Photo Woes

TLE eating (more) ice cream. No, this has nothing to do with this entry.

It is no secret that I love photography. I really love it. I must have taken over 5,000 photographs in first two years of The Little Empress’ life. Sadly, the third year of her life doesn’t seem to be as conducive to taking photographs. These days, The Little Empress gladly hams it up for my parents’ and sister’s camphones but when she sees my dSLR come out, she turns tail and hides. Or she sticks her face way into the camera and pokes at the lens. Either way, I’m not getting as many photo opportunities of her as I’d like.

Like most mom-photographers, I’m always behind the lens rather than in front of it. Considering I’m not all that photogenic (see earlier entries for proof of this), I’m fine with this. Usually. But regrettably, that means I am also rarely in the photo with The Little Empress and as a result, aside from the babywearing shots that I’ve taken, I have very few photos of us together. (Those that I do have were taken by the ever wonderful SEEN by Lam and Megs Photography. Alas, I am too broke to visit Cousin Lam and/or to afford Megs at the moment.)

I’ve been searching for an affordable local photographer to work with but am beginning to believe that “affordable” plus “photography” are two words that were never meant to be together in the same phrase.  I’m a freelance writer so believe me when I say that I understand the direct correlation between talent, time spent and prices charged. Now, I’m not asking for free photos but some of the prices that I’m seeing for portrait sessions are just insane. I’ve seen prices upwards of $120+ for just a half hour sitting fee for a mini session. (I mean, seriously? I’d gladly pay that for an hour or more but a half hour? YIKES.) And then there’s how much folks charge for digital images. I saw one photographer charging $85 per digital image, after a $200 print minimum PLUS her session fee.

Maybe this is the industry standard. If so, I guess that the industry is telling me that portrait photography is a privilege like organic produce and sustainably raised meat and isn’t for broke folks like myself.

And while I’m at it, let’s talk about mini-sessions. I researched these as a possible viable alternative to most photographer’s pricey full sessions. While I love the idea of mini sessions, I also have to say that they’re not a good idea for us. Most mini-sessions that photographers in this area offer are twenty to thirty minutes, in a fixed location.  Taking TLE to an unfamiliar place, to meet unfamiliar people, to do something she has to be in the mood for, under a time limit is just asking for trouble. (Unfortunately, TLE’s unpredictability can wreak havoc on even the most well-intentioned outings.)

Maybe I just need to embrace lifeless Walmart portraits. I swear, sometimes I fantasize about starting my own photography business for affordable, quality portraits. Unfortunately, my skill as a photographer is non-existent these days and that still doesn’t solve my initial problem of getting a good portrait with TLE.

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