JC Penney Photos

Even though I think Allie is completely adorable and photogenic, I’m too cheap to want to spend big bucks on professional photography. For one thing, she gets pretty shy about strangers and sort of slips into a dumbstruck stare whenever a big camera (or similar mesmerizing piece of technology) comes out. We often lament how she’ll be doing something hilarious (like her loud “chattering” lately), but as soon as we grab the video camera, she stops and stares at it and tries to get a hold of it to push the buttons. She looooooves buttons. And for another thing: I’m cheap.

But those JC Penney coupons are so enticing … you can walk out of there with quite a few pictures for $20. And even though I like to take pictures of her on my own (I feel like I can capture much more natural smiles and expressions as she’s being herself in her own home environment), I always think to myself that someone with (much) better equipment and lighting and experience might capture much better pictures than my amateur self can. So in honor of her first birthday, we headed to JCP.

Allie was definitely shy about the photographer and her camera. At home, she pulls herself up to standing ALL the time (and cruises around furniture) but in the studio, she was feeling too shy. When I stood her up against the prop, her chubby little legs just folded right under her. We finally (with me frantically shaking a little stuffed animal that belonged to JCP and intrigued Allie) got her to stand up for a total of about 5 seconds, just long enough to capture a very cute shot of her. Fewf! I’m glad we captured what she’s up to at this stage of her life: standing and smiling!

Here are a few of our favorite shots.