October 02, 2002 - 9:15 p.m.
I know you're all waiting with baited breath to read how the follow up trip to the photographer went today...
Well, Zachary woke up cranky and if it weren't for an expiring discount card I would have skipped the whole thing entirely. But Marcus was up a little earlier than usual, so I replayed the feed, wash, and dress routine from Monday and put them both in the car and returned to have their picture taken... or at least to attempt to have their picture taken. I felt confident that the bag of mini oreos I brought along would quell any hint of a temper tantrum and, so long as there wasn't anyone ahead of us taking forever to choose a portrait package, we should come home with a good batch of pictures on order.
Naturally, there was someone ahead of us taking forever to choose a portrait package. I am frequently amazed by parents who take their children to Sear's, JC Penny, and the like and act like they ought to be getting high quality professional photos for $5. They nitpick every proof, ask for additional shots, and then complain about the cost. This lady spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to use a 5 year old coupon on the argument that "they let me use it last time I was here." In the meantime I had a very antsy toddler and an infant ticking off minutes until his naptime.
It almost makes me want to buy a tripod for my Pentax and set up a mini studio in my dining room. If only I had better light in there...
So finally it's our turn. I handed Zachary an oreo and set him up on the table. For a slit second he contemplated his situation and decided the oreo just wasn't worth it. It was Monday all over again - tears, wails, balled fists, and screaming. Marcus just stared at him. After a few minutes of futile negotiation/bribery, I sat down with him on one of the stools in the studio and tried to get him to simply calm down. And he did. He even sat on the stool quite happily by himself. And I got an idea.
"Do you think," I asked the photographer, "we could work out a shot with him on the stool and the baby on the table?"
"I won't work with the background you want," she replies.
"I don't care about the background. I'll take brick wall if we can get him to sit in front of the camera somehow."
So we tried and it might have worked if Marcus were older and could sit unsupported. But we couldn't get them close enough together to avoid a big gap in the middle of the image. But the photographer had the next epiphany and we stood Zachary on some blocks behind Marcus, which worked out rather well because he was now hidden from about mid-chest down so his untucked shirt and wrinkled pants (there's some anti-neatness field around this child) didn't show up in the shot. And Zachary was quite happy. We got a decent picture. OK, Marcus had his fist in his mouth but he still looked cute.
"Now," said the photographer "we can give him a break and take a couple pictures of his brother by himself."
Or so we thought. Little did we know we had created a monster. Zachary refused to budge and even fussed with me when I picked up Marcus so the photographer could put a new cloth on the table. I had to drag him away when we were done.
But at last we were finished and I quickly placed my order, tucked Marcus back into his carseat, and gathered our things. I had left my discount card on the counter because it was dated to expire today and I thought they could just throw it out. But the photographer handed it back to me as I left.
"Don't forget this," she said. "It's still good through the end of the month."
