When we had Glow, we got a notice from the photo studio in the hospital that they had an offer for us. They were willing to give us a free print of a picture of our daughter…a free print they already had on file! What the…? It seems that the photo studio pays for access to babies that are delivered at the hospital we chose, and they take exclusive first day pictures no other studio could get. Then, when you are checking out after your stay they ask you to come in and choose your free picture. This is just to get you in the door, and then they work you down till you’ve purchased an entire set of pictures.
I was very resistant to this up-selling because I felt my privacy, and my baby’s safety had been infringed upon. No one asked us if a strange photographer could be given access to our child. We didn’t even have access to the child for the first 12-16 hours because she was in special observation. We did pick up the picture though. We got on a list of some kind, because when 50 days rolled around my wife was back there again to get another free photo shoot. They only let her see the photos they took, and whatever my wife took with our camera was ours to keep.
This got us in the door again, as I wasn’t present to see the photos being taken. We requested that her photos be removed from the public page of their website. There was no consent form for that either, so a random Internet search could have turned up pictures of my baby for anyone to see.Just because they took all those photos didn’t mean we want complete strangers to be able to see them. No sir, I don’t like it. They say they just want it to be easy for friends and family to find, but I’m willing to force my family to be a little more tech savvy. I can’t believe they put those photos up without any privacy wall other than an open membership to their group.
Despite this, there were a few adorable shots, so we ended up going in on the plan. So despite the privacy hesitations, it worked in the end. [Sigh]. We’ve got photo shoots lined up for the baby like she’s a runway model. Several sets of shots with “concepts” behind them and everything on set anniversaries in the first year. It’s ridiculous and totally over compensating, but adorable. Really, concept shots and pitches for a baby? How about, “Be adorable.” BAM! Finished.
Mostly we relented and got the program from the studio lined up because my parents are flying in from the United States and we want them to be in one of the sets of shots. The timing just worked out that we’d be able to have them present around Glow’s 100 day photo shoot. The manager agreed to remove us from their website entirely, so nothing we have shot will be shared without our permission in the future.
When my parents come, we’re going to have to engineer a “Generational, Intercontinental Matching Clothes Couple Set” shot on behest of the studio. That photo will be the ultimate expression of deep family shame for our daughter in about 20 years. She pick up that photo years from now and be embarrassed to be part of it. It’s going to be awesome!
Anyway, we’ve got the first batch of studio pictures, and they are amazingly cute. Induces vomiting due to diabetic shock cute. It’ll be fun to see if they can top these shots.
