| rev:text
| - I purchased a Groupon to have photos of my child done. I called Stephanie to get everything setup, she was great about explaining her process, her props, outfit decisions I should make for my child and to ensure any questions I had were answered. I felt the conversation was great, however at the end she did mention that tax and tip were not included in the purchase of the Groupon. I was absolutely fine paying the tax, however I was a little taken aback that she mentioned anything about a tip, as it is obvious that she is the proprietor of the business and I felt it was common knowledge that you don't tip the proprietor of a business.
I arrived at Stephanie's home that day with my child and all of their outfits. The porch of her home is adorably decorated and very welcoming. As we were walking in her husband was coming down the stairs in his sweatpants and Stephanie was standing there with her hair wet. I felt that I was essentially intruding in on them. She had me sit in her office which was very nicely decorated and displayed some of the photos she has taken. She went over the contract with me and explained that I will not own the rights to the photos. She took the time to go over what that means and made it a point to say, So what this is means is that if your child becomes president, I'll be selling these photos to TMZ. Now, I'm a fairly intelligent individual, so I felt this analogy and the fact that she felt that was an appropriate statement to make was tacky. I did sign the release, I wish I hadn't and I wish I left at that point, but I didn't and that was on me.
After the paperwork was squared away we started talking props and backgrounds. She has so many props to choose from, which is nice. Once we had decided on everything we talked outfits for my child. When it came time to do outfit changes, I would not put my child down on their carpet, it was absolutely filthy. Their kitchen had food on the floor and overall while the home was picked up it was dirty. I get it, they have kids, but they're also running a business out of their home, so I'm sorry but these are factors.
I was uncomfortable by how much Stephanie and her husband argued during the entire process. Once again, I should have left at this point, but I didn't. They argued about backdrops, they argued about the settings of her camera, it was incredibly uncomfortable. Her husband attempted to assist with getting my child to laugh and smile, but between him constantly making sounds and calling their name, Stephanie trying to get their attention and then me standing there you could tell my child wasn't feeling it. I did bring this up to them, that is was just too much and she suggested that I go sit in the office. I said no. I didn't feel comfortable and suggested her husband needed to take a break because I could tell my child was overwhelmed. I could tell they felt insulted, but oh well. I would also like to state, I'm not a helicopter parent, I don't hover so I don't feel that my presence was doing any harm.
Stephanie felt she got some good shots and I could tell my child was done before the session was over so we called it done. They had the photos sent to me to proof in a very timely manner. I was very sad about how they turned out and I did convey via email that I felt there wasn't much to choose from. I think it was a combination of factors. I think it was just the icing on the cake that I went through all of this and then the photos were worse than photos I have taken on my own on my iphone.
I really do think Stephanie is doing the best she can, and you can see this is a business she is incredibly passionate about and I admire that. But for myself and my child, it was a miss. That's not to say that others haven't had wonderful experiences and that others won't have wonderful experiences. It's just that for our family, it didn't work out and I wouldn't use or recommend her to my friends or family. I did end up hiring another photographer and the pictures did turn out wonderfully. So, you never know I guess.
I did want to email Stephanie and provide this feedback to her directly, however in reflecting how the shoot went it was my opinion that I didn't feel she would have been receptive to my feedback.
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