Sunday, July 15, 2012

6 Month Photo Shoot

Our sweet little man!
*un-edited sneak peak*
We did Ayden's 6 month photo shoot today. We do his shoots ourselves and since we'll be out of town next weekend on his actual half birthday, we decided to get it knocked out this weekend. I wish I had taken a behind the scenes picure of what our house looks like while it's transformed to a photography studio. Maybe I will next time but in one word... MESSY! I even gave David a proposition this time. I told him that if he gets them all edited by Friday, I'll make a slideshow with music, which I'll share here and on Facebook, will send a photoshop album out for family so they can download and print as desired and will FINALLY place a Shutterfly order for the newborn, 3 month and 6 month portraits we plan to hang in the house.

The reason this deal is so motivating for David is because for the past 2 shoots, he spent forever whittling them down, which is the hardest task ever! Have you ever deleted pictures of your baby? We think even the shots that the paparazzi would love to sell as drunk baby shots are adorable:

"In today's news...a drunk baby!"
*un-edited sneak peak*
But I digress... He spends forever whittling them down, then even more time editing them and then life takes over and we never find/take the time to do anything with them. So I've promised him that I'd make time to do everything with them if he can get them done quickly. It'll be nice to hang pictures of our handsome son in our home (6 months later...).

One of my favorites!
*un-edited sneak peak*
This is a MAJOR drawback to doing them ourselves. It saves us a ton of money (because the professional photographers around here have to completely rob people to stay afloat, probably because of people like us. Oops...), so it is definitely worth it. But it is stressful to be the photographers and parents simultaneously and we never get prints. It makes a difference when professional photographers print and frame up all the pictures for you. I'm also pretty sure that's how parents end up dropping over $1,000 on pictures. They are presented so nicely that folks can't walk out of one of those places without enough framed pictures of their baby to decorate a mansion.

I just had to document my obsession for shoe socks!
*un-edited sneak peak*
After the photo shoot, David's parents came by for a visit. We hadn't seen them since their trip to Japan/Korea so it was nice to catch up. They found out that Ayden was born in the year of the dragon so they searched high and low for the perfect dragon bell. They apparently saw a huge version just like it while they were there. They hung out with Ayden while David and I took a jog and then stayed for dinner. It was a nice evening.

Korean dragon bell!
I got Ayden down for bed at 7:30pm but he was up already at 8... Because of new summer schedules and traveling, his bedtime routine and actual bedtime have been super inconsistent; which doesn't bode well for a baby that is already super inconsistent with his sleeping. I am going to work really hard at getting the consistency back because our little man sure does need it!

David is leaving in the morning for a work trip and won't be back until Wednesday night. I suppose I'll be getting a taste of single parenthood. It'll be tough, but lucky for David I know I will appreciate him and all of his help that much more after his absence. If that's even possible... We will miss him so much!!!

~Sarah

6 comments:

  1. Oh my word the photo of him holding his foot/ the close up of you holding him is sooo adorable! Looks like something out of a magazine :)

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  2. I'm curious how much the photographers charge in your area that you consider them robbing people? You say yourself that David spends hours upon hours working on postprocessing for your shoots. And professionals have higher quality equipment that is expensive and experiences wear and tear from use. And when you figure in travel time, normal business expenses (insurance, self employment taxes, etc), and the fact that they usually have more skill and artistic quality than diy-ers (not saying you guys specifically, but since you referenced "people like us"...a lot of times people who try to cut corners end up with shoddy pictures). As a photographer myself, I hope you do value what professionals have to offer and understand that there's a lot of behind the scenes expenses that contribute to their price list.

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    1. Oh, I didn't mean to offend! I'm sorry. We definitely appreciate the talent, experience, time, etc. that a professional would offer. Especially since we've gotten a small sense of what a job it really is now that we've done several shoots ourselves. We just could never afford to get regular photos of a child during their first year on our budget. I also understand that they have to charge what they do and in no way think they do it to intentionally rob people. My sister paid over $2,000 for one photo session, framed prints and a photo CD with printing rights. We just would never feel right about paying that for pictures. It's a total bummer.

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  3. Beautiful job on the photos and I'm sure you only meant that if you can do the photos yourself then it's very much worth it versus paying a pro who has to charge a lot to cover their own expenses and time. Wish I lived in KY and could pay you and David to do my son's photos. I just don't have the skill!

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    1. Thank you Maria! I definitely didn't mean to offend or degrade professional photographers. People on a budget just can't afford their services. Not around here anyway.

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