Birthday Pictures

Well, it was that time again. Off we went to our local photography studio to have Katie's birthday pictures taken. Our studio of choice is called Picture People and they are conveniently located in the mall right up the road from where we live.

Since we were there last, they have made major improvements in the way they take the pictures and then display the proofs. Before, the cameras were mounted on mobile poles which limited how you could pose and the photographers range of shots were pretty standard. They now use digital cameras and get right down level with the subject.

They used to take the pictures and tell you to come back in an hour when they would have about 5 sets of pictures ready for viewing. Usually an 8x10, (2) 5x7s, and a sheet of wallet sized pictures per set. You could mix and match to make up a set, but it always seemed that the really good ones that you wanted an extra 8x10 of had to be reprinted which made the waiting times longer. All in all a fairly wasteful thing in my eyes because while I'm sure there were people with kids who thought "Oh no, if I don't buy all these they will throw away pictures of my dear sweet baby" the majority of customers weren't that flush with cash. I mean come on, this isn't Olan Mills we are talking about here.

Now however, since the process is all digital, you return after about 15 minutes and sit down in front of a huge Dell flat panel monitor and you can pick and choose the pictures you want, the suitable sizes, and an assortment of effects can be applied. Of course the standard set is still one 8x10, two 5x7, and the sheet of wallets. But for the inevitable "Oh, so-and-so HAS to have this one in a (insert size), the wait time is decreased.

Shrewd marketers they are, they still trot out one or two pictures in frames they hope to sell at what I'm sure is a HUGE mark-up.

Which brings us to the picture at the top of this post. They brought it out in a really nice frame, complete with a mat, and its called the Gallery piece, and the picture is actually 10x20 instead of the 10x13 we opted for. When we saw it, we knew that one was a keeper but figured we could do the matting and framing ourselves. That project has yet to take shape, but the picture is currently hanging nicely on our dining room wall.

If I do have one negative thing to say about the studio, it would be that apparently the only taste they have is in their mouths. Last year we entered Katie in the 2 year old category for the chains "Cutest Kid" contest and each store picked a finalist from the previous weeks sitting to be submitted to the headquarters for further judging. I'm convinced the stores decision was solely based on who bought the biggest set of pictures, because I saw the finalist's picture for that week and there was no way she was cuter than Katie. Not that I'm biased or anything....