A Simple Comparison

This "professional" photograph was taken at Picture Me Studio located in Walmart.

The employee taking the photo (I refuse to call her a photographer) was rude and was on the verge of losing her patience with my toddler, Hayden. She kept shaking a horrid, noisy metal box in the baby Deanna's face to get her attention, and though it did get her attention, Deanna is not likely to smile for such noise.

The camera was located on a bar and was limited in movement by the limitations of the bar; however, the employee did not move the camera. The children are situated on a dangerously high table. My hand is underneath the rug, holding onto Deanna's clothes to keep her from moving too much; however Hayden is completely free and sitting dangerously close to the edge. The children are not posed well; there is a big gap in between the children. The centering of the subjects in the photo is off. There are no props used in the photo, though there were a limited supply located in the studio.

Six poses were shot for me to select from and the next pose was slightly better; however, I was not informed that I would not be able to select the pose if I wanted to purchase the least expensive $7 package (plus tax and additional child sitting fee) and would instead be stuck with the first pose shot, no matter how poor that photo was. The photo color quality is poor, dull and faded looking.

I felt obligated to purchase a package, though I should have refused to buy any portraits and just paid the sitting fee. I purchased the least expensive package (unable to select which pose I wanted) that included one 8 x 10, two 5 x 7, four 3.5 x 5, 8 wallets, and 16 portrait petites for $7.99 plus $5.00 additional child sitting fee and tax.

This professional photograph was taken at Portrait Innovations.

The photographer taking the photo was patient with the children and worked well with Hayden, who thought we were there to run around and play. She talked to Deanna with a warm and welcoming voice.

The camera is hand held and can go wherever the photographer holds it. The children were posed on the floor with no danger of falling. Props were used without my suggestion, though my opinion of usage was asked.

The photographer took numerous shots, close to 100, of my children using two different backgrounds with props. When the time come to select what photos I wanted to purchase, the photographer helped me select by showing a few photos at a time and asking me which I liked best. There was no one "perfect" photo, but that was not expected by me knowing my children. The color quality of this photo is clear, crisp, no faded out colors.

I purchased the least expensive package of one pose of my selection. The package included one 10 x 13, Two 8 x 10, Four 5 x 7, Four 3 x 5, 32 wallets, and six cards for $9.95 plus tax. No sitting fee.

In the end I spent less money for more, better quality photos and a happier experience at Portrait Innovations. There is no question who will be taking portraits for me next time.

Notable Websites Series – Flickr

After the birth of my son, I discovered a passion for photography. I could easily snap a minimum of 300 photos a month of my son. I initially archived my photos onto a CD, but started thinking that if something should ever happen to my house, such as a fire, they could all be gone. I already had an account on Flickr, where I am part of a private online photography group consisting of a bunch of moms with cameras, and decided that was where I would archive my photos. I had to upgrade to a paid unlimited account since I took more photographs in a month then the free account allowed me to upload, but for the peace of mind of knowing I will always have my photographs the cost seemed worth it.


Flickr (part of the Yahoo! company) is a great site for photo management, hosting, and sharing and has recently included the ability to upload short videos. The free account gives users the ability to upload 100MB each month. You select your comfort zone for sharing your photos and have the option to make the photos private, friends and/or family, or public. The majority of my photos are set to friends/family, though I do have some, mostly landscape-type photos that are public.

One of the features I like most about Flickr is the photo hosting ability. Many of the other photo hosting sites provides you a code for your photo as uploaded. On Flickr, you have the option to select the size of the photo you want to host. This is particularly useful when hosting photos for use on message boards. On Flickr, you can upload the photo in its original size and then select between thumbnail, square, small, medium, large, and original for the photo url; depending on the size of the original photo. Very cool!