Mother’s Day Gift Idea

Mother’s Day is around the corner and that means thinking up a great gift for your own mom or perhaps your better half — or even coming up with a gift idea for yourself. The latter recently dawned on me as perhaps the only way to get something you want — ask for it! This PixieTip came to me when scheduling a photo session with my friend, Brook, at Clear Brook Photography. For those of you in the tri-state area, Brook is running a great Mother’s Day special and for everyone else, we have some tips on picking the right photographer for your or your mom. 

First of all, Brook is amazing as were her photos as you can see in all of the photos in today’s PixieTip. Brook and I first met in our old apartment building when we were first time moms. Our kids were 6 months apart and we’d have a regular playdate after she got home from her corporate job. She eventually left that world and started her photography business. Her Mother’s Day special is $300 for a one-hour photo session with kids and mom, 25 high resolution digital images, and five 5×7 prints. She also does amazing event photos too — even kids birthday parties. It sounds extravagant, but her photos blow away any candid shots laymen like me or my family could ever take. She’s a natural with kids and captures the magic in those moments I sometimes take for granted. I’m verklempt just looking at us in Central Park walking!

Now, some tips for our non New York City folk and in general finding the right photographer for you. If you’re a Classic (SJ), Organic Structure (NFJ) or a Fun (SP), don’t go by price alone. Always go with price and recommendation from someone you trust. Make sure this trusted person hired the photographer for a similar session to the one you want to have. For example, don’t necessarily go with someone’s favorite wedding photographer unless you’ve seen their work and think, “Yes that’s exactly what I want too!” Do you want straight portraits or journalistic snapshots? If you’re an Organic Freedom (NFP) or a Smart (NTJ), make sure you get their price sheet and look at the fine print before doing a session. Photographers all charge for things in a different way. You’d hate to have great, priceless photos taken and then get in a dispute over them. And Classics (SJ) and Funs (SP), remember cheaper is NOT always better. Talented people charge higher rates for a reason.

My family once did a photo session at the beach we go to in North Carolina and ended up picking the photographer who answered his phone first — a maneuver we all thought was dumb at the time and in hindsight but what can you do when you’re on an island and desperate? The session was fine. The photos were decent although we all looked eerily like catalog models. This didn’t bother me as much as others because I took it to mean that if I’d had no other talents, at least I could’ve modeled fleece at Lands End for a living. But his style was such that I wouldn’t have used him again notwithstanding that he was totally unresponsive when it came time to GET our photos after ordering them. This brings me back to my second point. Disputes over photos, which are memories really, are no fun. If you don’t have a stellar reference for a photographer, look them up in the Better Business Bureau online.

My third and final point is that this gift doesn’t just have to be for the mother of your children. It could also be a great gift for your own mom. A promise of a session to come with your whole clan or even just your own branch of the tree. I once did a photo session at my apartment with another professional photographer friend — gosh, I hang out with talented artistic people — the same weekend my mom was in town. We ended up doing a few shots with her and my son that day — the photos are priceless. Who wouldn’t want professional snapshots with their grandkids? Food for thought. If not mother’s day, perhaps a birthday gift.