A New Favorite Company

Lizzy's portraits were taken on the first Monday she was in school, by the good folks at Teddy Bear Portraits.

Yes, it *is* a camera photo of a
professional photo

And they are fabulous.

First of all, the photographer got Lizzy to hold still. Without even touching her. Those of you who are regular readers will know what an amazing feat this is under normal circumstances, much less when Lizzy's excited by the venue and the event, the photographer is a stranger, etc. It is in fact freaking unreal.

The portraits are reasonably priced as these things go (I got a couple dozen prints in varying sizes for around $40) and there are no sitting fees. In the case of our school, the order came with a personalized tote bag, which the students are expected to use for their show-and-tell items (this has the dual effect of making sure the show-and-tell items top out at a certain size, and ensuring that the kids don't get them mixed up - remember, most of these kids are pre-readers). The portraits came in in a reasonable time, and - this is key - all three poses look good. Those of you who are parents will understand how hard this last is, especially with preschoolers. They're a squirmy bunch. When I called to ask Teddy Bear Portraits a question, their customer service people and supervisory staff were kind, polite, and generally gave Good Customer Service.

The only problem I have at all with the portrait company is that I cannot afford the rights to the digital pictures right now. However, I have three months to order digital prints. I did send a suggestion that they allow a la carte purchasing of the digital rights, but I don't think they'll go for that. In any case, they're a fabulous portrait company. I hope to be able to afford the digital rights soon so you all can see their work here on my blog.