{Opposite}

I know that I am not the greatest photographer in the world nor will I ever be but working as a photographer at JCPenny has been the total opposite of what I thought it was going to be like. I am sure you are curious as to what I mean by that and thats what I am about to tell you. I have now worked there for 2 months and it has been the most challenging job I have ever had OK being a nanny was pretty challenging but that was mostly the parents fault anyway its a challenge. When I do a shoot on my own time its very relaxed and there are no real time constraints I don't have to sell my work right then and there I don't have to deal with sensors and lighting or backdrops or all the other stuff that comes with working in a studio. Now don't get me wrong I love a challenge and most the time I love being challenged but it's definitely not for everyone. A normal shoot at a studio goes something like this. Mother brings child in (lets say age 2) child is fine and running around like a normal two year old, they come back to the camera room and immediately start clinging to their mother. I spend most my time convincing them to sit on the red dot on the ground so that the lighting sensor will go on, then mother sets child on the red dot said child cries because they are in a strange place and have a camera bigger then there head pointing at there face.I cheer them up for a split second just as I am about to take a picture the sensor goes off ( it does that if there is no movement within 10 seconds) I miss what smile I did have because I'm trying to get the stupid sensor back on. I continue doing silly looking things to make the child smile all while they are giving me a blank stare, kid starts bawling again and the mother tells me its the kids nap time!!! WHAT you bring your child to get pictures taken during his/her naptime and expect to get a wonderful outcome are you nuts lady... I continue in hopes of getting a few good shots and usually I get a few good ones within a 30-40 min window. I show the mother the pictures and she likes maybe 2 or 3 out of the 20 and complains about the child not smiling that good or that his/her eyes look red from crying. I'm thinking to myself then why did you bring him during his/her naptime!! She ends up spending 7.99 for a one pose package which for a 30-40 min session is awful. I have 20 frames in which to get the best shots I can without deleting any expect if there any blinking, blurry ones. If you have ever tried photographing a two year old in a small space that looks scary it is soooo hard. Granted there have been times with I am happy with how the shoot is going the child is cooperating and everything is fine and at those moments the job is rewarding but most of the time its the opposite!

The requirements for every session no matter what are as follows: 

-20 visually different frames (standing, sitting, on stomach, etc)

-2 backgrounds

-2 different facial expressions

-1 full body shot

-1 close up

-1 extreme close up

-one side light pictures

-1 pip and pop ( like mother holding child hand)

-at least 4 shots at different heights and angles 

-minimum 2 props 

try doing all that with a tired two year old. Its very exhausting and makes me love my own kind of photography even better! Now granted all of those things hardly happen every session but that's what we are supposed to do. There were 6 people in my training group and only 3 including me have stuck with it everyone else has quit. Do I ever feel like throwing in the towel you ask....every single time I work I feel like that but am I going to not yet and hopefully I can make it through the crazy holiday season without giving up!!

So when you see a photographer at a studio just know that there probably having a bad day cause most days are like that...at least thats what its like for me....