OK, I thought I was over it but I realize now I’m still fuming. This may be the first negative experience I’ll share on my blog. But, it is related to photography. One of the things my husband and I discussed when we started doing Christmas cards is that we wanted to do a family portrait every year. Back when I was employed I splurged a little and took the kids to the “same day” portrait studios (I know a “real” splurge is a professional photographer). But, this year I decided to be economical and go back to basics. WalMart, JCPenny, Sears. So, WalMart it was.

I tried most of a morning to call to make an appointment, no answer. So, per voice mail instructions I finally gave up and went to “Picture Me” to book the appointment. There were not any prices online. Not to worry, this newly budget oriented mom knew she was going to WalMart. And all I wanted was one photo for the Christmas Card.

We get there, super nice gal. I told her what I wanted. She did what her job performance/evaluation required. They “have” to shoot photos of each member of the family with a variety of cheesy backgrounds. I told her, just make sure you take the one I want first or else my little one will not be in the mood. We humored her for the rest of the poses.

Then the wait. She is putting the photos in awful backgrounds and templates. I say, you don’t need to do that, I will do that myself. My 4 year old can see and smell McDonalds and is completely past her limit. She keeps editing. She tells me if she does not create all the layouts/cards she’ll get written up. Meanwhile I try to figure out what package to get. Hmmm, they are all over $140. What happened to the bargains I remember getting at these economical “studios”? To tell you the truth, I don’t remember all the prices because I have tried really hard to put them out of my memory. I think they wanted $150 for the photo CD by itself. It was going to be over $200 to get the CD with the cheapest package.

I wanted to remind them they are WalMart. Well, I just tried to look at the prices online again and now it all seems so much clearer. It is NOT WalMart, they have brought “Picture Me” into their store. I have a friend who went to Sears. It seems they charge the same thing. So, now I know, you might as well go to the “mid-tier” same day studio because there is no such thing as an economic way to go anymore. I truly expected to get out of there spending $75 to $100 at the most for a single pose.

So here are, “the rest of the photos”. I didn’t need them, but they did make a cute layout. And, the upside….you get a signed release to do anything you want with the photos!

These layouts were created with a collaboration kit by Catherine Designs and Bisontine.