Family Pictures
As much as I love having family pictures for Christmas Cards and to display in the house, they are SUPER stressful to me because of my perfectionist nature. I try to remind myself that however the pictures turn out is a great way to document this moment in time. If I’m going to be spending money on pictures, then I want to know they will turn out great. We’ve had so many different photographers, and I’ve been disappointed so many times, now my gut reaction is the pictures will not capture how I see my kids and family. I’ve paid a range of prices for photographs and maybe we do need to work with one photographer who gets to know our family. It just feels like a risk I’m not willing to take because they may not turn out how I like. Last year’s were good but they were edited in a weird way so the kids’ hair and clothes looked way different in pictures than in real life.
The outfits and coordinating the clothes is one aspect, I do enjoy. There’s a really helpful post from the Harvard Homemaker on how to dress and pick out clothes if you need some tips.
This year, I wanted to get pictures of Little Miss close to her first birthday. X and S had great 1st birthday pictures, by photographers that were new to me, and D’s did not turn out well at all. The photographer was highly recommended and we were at a park the photographer was familiar with, yet the pics were a waste of time and money. Yes, after typing that, I know I sound dramatic, however it was during grad school and I couldn’t justify spending more money on the pictures. The good news is I had D’s pictures taken at 18 months and they were adorable. Ironically I went to a JCPenny’s studio and spent less than 100 dollars.
Based on my past experiences, and now with four kids for pictures, I decided to go to an indoor studio to eliminate the variable related to weather. Plus, I chose Picture People which is a studio connected to Buy Buy Baby. since I knew they would work well with kids.
I cannot say enough nice things about Alec, the photographer. He truly loves his job and is extremely patient and kind and the pictures turned out well. Little Miss was having fun, but who knew she would be so distracted by the flashes of light. To her credit, this was her first experience in a studio. I do take frequent pictures of the kids, and those are snapshots of their days without flashes. These are the pictures we’ll use for Christmas Cards, so stay tuned for another post with those details.
What I Am Excited About Now –
Thursday kicked off a long weekend, no school Thursday, Friday or Monday, and we’re heading back to Iowa for another attempt at a Fall pumpkin outing.