Photo Session From Hell!!!

Today Brenna turned 9 months old. Wow. How did that happen?

So I took her to get her photos taken. Three quarters of a year... that calls for photos. We go to Sears; it's affordable and they usually do a very good job.

Notice I said "usually". Today was not usual. Brenna & I arrived early, as I like to do just in case she falls asleep in the car and I have to wake her. So we have to wait. No problem. We wander through Sears, watch Nemo on a big screen TV, cruise down the mall to Old Navy, spend $6 on an outfit for Brenna, come back to Sears and watch some Aladdin on the TV at the portrait studio.

By this time Brenna is pretty active- she climbed up on the foot rest of her stroller and was standing there like it was the most natural place to be. Daredevil.

At our appointed time the photographer- and I use that term loosely- ushers us into a room. I show her the two outfits I have brought and I assume that she will suggest backdrops and/or props. Nope. She hands me a sheet and says, "These are the backdrops we have."

Ummm, OK. So I pick the first backdrop and she sets it up. I put Brenna down, she sits, I make her smile and... nuthin'. The camera isn't working. I wonder, "Isn't this something that you should check before you bring in a 9 month old for pictures?"

She spent 10 minutes trying to figure out why the camera wasn't working. When the manager finally came in it was revealed: the camera was unplugged.

Well, now that the problem is resolved let's get down to business. So, again, I sit Brenna down, I get her to smile and then... what the hell is that noise???

It's the photographer. She is trying to get Brenna to look at her after I get a smile. Brenna does look at her- with a look of shock and concern; mouth open, eyes wide.

I dismiss photo after photo. Brenna is clearly done posing; there are things to explore. I grab some flowers for a prop- again, no help from the pseudo-photographer. Stop with the freakin' noises already! Seriously, you are scaring the baby!! More photos; mouth open, eyes wide.

I should have just left. But no, I think that we will soldier on and change Brenna's outfit. What was I thinking? More loud noises... I finally tell the photographer that I really don't want my daughter looking directly into the camera in every shot. This is when we get two, yes two, good photos. (Last time we took Brenna to get her pictures done it took 7 shots. And you pick six. Today it took 17- and only two were decent!)

By now I'm done. Brenna's done. I look at the photographer and say, "We're done." I change Brenna out of her dress and the photographer begins the sale. I'm tired & cranky. I sit and try to listen. I say, "I know what I need, let me do that first." She continues her pitch. I stop listening.

I make a few selections, pay & leave. And immediately call Doug. I'm so upset that I am almost in tears. And the more I talk about it the more bothered I am. So I called back and spoke to the manager.

She was a bit bitchy at first, "Why didn't you bring this up while you were here?" Ummm, because you left on a break as soon as my session was done and the only one there was my photographer? Was I supposed to wait for you to return?

I kept on, explaining how my photographer was very loud and scared Brenna, how she didn't really seem to know what she was doing, had she even been trained to photograph children, how I was unhappy with the entire experience and, as time went on, I became more unhappy about it.

We have an appointment Friday for the manager to redo the photos.

I leave you with the two photos that turned out: