We had an appointment at 10am today to have our free maternity portraits from Paran Studio done. If you've been tuning in, I have been excited for these because they are a bit more artsy. In America's Next Top Model talk, I'd say they are more editorial.
From spending quite a bit of time admiring other people's portraits, I gathered rather quickly that they don't allow for as much individuality and creativity. They have certain sets that they like to style certain ways and certain poses they feel work well. I went in expecting this.
They kindly greeted us when we arrived, but it wasn't a very warm or friendly welcome. The photographer we worked with was nice enough, but I felt from here that working at the studio was just a job to her and not really her passion. (The photographer from Apple Tree was so friendly and actually tried to connect with us.)
Even though I expected it, I was still surprised at how cookie-cutter they wanted everything. I got to pick my two outfits, and she showed us a couple of samples (which I had already seen) of the types of photos she was going to take. We had zero input.
With Apple Tree, we were able to look at a narrowed-down selection of what the photographer considered the best photos, and we picked our three cuts from there. This is very smart. This allows us to continue our excitement about the shoot and is a great way to rope people in to sign up for packages or at least buy more prints.
With Paran, all we saw were a few cuts she intermittently showed us on the camera after she was done with whatever outfit/set. We have no idea which photos she will pick for our three and if they will even be to our liking. I understand that we're getting these for free, but it just seems so impersonal and like a risk almost considering how much time it took us to get to the studio. We asked about buying them all on a CD (which is possible if you pay for your session) or coming in to view them all to possibly purchase additional prints, and she said no, that we would just get the three images plus whatever image we want of the three framed.
What kind of business plan is that? It's always uncomfortable to sit through a sales pitch, but it was even more awkward--upsetting, even--to have our money flat-out turned down.
As most of you noticed, we received our cuts from Apple Tree the next day. Our photographer at Paran, upon asking our due date, merely said that we would probably receive our cuts after our baby is born. Does it really take that long to edit three cuts? She also mentioned that that probably meant Hee Suk would be going back alone to pick up the frame. With Apple Tree, people usually pick up their prints, but we were able to opt to simply have it delivered to our place at our cost (which is pretty much the same cost as what it would be to travel there to pick it up). She really couldn't have given much less of a hoot about anything.
--Random Side Note: She was the first person who does not know me to say that my belly was "so big." From people I know, I like hearing that they have noticed that my belly has grown. It was just strange to hear it from her. She was a tiny little fashionista, so I probably did seem gigantic to her.
Anyway, I am glad for the opportunity to take these photos but obviously a little upset over several details. In the end, I am just happy we did not pay to work with these people. I am sure we will love the three cuts she chooses, but it's hard to get excited over them knowing how impersonal they are since she didn't care to connect with us.
**Hilarious addition: She took a few extra cuts that she wouldn't normally do and called it a service for us. Really? I don't really think taking pictures we will never see is that much of a service, but thanks anyway. It was funny to me. Another "favor" she did was help pull my hair back for the hanbok photos I took. She mentioned that they don't normally do that for anyone. I could have pulled my hair back myself, thanks. What really got to me, though, was that I had spent a bit of time doing my hair in the morning, but because the other outfit we were going to use wasn't ready right away (they needed to steam it), we did the hanbok photos first. My nice curly hair got brushed and pulled back into a bun. Nice. It turnd out fine in the end, but that was just not cool.
Anyway, it's time to eat. I will definitely share the pictures, though it might be several weeks until we see them. I just wanted to share our experience. In the end, I can't really complain--they were free, right? But still...a little more professionalism would have been appreciated.
I should have another post in the near-future. Sending much love and many prayers!
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3 comments:
I don't get why they wouldn't be friendly.
That is really lame and stupid that they won't let you BUY pictures of yourself! I hope you like the cuts they pick for you. I'm sure they will be beautiful.
Korean studios can be so weird at times! Sorry to hear they were not too pleasant as well! We had some modeling calendar shots done of Thomas, had to pick the 1 shot to submit for the calendar from all the lovely shots, and that was it! I asked if we could get a CD or something of the rest, same answer, NO! I got 1 framed photo but it was the shot my hubby liked best, not me! It was a shame because the photographer was quite good and the shots were lovely. I hate thinking they just delete them in the end! But I guess they do hope we come back to buy a package...
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