Sears Portraits

Perhaps taking an infant for pictures ALONE was a bad idea. I was very overwhelmed. It was our first trip to the mall. We arrived at the studio a little early and had the first appointment. They were ready for us, or so they thought. The studio was at least 95 degrees. Maybe in case we decided to do a diaper only shot? I was profusely sweating.

The first few shots were great. Fantastic. Josie smiled sweetly. Then the bright flashes, hot studio and strange lady got to her. On pose 3, the screaming began. So disappointed too, it was going to be a cute shot with flowers and Easter eggs

I say to the photographer. "Oh well, at least we got a couple of good ones"

She responds "Yes, but we can't send them off unless we get 9 poses"

"What? Why?"

"It's a rule"

"Well, how many poses do we have already"

"2"

"So your telling me, I can't just choose from the ones you already did? I have to make my screaming baby sit through 7 more"

"Yes"

I kind of stared at her in amazement thinking how ridiculous it was. Then she proceeded to tell me that my baby was hungry even though she ate right before we left. (Why does everyone insist she is always hungry!). I decided to go ahead and feed her at least to calm her down so she's stop screaming in the studio.

At that point I realized that I had unpacked my feeding shield and forgotten to repack it in the diaper bag. So, sitting in the waiting room I had few options. Oh well, I swallowed my pride and whipped it out right there. What else was I going to do? Most people looked away when they noticed what I was doing.

My original photographer had her next appointment show up and started on them. A second lady came over to get me just as Josie began to drift off to sleep. We finished the photo session in between screams (because of course she wasn't happy to have been awakened from her nap). This lady had a talent though, she could grab Josie's attention long enough for a quick smile in between cries. We got the 7 other poses finished quickly.

I was disappointed that they only let me see 12 of the bijillion pictures they took. I went in there because I had a coupon for a free photo session and a package for $4.99. They tried to sell me a $300 package, after making me wait 30 minutes with a restless 3 month old for the sales lady to come over. I resisted spending extra money, frugal fans can be proud! Here are the pictures that I ended up with:












After I saw the pictures, it was all worth it. Though next time, I'm bringing someone to help me.