Family portraits

"We need to go for a photoshoot with Appa and Amma before they go back to India", declared Pavana.

I sighed, not because I have anything against family portraits; I am actually a sincere proponent of documenting memories via photographs.  I sighed because my mind went back to a particularly bitter experience we had had recently with a local photo studio.  The propensity of such establishments for swindling customers into paying for pointless photo packages is well known.  However this one time, not only did we experience the usual smooth talk soliciting unsought packages, but we were also almost hoodwinked into paying for low quality prints and products that we hadn't even ordered.  Meanwhile, manager after manager mysteriously kept quitting the establishment and we kept getting re-directed to an elusive individual of supposed authority at the 'corporate office' to talk to about our perfectly bona fide concerns.

"I'm looking at booking a professional photographer", said Pavana, effectively bisecting the bedlam in my head.

"But", I countered, "private photographers must be really expensive, no?"

"This one is really cheap', replied Pavana triumphantly, "she has some deals and all.  Seems like it'll cost us only $100 for a session plus prints".

She had a point.  $100 for a session and prints was cheap, considering the aforementioned photo studios that would never allow one to walk out without spending at least $200.

"Okay fine, when?", I asked.

What followed was a exhaustive conference scrutinizing our schedules and trying to find a suitable time slot with the photographer.  After scrounging for an hour here and an hour there in our respective activity registries we finally reached a resolution.

"Nothing is clicking.  I guess it won't work". Pavana sighed this time.  I fixated on the pun that had been uttered inadvertently, but resisted joking about it.

"Fine", I said instead, "How about we just go to a local park and I click photos with my iPhone?"

Pavana moodily nodded affirmative.  I got the familiar feeling that she didn't trust it would ever happen.

Remarkably, we did find a couple free hours to implement this plan this past weekend.  We bundled the entire gang into the minivan, threw a few clean diapers and a box of yogurt bites into the diaper bag, and drove to the nearest park armed with a fully charged iPhone.  Notwithstanding all the distraction caused by particularly impatient photo subjects, dog poop at the most unexpected locations, other families already occupying good photo locations, and a kid who wanted to pee urgently but also wanted to go on a 1.1 mile walking trail called "Blue Bird Trail" to spot blue colored birds, we miraculously managed to click some excellent photographs.

Ironically, we spotted a family getting their photographs clicked by a professional photographer.  On our drive back home from the park, Pavana remarked, "You know, I think it was the same photographer I was trying to book!"