Monday, April 8, 2013

Rant #2

            Okay I work as a photographer and I photograph everything from newborn babies to large families. I work in a studio located inside of a Target and contrary to popular belief I am a professional. I truly enjoy photography and working with the children that come in to my studio. True sometimes I get those kids that can't sit still or take direction really well. I don't blame those children though, I blame the parents. Some of the parents that I get in my studio are a real piece of work. 
            I've had those parents that want every little detail of their child's pictures to be perfect from their hair to their smile. I understand wanting your child to look good in their pictures but when you're telling your child to smile naturally when they all ready are you are making it worse. Not every child's smile looks model perfect because they are children and they still growing. They are still trying to figure out how their bodies work. Worst are the parents with the babies that are three months old or younger saying they want a picture of their baby smiling. I want to roll my eyes at these parents especially when they all ready have one or more children. No baby actually smiles at that age because the muscles in their cheeks are still developing and they don't know how to work them just yet. The only times I've seen a babies smile that young is by tickling their cheeks as well as being quick with the camera or if they have gas. Thinking you're child can smile so perfectly on command when they are seven or younger is unrealistic. When I've watched these parents tell their young children to smile on command it just makes them more rigid and nervous. I understand that parents are just trying to help but they are just making it harder for me to do my job. Instead of telling your child to smile on command like they are a dog try doing something that would make them laugh. It would make more sense to have them enjoy being there rather then feel bad about themselves for not "smiling naturally". 
            The next set of parents I wish I could just boot out are the ones that believe they are special. I even had a woman just yesterday that I tried calling at 10:30 am to let her know that the appointment she booked online for 4 pm wasn't available because that is when we close. We even tried calling her a second time throughout the day as well as leaving her two voice mails  Needless to say she showed up at four. When I told her that we attempted several times to call her throughout the day her response was "I have a newborn. I can't check my voice mail". She then proceeded to ask me if we would have sent an email. So she would have checked her email but not her voice mail? I've even had customers come in knowing very well that we're booked every twenty minutes apart since it is Christmas season expecting to do five outfit changes on their two year old. I wouldn't do that many outfit changes on a two year to even begin with since after one outfit change they are usually fed up. There are even those that are late for their appointment to the point that the one scheduled after then actually showed up on time. Naturally I would take back the person that was on time so that appointment that was late is left waiting till I have time. I want to kick these people out of my studio because half the time they expect to get some kind of special treatment because they had to wait. You were late for your appointment so no I will not treat you like you are on a pedestal. 
            I do have a lot of parents that I love seeing when they come in to my studio. They are the ones that actually make my job even more worth while doing. So for those of you out there that believe that your photographer is supposed to be a miracle worker when you bring in your child after a doctors appointment, with no nap or even sick. No child is going to want to smile in that kind of situation so get off your high horse and quit blaming someone else as to why your child is clearly unhappy.

No comments:

Post a Comment