The Christmas photo saga Part 2

The photographer for Christmas 2003 had moved away. She had taken my pregnancy pictures with Beauty, as well as some adorable infant pictures of Beauty, including the one used for her birth announcement. So we had been using her for nearly a year. But shortly after the Christmas photos, she relocated out of the area.

As Christmas 2004 approached, I started asking around for recommendations....and I dont know who, but someone recommended this great gal, so I called her. She seemed nice, and the photos on her website were amazing. She was more than I wanted to pay, charging a hefty sitting fee, as well as a chunky price per roll. But, I knew what I wanted, (to be repeated a million times; a horizontal shot, of the kids together, with the ocean in the background, holding hands.)...any photograher worth her salt would be able to get that in one roll (40 shots per roll, by the way).

So, we set the date, in late October, for the beach. Perfecto!

The date approached and the weather took a strange turn. Our normally warm season became freezing, with lots of rain. Dark clouds filled the sky for days, with barely a peak at the sun. I knew the photo session would be cancelled, although the photographer said to, "wait and see"...and smart gal, she was right. We had about a 2 hour window to take our pictures, literally. We touched base via phone, and the kids and I trekked on down to the beach.

The place she had selected was isolated, which was great for keeping people out of the picture (On sunny days when people go to the beach)....but it required a hike down an unstable cliff. Pooper was still on intensive chemo, and had only recently been able to walk well again, and Beauty was not yet 2, and needed to be carried down. And me, well, let's just say Im not a hiker and leave it at that. We also had a nanny at the time, and she came and helped out.

Once on the sand, with a blue sky (truly a miracle) we got things set up. There were ominous clouds in the wings, although not visible in the pictures, so we knew we had limited time....I was of the belief that it would be good to get those, "horizontal, water in the background, standing together, holding hand " shots in...before it began to rain, or the sun set (it was late afternoon with only an hour or two of sun left.)

But this gal, she was a professional, and she had other things on her mind....like....

playful pictures of the cuties....we got lots of this type of stuff......



there is nothing wrong with this sort of picture, but with a narrow window, I thought it was best to focus on the goal, and then, if there was extra time, she could get more shots. AND, let's not forget that she charged by the roll, and my primary goal was that ...horizontal, water background, blah blah blah....not a portfolio, just a good shot for a Christmas card.

But she snapped away as the kids frolicked around, and did I mention it was FREEZING???? As the kids traipsed around the coast with the photographer, the nanny and I stood shivering, and I asked her, "do you think I made it clear? about just wanting a Christmas card photo? I mean, I was clear right? that I want it horizontal and all that?"...she assured me, that I had pressed the issue over and over, and certainly that photographer knew...although my nanny also wondered why she was busy snapping pictures like this:






And, also, I said COLOR...I didnt know until I got the photos that she had spent an entire roll on black and whites! I realize black and whites are nice...but it's not what I wanted, and time was of the essence, with the thundering clouds approaching, and she was charging a large per-roll fee.

But she was not in a hurry, and she snapped away like a little shutter bug, getting sweet photos such as this one.....





And this one.....



I bet Pooper is watching as the sun prepares to fade, thinking to himself, "I wonder why this lady is not having us take the shots my mom keeps telling her she wants?????"

Suffice it to say, I have an entire roll of artsy fartsy black and whites....beautiful treasures, but I was still waiting for her to shoot some potential Christmas card shots....the sun was edging closer towards the horizon, and the clouds to the east seemed to be chasing the sun westward.....

But we werent done yet, no, the best was still ahead.....to be continued.