Picture this...

I've heard so many comments the last couple of years about digital cameras being so good that you don't need to go to a professional any more, well...I've read the tips on pinterest, I have a book on photography, but they just don't turn out with the same polished look...at least not when I do it. 

So a couple of days ago, I went to Portrait Innovations which was about 8 minutes away...no excuse for not getting them done earlier, right... 

They took 156 pictures, which is great, but then they have to go through them 3 at a time, keeping 1 eliminating 2.  My sis-in-law and I did this in December with just Sadie (age 2 1/2) and Cate (age 15 months) so I knew the drill and I was on a mission to make our 4 hr nightmare (but with cute pictures, so totally worth it) into the fastest time I could possibly set...I had to have a plan!

Here's the Plan:

1. I had the girls wear their fancy outfit first, and a casual outfit second, that way when we got there, they were prepared for the formal shot, and after changing into casual, they wouldn't have to focus as much on their hair...I mean...it's a casual picture :)

2. As soon as the photographer had taken all the required pictures, the girls will leave and get drinks or smoothies.  Yay, that means they don't have an opinion on which ones I pick and they don't have to listen to my "constructive" comments about pictures of them :) brilliant

(You may wonder why the constructive comments? They start out trying to sell you all the poses and that starts off at $909) My goal price was $150!

3. Make silly faces or do whatever you have to, to make sure there are plenty of pictures that don't turn out.  It just makes it easier that way.  The narrowing down process is brutal! 

Okay, so that was the plan, but now I have more tips to add.

What a cute picture of Felicity and Sadie!  Here they are sitting on a rock wall with brick behind them and...a hardwood floor?  Are they in the kitchen or the great outdoors? Lol!  I didn't notice this until I looked at them at home.  So here is the next tip:

3. Look at the background...logically.  We either needed fake grass here or a kitchen sink :)

This time we have the grass...and a brown ottoman, um okay? This is the perfect pic for a redneck joke.  You know you're a redneck when you have more furniture on the outside of the house then inside the house, lol :)

4. Clean the bottom of their shoes. I think it adds character but the girls weren't a fan.

5. No picture to show here because...if you are wearing a dress and they angle is just right (or just wrong (in this case) your panties will show... :) I won't name names, but...it happened!

6. Send the kids off for food instead of drinks/smoothies. They came back before I was done because they were hungry :( awh poor babies.  I had to send them away quick before the photographer "lured" them in...remember, they don't have an opinion, opinions take time :)

7. Make sure they have their smile down before you get there.  After complaining about a certain someone's smile (eyebrows raised, chin down, closed smile), she could have won an Academy Award with her (fake) tearful, "I just don't know how to smile!" Um, okay then don't complain when you look like a dork in the pictures...yes, she still complained :)

I ended up getting 4 poses (1-8x10, 4-5x7, 8 wallets) a packages of another pose with 40 pics, 5 greeting cards (Happy July! um, okay), a book with 19 pictures, a cd, and a poster. Tax and all, I spent $142 :) 1 hr and 20 mins...it has to be a record!