Day 15: Portland, OR

We had a slow start to the day as I uploaded pictures to Flickr and tried to catch up on this blog (something I'm still trying to do, in fact). We eventually got everyone dressed and out the door to Clackamas Town Center to get studio portraits of all 5 cousins together.

We were a little late to the Picture People because our GPS let us down with crappy directions to Adam's apartment. We drove at least 10 blocks out of the way to get on the interstate when we could have just driven straight through on a city street. Sure, you can drive faster on the interstate but it's not much of a time savings if you have to drive in circles to get on it.

The photo session was a little trying for the photographer, at least at first. Ian eventually decided to cooperate for a few shots, but he ran out of patience pretty quickly. Can't say I blame him. It's not all that fun to be placed in unnatural and sometimes uncomfortable positions and then told to smile naturally. My two kids didn't seem to have any trouble, though, when we got a bunch of shots of them using the rest of our poses for the session. After they sat for about 10 different poses, Elli said "That was fun!"

We did get some really nice shots and I was sorely tempted to buy one of those already framed large prints they bring out when you review the poses. This one was a black and white 15 x 18 in a beautiful honey maple frame. They try to rope you in with a line like "this framed photo is regularly $145, but if you buy 3 photo sheets, it's only $45!". I seriously doubt anyone just buys that framed photo and nothing else, so they probably just make up that number for the "regular" price. After all, lots of people probably think "I'm getting a $100 discount! That's a steal, so I have to get it! And my kids look so cute! If I don't buy it, they're just going to be put in the shredder!" And, I'm ashamed to admit, those thoughts were going through my head, but cooler heads (my husband's, in this unusual case) prevailed. In hindsight, I think they over-reached with the $100 discount. I might have been convinced with a $30 or $40 discount, but I just don't see how they profit with a $100 discount. They strained credibility just enough for me to pass on their incredible deal. Maybe that's just me, though.