Photo Shoot Disaster

The Only Picture I Really Liked

Today didn't turn out well at all. It was the day we took Baby J. in for her photo shoot. We went to Sears photo. We chose them largely because we had a 40% off coupon and a free session. If I had to do it over again, I'm not sure I would have gone had it been free.

Despite making an appointment, we waited for roughly 45 minutes after our appointment time until we could see a photographer. Despite the two previous groups having probably 30 minutes each, we were given only 10 minutes. As soon as we were in there, they pushed us to have the pictures done as soon as possible. We didn't get to do any clothing changes. When we tried to use props (like a santa hat and a ribbon), they never got any shots, because Baby J. was interested in playing with the props, and the photographer couldn't be bothered to wait a minute for Baby J. to become interested in something else.

All in all, our ten minutes of photo time only got us 8 pictures. 8 pictures? Give me ten minutes, and I can snap 40 pictures with my digital camera. What are we supposed to do with only 8 pictures? After that, we were shoved in front of the biggest s.o.b., dumb-as-a-post woman I've ever had to deal with, who kept trying to get us to spend way more money than we were willing. She was actually pushing this near $1000 package on us. Please. I didn't go to Sears photo to spend $1000. Is she kidding herself? We ended up going with the least expensive package which still cost us $100 (after the coupon). What a rip-off.

So, for this junky package, we were give 8 whole photo sheets (to arrange how we saw fit) with the measly 8 pictures we had of Baby J. They kept trying to add costs by adding stupid, unnecessary backgrounds and vignettes to the pictures. I've got photoshop; I can waste time doing that junk myself. I really just wanted the photo CD, but if you only purchase the CD, it's (for whatever unknown reason) $250. Now, why (with a package) do I get pictures and a CD for $100, but the CD alone is $250??? It's easily the biggest scam I've encountered in long time.

The best part was the stupid lady we had to deal with tried to tell us our coupon was no good. My wife asked the cashier if she could use the coupon when we went to pay, and of course, the cashier accepted the coupon. Does the moron woman get some sort of commission on the sale? I mean, why else would she flat out lie to us about the coupon being valid? After that, my wife and I were both in a pretty foul mood. We got lunch at a nearby restaurant. Baby J. pooped, and it got all over her nice, new Christmas dress. Then, we went home, and my wife and I got into an argument (not about anything important but just as a side effect of our bad moods), and now I'm in my home office writing about this and feeling pretty miserable, while Baby J. takes a nap.

What a crummy day.

D.