers. So bite the bullet I did.

April 10, 2008



Yeah, so it was picture day yesterday. As you can see I got lucky with two decent pictures. It is really amazing that I got even two. After we were done with the photographer I was ready to go home to my bed and cry myself to sleep. She surprised me though when she said that she got a couple of cute ones. So I hesitantly waited for the little sales pitch that Picture People gives you. Doubt was heavy on my mind. Let me give you an idea of how our photo session went so you can better understand where I was coming from ...
If Marley could see me, she would cry. It was like she was saying "Why am I in this strange place and you are so far away from me? Why does Dannon keep squishing me? Why are you squeeling so loudly and making all sorts of strange noises? And what's with the stinky feet?" So I would pick her up calm her down and try again. Just about as soon as I set her down, she would be crying. At one point I told the photographer to bag it - I was done. She said to take the kids for a stroll and see if that would calm Marley down. Wouldn't you know it that as soon as I picked her up and we were out of the store she was perfectly fine. She didn't even have red eyes. So I turned right around and took another stab at it. Second time around - same story.
So Dannon, did I mention he was squishing Marley? He would squish Marley, then randomly lay down, then the next second he'd get up and run to the props and then take off out of the room. Very typical of Dannon, but frustrating none the less.
And Brody, well, he was in rare form. The photographer would tell Dannon to put his feet down. So what would Brody do? He would put his feet up. Anything the Dannon was told NOT to do, Brody would do it.
To top it off Picture People has wonderful equipment, horrible photographers. I don't know what they teach them at Picture People Academy but having three little kids lay on their backs (including a 6 month old) and looking up at the camera isn't the best idea. Oh and another tidbit for all you aspiring photographers ... don't have three children (yes still including a 6 month old) all try to lay on top of one another. Just a bad idea.