More studio talk...

Well, children are very unpredictable you just never know how they are going to react to a studio or the photographer for that matter. Stranger danger does come in to play. Plus all the lights and equipment can make a photo studio one spooky place. That's why being able to interact and "play" with the children is important. If they are a two year old, you kinda let them "do their thing" and photograph them as they run around. If it's a newborn, they are not going to do much of anything so you dress up the background around them to make them look good while they are passing gas. Six to eight month old kids are fun and can really smile if they are in the right mood. What mom's have got to learn is that sometimes you just have to keep coming back until you get that big smile. It may take two or three times for that to happen. When kids are around three to four, all they really know how to do is the "cheesy" smile. But once they hit six, it's kinda the magic age where kids understand how to give a natural smile and where they know how to follow directions. One thing I did like about the studio was the number of repeat customers that would come in and ask for me. It was fun to have some "regulars". All in all it was a good experience, I got to round out my portfolio in an area I really hadn't had that much experience in. But the bottom line was I got sick of just doing baby pictures day after day. I also got sick of work for a "big box" company that was not very manager friendly. To this day, they still have a revolving door of managers coming and going. Why would a company show a lack of respect for their customers and hurt their bottom line by changing managers all the time?