Saturday, November 23, 2013

Pictures and Memories

I'm generally not a person who likes having my picture taken. It's not something I am naturally good at (smiling at a camera). Having said that, I do like pictures a lot though... they are like an extension of our memories. I love taking pictures when travelling - objects, sceneries, signs, people... It's part of the stories I want to tell when I am older. It's also part of the memories I want to go back to when I am old and gray, and cannot go back to those places anymore. 

This is the same angst we have for our kids. Quoting my husband, "they will be never be this small again." I try to have professionally taken pictures of (and with) the kids once or twice each year. It's a personal choice because I only own a point and shoot camera (and Inhave yet to learn all it's features); a lot of the pictures I take of the kids are via my iPhone (signs of the times). We rarely get to see physical print outs, properly laid out photos here! This is why it's such a treat to have professionals do it for you.

Recently, The Picture Company offered to give the SoMoms a photosession with their kids and families, plus let us enjoy some member benefits for a short period of time. I've had one or two photo sessions with The Picture Company in the past, but we haven't gone back since I had my second child. I took up the offer - it was high time we had another photo session this year. It's also always nice to have new pictures to share with family and friends as we close the year too.

I think they have changed their process a little recently, and it's become pleasantly  client centric. I booked a time and a date first with the branch of my choice (The Podium). Soon, I got a text message confirming the time and date for our photosession. It just so happened that I was at The Podium two weeks before our shoot, so I walked into the branch there and personally confirmed the session. They asked for the names and ages of my girls and noted these down on their computer. They also asked for my email address so that they can send photo pegs for the shoot. 

I loved that they told me they will give me pegs... because that's one of the toughest things for me to decide on - figuring out the color schemes and shoot concepts. I soon got a personalized email from Ishee (the store manager/lead photographer) on her ideas for the shoot. The email contained ideas on outfits and colors to wear and sample pictures of different combinations (depending on the size of your family). Even if you are not going to "copy" those pegs to the detail, it was nice to have ideas (and visuals) to think about. 

Finally on the day of the shoot, The Picture Company sent a confirmation message that we were set for that day. When we got to the branch, Ishee quickly set up the studio for our shoot, and even asked my eldest daughter what her favorite song was (and had it play in the background). That was a very nice touch as it got the girls in the mood to stand in front of the camera. 

The experience sure was great... this is the first photoshoot I've had where I did not have to stress so much. I used to stress... Because one kid would always be cranky because it was (fill in the blanks - way past her naptime, has had a short nap, hungry, sick...). This time around, everything just fell into place. Let's not count the part when the two girls were fighting over who gets to use the tiara! The girls were big enough now to really enjoy hamming it up for the camera. Ishee and the team in Podium also made it fun for the girls, they were so patient with the children.


This was taken in a split second... Ishee called out "look up, girls" - and with that, it was a wrap.

To have your own photoshoot, do contact the branch of your choice and show them this coupon to get a free photo session. All you have to do is to call the branch of your choice to make an appointment. Then print or take a screenshot of the coupon below, and show them before your shoot. 


No kids? It's ok. For the whole month of November, they are running the #SmilesForRelief campaign - for P500 you can have your profile pictures taken professionally.

Get that best smile out and call your nearest branch now.

This post was sponsored by The Picture Company.


No comments:

Post a Comment