Jaimie's First Photo Shoot

Last Sunday we brought Jaimie for her very first studio photo shoot. Bright Studio at Clementi was picked, since we have had pretty good experiences with them in the past.

To prepare Jaimie for the photo taking, we bathed her, got her to take her afternoon nap and immediately upon her waking, dressed her in a nice, comfortable jump suit and proceeded to the studio.

At the studio shop, we said we wanted the collect-after-2-days option rather than the instant polariod one. "This comes with the CD-ROM, right?", we asked. "Yes, it does." Good. With the subject, we were ushered into the photo-taking studio room at the back of the shop, that had a set of curtains in place of a door.

There was this white table which the studio assistant very promptly set up infront of the camera that was already preset onto a tripod. "你去外面等。", I was instructed by this middle-aged lady, whom I'd by then assume to be the photographer. "把baby给我" was the next directed at Angie. She complied.

Jaimie was handed to the studio assistant, a younger lady in her early twenties, who placed the subject onto the white table, in a seating position while supporting her at her waist so that she is propped up properly for the shoot. She squatted herself unobstruvesively by Jaimie's side so that only the light-colored backdrop would be seen from Jaimie's waist up, at the moment the shutter is released.

What happened next was something none of us had anticipated. Just as the photographer attempted to attract Jaimie's attention with this piece of jingly toy with bells, so that she would be looking directly into the lens, the baby let out a very, very loud wail. She had never done that in the past...always been ok in the presence of strangers, at the most becoming a little fidgety or making little noises of protest. But never a major wail like this time.

Obviously this terminated the phototaking attempt prematurely. We told the staff there that we'd bring her back once she has been pacified.

Thankfully, that didn't take long at all. 5 minutes later and a brief walk outside the studio shopfront, we were back in for Round 2. This time, Mommy was deployed to prop up the subject from behind, while I took up the task of getting her to look straight towards the camera. "不用那个bell.", I told the photographer, fearful that the same tactic might trigger a recurrence of the previous failed attempt. Instead, I played the clown by jumping left, right, up, down, from the back of the camera stand. It worked. A click of shutter release and the declaration "OK.好了!" from the photographer lady. I felt a wave of relief. And pride.

After an exchange of $12 and a receipt slip, we were told that the photos would be ready for collection from Tuesday onwards.

And here it is. When I removed one of the four passport-sized picture from the little white envelope, all I could think of was "So cute!". If you are looking at this and not thinking the same, I suggest you go get a new pair of glasses.