$70 down the drain

so everyone raves about "portrait innovations" as a great shop to get kids' pictures. for declan's 3 month shots it seemed to be the place to go, seemingly more progressive than "penneys" or sears and more instant than old-school olan mills. i don't want to pay a slick private photographer until he's older and we're more in control of the situation.

well, i feel a little scammed. i have the most photogenic, handsome baby and they could barely get 2 good shots of him out of 110 taken. 3 strikes: 1) the girl busted out a floral spring impressionist backdrop, a watering can and wanted to put him in a tin bucket... thank goodness he loudly protested sitting in the cold metal bucket because i was too embarassed to tell her i wanted something a little more "classic" in nature. what can i say, declan has good taste already too! he also protested about being placed in a straw basket though i wasn't sure what theme she was headed for with that one. point taken - simple is better when you have a cute baby. 2) after 110 pictures were taken, we viewed them together to select the best ones i wanted to buy. i was multi-tasking by also pacing & rocking declan to sleep after his hard work as a model. i couldn't believe after all my time selecting two adorable yet simple outfits that the only ones that turned out were the naked ones. 3) here's where it is my fault, i somehow spent $70 on 9 sheets of pictures that i don't even like because it felt wrong leaving with nothing. i kept telling the girl that i get better pictures of him at home, but i don't think she liked that. they "throw in for free" the CD containing all the (amateurish) images as well as a cheesy 10x13 with a special finishing... you know the ones like when you were 7 with an image superimposed in the background? yes.

enough of my rant. after all that, i think i'm going to go back next monday with the same outfits and demand only the black or white backdrop and see if we can't find a few keepers.

here are some of the best of the worst for your viewing enjoyment!

chris farley look-alike. not his best angle (although i'm sure my mom will disagree saying every angle of him is cute)

carmel gang sign

"lady, i think the holding your head up while on your tummy is next month's milestone" she took 10 like this and they all looked just as stupid


something is just a little off with the slinky satin sheet pose

he would not smile in any of these, no wonder

just dumb