Professional Sittings...

Duane & Shannon with their beautiful blessings :)

So I definitely feel that when someone is a good photographer, he/she deserves to be paid accordingly. With this in mind, I also believe that if someone sucks, he/she should still be paid accordingly.

While in Arizona visiting my brother, Duane and his wife, Shannon, we went with them to get family pictures done and to get pictures of John and Bradlie. The main purposes of this trip were the family shots and shots of Bradlie though, seeing as she is the newest member of the family :)

Duane and Shannon have been going to this place (which I will leave unnamed since I don't think I know anyone else out in Maricopa, AZ) since John was born, to get pictures done and for a good reason. The guy they went to at this studio is AMAZING and they have always had creative shots of a smiling child and LOTS of variety to choose from.

Apparently this guy realized he was talented enough to leave this place...and did so, unknown to us.

As we tried to get good family shots with a screaming 1 month old and suggest poses to this "professional," I had a realization. (I have been having a lot of these lately; experiences I have determine my opinion on aspects of life that may not affect me for years to come, but that I am none the less resolute about now.) Here is my realization:

1. I do not want to pay some stranger who does not care about me or my family to capture the love that we have for one another. I will not be a paycheck for someone, but the ability to share a gift, with the bonus of getting paid to do so.

2. I will not have pictures done in some bland studio with pictures in the background of somewhere we would "like" to be. Boring. I want pictures done somewhere that is actually important, somewhere that matters to us. Whether it be a vacation spot, our home, or some other location that has, for some reason, become dear to our hearts, the location of our pictures will be just as pivotal as the people who are in them.

3. I will not be charged extra for one simple button being clicked 3 times. Now here me out. I understand that there is plenty of technology that a photographer has, that I do not and that I would probably not find much use for; I accept paying more for those abilities. I also understand that when pictures are touched up, it can take time and effort to do it properly; I accept paying for this ability as well. However, when I can stand next to you and watch you click a button to make a picture black and white or color splash, I will not pay more money for these pictures. They are on the same paper, require the same type of ink, and are the same size as all of our other pictures and did not take more time to produce.

4. If you describe your services as innovative, PROVE IT! If we wanted pictures that looked like the school photographer took them, we would have called him. He would be cheaper and we would get one of those little black combs to "fix" our hair with right before we sit on that too short for midgets black stool and place our feet on the appropriate x's.

I won't bore you by posting good and bad of our session out in Arizona, but I will post some of my favs of my niece and nephew. Yes these aren't bad, but trust me - they were the ONLY good ones (and I edited them some as well)...

John Henry & Bradlie Elise

...he got a little excited about "fuzzy pickles"

Beautiful Bradlie:

Pretty in Pink

*Holding tight to Mommy*