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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Rushed photoshoot

75 replies

Jadefeather7 · 19/07/2020 06:22

I had a photoshoot for my newborn and unfortunately it took my baby a long time to fall asleep. As a result our family pics at the end were very rushed and My husband and I got the feeling that the photographer didn’t seem very interested in doing them even though I had mentioned that the family pics were important to us (she did do them but just seemed much more interested in the baby shots). I was feeling quite flustered by the end because she was rushing us/seemed uninterested and I think this was evident. My previous experience for my first child with a different photographer was quite different, it was much more relaxed and there wasn’t any clock watching so I was a bit surprised. I wish I had thought to offer her a bit of extra money to extend the session but it didn’t occur to me at the time. Am I being unreasonable to feel disappointed? Should I give feedback or leave it?

OP posts:

AllNaturalIngredients · 19/07/2020 06:39

Maybe photographer was running to a tight schedule ?

Original poster

Jadefeather7 · 19/07/2020 06:41

She only does one booking per day.

OP posts:

Couchbettato · 19/07/2020 06:49

Even if she does one shoot per day her working day may not be that accomodating.

You can always leave a review, or call and talk it out and see if there's any goodwill she could offer, but I don't think it's unreasonable to rush a shoot if it's been evident that your baby was not cooperative. I mean, who knows how long your baby would have stayed asleep for after it took a long time to get to sleep in the first place.

dudsville · 19/07/2020 06:50

We don't know from this what her other commitments were. You paid for a slot, and she only does one per day, but did your booking cover the whole day? She may have had other personal commitments.

OryxNotCrake · 19/07/2020 06:52

How long did It take your baby to fall asleep?

PurpleFlower1983 · 19/07/2020 06:53

Have you seen the photographs?

Skyliner001 · 19/07/2020 06:53

Hey OP, what did it say when you booked? Was it a timeslot? Sorry it was disappointing 😔

Floatyboat · 19/07/2020 06:55

Many phones now have excellent cameras. Maybe just get a relative to snap some pics next time they visit.

Original poster

Jadefeather7 · 19/07/2020 06:59

She said that she’s not very busy at the moment and that she’s cleared all her backlog over lockdown and we were her first shoot since, however I suppose she may have had personal commitments.

There wasn’t any timing mentioned on the booking form.

It took about 45 mins for the baby to sleep.

I think the baby pics should be very nice (fingers crossed) I hope somehow the family pictures turn out ok but my experience has always been that you need to be relaxed for nice photos and both my husband and I did not feel that.

I did try to convey to her that having a few really nice family shots is very important to me but my husband says that listening to her he didn’t think she really registered that.

OP posts:

Loveinatimeofcovid · 19/07/2020 06:59

Well if you were exceeding the time slot then that’s fair enough really. If the family photos were so important to you maybe you should have asked to do them first? She was probably more interested in doing the baby pictures because they tend to be easier to sell (parents generally think all pictures of their babies are amazing but they don’t take the same view of pictures of themselves).

AdoreTheBeach · 19/07/2020 07:02

Too many variables to give informed opinion.

You say it took a while for your baby to falls sleep. How long? What was happening during this time? Did you feel stressed because you couldn’t get baby to sleep? Was baby cranky? Which adds the stress?

You talk about when you had your first baby shoot. So there were more than jn’s child at photo shoot. Could the other children have been fidgeting and also adding to stresss if the situation?

This may culminate in not being relaxed during the photo shoot

If the photo shoots are usually roughly a set time frame and this particular one went in much longer, of course the photographer may have been watching the clock. You don’t know she had hours after what would be the usual time frame to hang around.

I’d suggest waiting until you see the photos.

Now, however, you have the experience of juggling more children fir this type of thing and will help you plan for future things, allow more time, timing when your youngest would be sleepy etc.

Melonslicexx · 19/07/2020 07:03

When you are paying i can understand you don't want to feel rushed. Babies don't care about posing so the photographer must know that sometimes a baby won't perform and it's best to rebook on a better day.

Abit different but the school photos at my child's school last year were rushed. They asked us to go in early for sibling shots. My 1.5 year old was not interested in smiling straight away. The lady was really sarcastic with my 5 year old too. She told her too move up. My daughter did. Then she said to her you can get closer to him you know he is your brother. Then she half heartedly waved iggle piggle at my son. 3 clicks and then done. Was less than a minute I think. I ended up paying £36 for a packet of photos with a miserable toddler on them and a forced nervous smile from my eldest. I get they have a busy morning ahead. But jeez they charge enough to have a bit more patience lol.

Original poster

Jadefeather7 · 19/07/2020 07:04

I actually asked her if she would do pictures of my eldest first when the baby wasn’t sleeping and he was in a good mood in the morning but she didn’t want to do that.

OP posts:

PurpleFlower1983 · 19/07/2020 07:07

We had a photo shoot when DD was first born and our family shots were just a quick thing at the end. We accepted this as we knew the photographer specialised in baby/child photographs and family shots weren’t really her thing. Could this be the case?

Original poster

Jadefeather7 · 19/07/2020 07:10

The baby wasn’t cranky just wide awake. I didn’t feel stressed about her not sleeping as I naively thought that she would take her time and only realised at the end that she wasn’t going to do that. I work in a different field but with clients and sometimes things go wrong and we end up working beyond what’s agreed for free (within reason of course).

OP posts:

Original poster

Jadefeather7 · 19/07/2020 07:15

I wasn’t expecting lots of photos to be honest, 2-3 which is what she took are sufficient I just wanted a less rushed/stressful atmosphere so we felt relaxed and looked ok!

OP posts:

DorisLessingsCat · 19/07/2020 07:18

You haven't actually seen the photos yet! Wait until you get them before judging.

Original poster

Jadefeather7 · 19/07/2020 07:19

@PurpleFlower1983 I think that’s reasonable normally, however I did say over and over that having a couple of nice family pictures is important to me so if she just wanted to focus on baby pictures I think she should have said something

OP posts:

Jinglebellissimo · 19/07/2020 07:20

It sounds to me like you booked a newborn shoot - so that’s what she was there to do. Pictures of your eldest, your family etc may have been out of the scope so she’s not going to spend to much time on them maybe? Did you discuss all of this first?

Evelefteden · 19/07/2020 07:22

Give her some feed back. The experience wasn’t great, it left you feeling a bit flat. It doesnt matter if she had other commitments she should have been transparent about what the situation.

I can’t tell if you’ve had the photos back yet,Have you?

FortunesFave · 19/07/2020 07:22

So what did you do for 45 minutes?

RedHelenB · 19/07/2020 07:23

Honestly, we had a shoit in winter when it was a rush to get there, my youngest had a red nose, I felt I looked awful and we were all feeling ugh. The pictures were great, that's why you pay for a professional photographer.

fellrunner85 · 19/07/2020 07:26

Well you clearly don't think YABU, do you - so why are you asking?

LunaNorth · 19/07/2020 07:26

Why didn’t she just take pictures of the baby while he or she was awake?

speakout · 19/07/2020 07:26

Why did the baby have to be asleep for a photoshoot?

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