I have several relatives/friends with new(ish) babies.
Good for them. I like babies.
However, I have just one pet peeve.
I’m really tired of the professional picture overload.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for taking as many pictures of your kids as possible-with your OWN camera, that is.
In this day and age of digital cameras, photo paper, and printers with photo ink, I don’t get the whole “professional picture” thing. You can take good quality, CUTE shots at home. As many as you want! No sitting fee!
Honestly?
Professional pictures are kind of boring. Oh sure, they’re cute and all. But really? Snore.
Sorry, but it’s a little trying to look at pictures of your 6-week-old in a variety of “poses” at the picture studio- “Ohh, here they are lying on a bassinet. Here they are lying on a blanket. Here they are lying on some furry rug thing.” It’s the same expression in every shot! The same pose! I want to see action shots! Show me your 6-week-old having tummy time. Show me them attempting to grab their toys. Show me them lying under their play-gym and kicking and batting. That’s cute! I don’t want to see them looking so artificial lying on some studio bassinet.
And the frequency of the pictures! Professional pictures are expensive! Digital ones are free! I overheard some relatives talking about having 6 week pictures, then 3 month pictures, and so on and so forth. I’ve even overheard discussions of taking them to the portrait studio JUST to have their pictures taken in their Halloween costumes. Set up a black sheet for a background and take them at home!
Please remember that I am all for taking lots and lots of pictures of your kids. Hell, I take numerous pictures of my dog every day. I am sure I will be the mama-paparazzi when I have a baby. I just like seeing them in their “natural habitat” at home. You could even set up a website to share the pictures with everyone!
It’s not that I think you should never take them and have their picture made-I do! Just not every 6 weeks. Take them a few times a year and take 100s of pictures every other day.
What do you think?
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I take hundreds of photos a week, most of them of my kids. But I also did the portraits: newborn, 3mos, 6mos, 9mos, 1yr – and then yearly after that. I did them for comparison purposes – took them to the same studio, same background, etc. Since I just had them taken at Wal-Mart it wasn’t all that expensive. If I had owned a professional camera when my kids were first born, it probably would have been different and I would have just done them at home though. I also just got the photos for us and for the grandparents, I didn’t have prints made up for everyone nor did I expect everyone that I know to ooh and aah over them.
Jenn- That sounds ok to me, mainly what I had the issue with was that they were getting EXPENSIVE pictures (like, professional photographer with their own studio pictures) so often that no one but them would really be able to tell the difference in them. I am always willing to ohh and ahh over pictures, I’d just rather see them being cute at home!