Just say cheese!

I'll admit it -- I love having the boys pictures taken. I have fallen victim to the adage "they are only X age once" so I have a ridiculous number of pictures of my little men. In tandem to this I must admit that while I have aspirations of being a shutterbug I am not. Yes, I take more pictures of the boys than I would have previously impossible to take of two individuals but these pictures are typical snapshots; some are out of focus, many are plagued by weird lighting and more often than not the boys' expressions aren't quite what I had in mind. Of course, even in this digital age of picture-choosing, I print and keep every single image -- my documentation of ineptitude for later I suppose. But it is for this very reason that I have so many professional pictures taken of the boys. The first year of life I have portraits made at 2,4,6 and 9 months. Then I have portraits made on birthdays after that. Lately I have also had Christmas portraits taken (which falls almost directly on Jack's half-birthday) but I am thinking of letting that tradition die in lieu of more candid snapshots. The first year portraits are a mix of studios depending on the flow of finances at the time; if we have extra money that month I will take the boys to PicturePeople -- I love their casual approach and the fact they use free roaming cameras; if money is tighter in a given month I will take the boys to JCPenney -- can't beat $3.99 a sheet and a free 8x10!

Lately I haven't been extremely pleased with either place. JCPenney doesn't hire real genuine photographers at most of their locations so while the samples are usually very good chances are your photographer will be nothing more than a trained camera operator capable of little more than pushing a button. PicturePeople takes great photos but they tend to all start looking the same with a rather bland background and standard poses -- great for a once in a while but it's getting difficult for me to tell the difference between photo sessions -- that and PP is REALLY expensive (or at least it can get that way!).

That's when I stumbled upon Kiddie Kandids or perhaps I should say they stumbled upon me. I was in Babies R Us doing some recon work in the stroller department when I was approached by a woman who complimented me on my pretty baby. I thanked her and then she asked if she could take a picture of him. I have to admit I was kinda -- okay really -- creeped out. But she went on to tell me of KK and that she was practicing on little ones. I agreed and ended up with some super cute shots of Sam for free and a coupon to return. I know this was totally a gimmick to get me to come back but it worked. I made an appointment for Jack's 3rd birthday pictures and decided that if the session was a flop I wouldn't order any pics and would make an appointment with my friendly neighborhood photog (she's actually in Pearland but who's fact-checking here!). The pictures came out great! We ended up buying a larger package than we intended but we walked out with 10 sheets of pictures for $90. WHAT A DEAL!! The photog was great with Jack during the session and during picture choosing time. One of my favorite parts was getting the pics that day -- I hate waiting for them to come in!

KK is a good blend of JCP and PP -- good photogs with an eye for shots, decent prices, immediate prints, free online viewing, cd of the pics for me, a free bonus club that gives coupons on birthdays, no sitting fee and the ability to make appointments online. The only negative was that the camera is still mounted like at JCP so the photog can't chase your toddler around the studio like at PP -- but it is a better system than JCP. Probably the best part of KK for me was its location -- inside Babies R Us. The branch of PP that is closest to me is East through the perpetual mess that is I10 and really I have about had it with JCP and don't want to go to the one in Katy anymore.

So...while I know this matters NONE to those without kiddos I thought I would let the other parents know about this place. Honestly I wouldn't have ever tried it had they not bribed me with free pics of Sam. OH -- and if you are interested in trying the place out, I have referral coupons that give you a free 8x12 just for going once -- just have to be used by 8/25.

Here are some samples.

Sam's free photo.




Jack's Birthday photo -- one of many!