Children's Portraits on a whole new level
It has been a long time since I blogged. Below is my reason. During this month, I photographed over 30 babies-children for a promotional photo session through Janie and Jack Stores at the Natick Collection. It was an unforgettable experience. I’d love to share more on that experience later, but this slideshow below is what matters the most.
Why was this “Children’s portraits on a whole new level?” Because I’ve never photographed over 30 children in a period of 3 days, and because each portrait had to be concluded in 20 minuets, and because this meant I spent over 50 hours at a mall, as superior as Natick Collection is… All very eye opening experiences. Many of ‘us’ boutique photographers ‘boo’ mall portrait studios, and compare their assembly line like systems similar to fast food chains. But whatever the outcomes are, the process of meeting that many children and parents and working with various emotional and personality stages in a tight retail space and time constraints was a lot of hard work.
Janie and Jack makes some amazing clothes. While most of them cost more than the clothes I buy for myself, after seeing their craftsmanship, and hearing other parents talk, I couldn’t help but wonder, that perhaps making clothes for such little bodies with such delicacy and quality is more difficult labor, and worthy of their cost. The store staff was super helpful, and in between appointments, I kept admiring baby girl clothes. I was even pleasantly surprised that baby girls can be dressed in black (I dress 95% in black only)!
Some little clients were over the top sweet to interact and photograph. Others, started screaming even before they entered the store. And some, I really wanted to keep for myself. 😉
It was also a good opportunity to realize what the various parents think of quality photography. Some were extremely happy to invest and didn’t think twice to invest, while others considered a size I’d never consider to be ‘larger than what we need.’ Either way, one of my most favorite feedback was, “The pictures came out unbelievable! We have received so many compliments on them. Thanks so much and fabulous job.”
My continued bafflement though, is why parents and grandparents are so insistent on only the images of their incredibly beautiful child ‘smiling.’ Out of 25+ images, many parents wouldn’t even consider purchasing images of their child in their pensive, curious, pouty, bewildered, or just plain beautiful expressions. Perhaps I’d understand more as a parent, but as an artist, it’s still hard for me to understand. Any feedback on this, readers?
As I noted on my facebook wall, I could not walk after the first 3 days of shooting while squatting, and after my 3 days of viewing/sales sessions, I slept for 12 hours with a sore throat. Not to mention, I was so out of it at the end of it all, I drove the wrong way on the freeway for about 20 miles before realizing that I was headed the wrong direction when the sun should really be setting behind me, not in front of me. Please feel free to laugh. I myself shook my head quite a bit on that one.
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