The one where my head explodes

About two months ago I entered a giveaway on a blog I had never read before. It was a giveaway hosted by a woman in the Salt Lake area who is trying to get her photography website up and running, and she was giving away 15 photo sessions. With how expensive professional photography is, we have never been able to afford to have our pictures taken. We didn't even have the money to hire a professional photographer for our wedding. Instead, we recruited one of Brett's sisters to do pictures, and another one of his sisters to do video.

I'm not a particularly lucky person, and I've only ever won a few things in my life, so naturally I was ecstatic when I received an email a few days later informing me that I was, in fact, one of the winners. This kind of thing never happens to me.

After going back and forth with her for a few weeks to try and decide on a location and time that would work for both of us we finally had an appointment set, and the perfect spot in mind. I wanted to do something a little bit out of the ordinary, and thought that it would be fun to go somewhere with a lot of graffiti. There is an old abandoned building out by Saltair on I-80 that is covered in graffiti, and there is an old train car out there too. It seemed like a great spot, and she agreed that she would meet us out there. I was getting so excited! I am a really impatient person, so waiting another five weeks was the hardest part.

We are not usually the type of people who go all out for this kind of thing, but we decided that since we were going to have our pictures done professionally we should get new clothes. We had been looking for something to wear for weeks, stopping at any store we passed, and didn't have much luck. We finally found an awesome shirt for Brett, but now I needed something that matched, and it didn't seem to exist. Saturday morning we went to the mall, which Brett hates, to keep searching. After a few hours we finally found something that I loved. We ended up spending more than we wanted to on the clothes, but after the pictures were done it would all be worth it. At least that's what I kept telling myself.

After we had the clothes picked out it was time to get ready. I had my hair styled professionally so that it would look perfect, and I even went crazy and decided that I was going to wear heels. I never wear heels. This was obviously a big deal.

The time came on Saturday for us to go, and I could barely contain my excitement. We had waited a long time, and the day was finally here! We were going to have our pictures taken by a real live professional.

We got out to Saltair about fifteen minutes early, and got out to walk around. As we were waiting, a few car loads of people showed up sporadically for photo shoots of their own. Apparently we had picked a great location, and we determined that it must be a hot spot for photographers to bring their clients.

Fifteen minutes go by, and our photographer is still not there. I was starting to get annoyed, but I figured she must probably just be running a little late. We continued waiting, and watching the other people that had shown up after us as they got their pictures taken. I was getting anxious. Where the hell could she be? After another fifteen minutes goes by Brett can tell that I am really bothered by how late she is, and suggests that I call her to see what's going on. I had this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that she wasn't going to show, but I kept trying to convince myself that I was just being paranoid. I had sent her an email to confirm the appointment a week ago, there's no way she is going to blow us off.

This is the part where my head exploded.

I got her on the phone, explained that we were waiting for her, and that our appointment was supposed to be twenty minutes ago. She then proceeds to tell me that she completely forgot about our appointment. COMPLETELY FORGOT!! Are you kidding me? Then she has the balls to say "do you still want to try to do it tonight?". NO, I don't. I don't want to wait here for another hour until you can get around to showing up to take our pictures. You've already wasted my entire day, and now I would like to at least salvage what is left of my evening. Jerk.

After everything that we went through to prepare for this photo shoot, we got stood up. Now I don't know how long it will be before we'll be able to get our pictures done professionally. I can tell you one thing though, when it happens again, I will make sure to go with someone that has been recommended to me by a friend. I want to do anything I can to avoid a mess like this in the future.

Needless to say, I am extremely disappointed in the whole situation. I don't see how she will ever be able to build up her client base operating her business this way. If anything, I hope to help other people avoid having a bad experience like mine. I would highly recommend that you DO NOT have your pictures done by Rebecca Terry Photography.