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Thursday, October 11, 2012

Review : Maternity Portrait with Keep Gallery Kids


I have been toying with the idea on whether if I should go for a proper maternity portrait  My concern is that it could be a waste of money. Secondly, the photos will inevitably end up collecting dust (just like my pre-wedding pictures). 


So based on the two reasons above, I was pretty set on not taking any maternity pictures. Until about a couple of weeks back when I saw two friends who did it, and they looked amazing with their baby bump! And my mum has been asking me to do it to celebrate my pregnancy.

And with that, I created an excuse decided to go for it! Capturing the moment when I am still young and my boobs is not sagging yet with no stretched marks - it was the perfect opportunity. How I managed to con Bear to do it is an entirely different story altogether. He ended up being a willing party anyway cos I paid for the package. :p   


So, as usual I turned to my trusted Google and started searching. Honestly, I didn't want to spend too much because really capturing my maternity portrait was purely just for the fun of it. So, if it was too expensive I was prepared to let go of the whole idea altogether.

FYI, photographers are charging on an average of RM500 - RM1,200 (including newborn portraiture) for maternity photography. Most are timed at 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours per session with a restriction of two change of clothes. 


I chanced upon Keep Gallery Kids (same people who runs Keep Gallery Wedding Studio in SS2) and they are running a promotion. Keep Gallery Kids is quite a newly set-up studio and they are based in 1U Old Wing (near Popular, opposite Honeypot). 

Their package comprises of :
- 20 poses edited and returned in softcopy.
- 1 big photo plus frame.
- Makeup and hairstyling for both mummy and daddy.
- 2 hours session.
- Allowed to change into any amount of clothes.
- They also provide clothes (but I didn't like them).
- Only studio sessions available.

All for the price of RM299/=
What a bargain!


FYI, they do have another awesome package which is priced at RM1,500 and you can go for as many sessions as you like for maternity, newborn, and family photography all the way until your child is 2 years old. All photos will be returned back to you.

No. I decided to not push my luck with Bear didn't take up the offer in case if you are wondering.


And here's my unbiased verdict on Keep Gallery Kids.

Pros: 
- Value-for-money.
- Very friendly and accommodating.
- Make-up is done very nicely.


Cons: 
Because the set-up is relatively new, the photographer was not very professional in the sense that she needed to refer to previous clients' poses for inspiration. Further, you would have to tell her exactly what concept that you have in mind.

Some of the un-edited pictures didn't turn out good - for e.g. Bear's face is blocked by the shadow of my face, my skin tone is blended with the background (I am very fair), the lighting is not done properly hence me looking very fair and ghostly pale.

................................................................................


Truth be told, honestly after seeing the un-edited pictures I was disappointed. And was silently consoling myself that I only had to fork out RM299 (if it was anything more I would have probably freaked out). I mean I kind of knew that the outcome would be somewhat like that judging from the photo session.

My second consolation is that picking out 20 photos was a breeze.


So anyway .... my saving grace was that the staff and the photographer was really polite, pleasant and accommodating. She edited some of the pictures on the spot and assured me that the final outcome after the touch-ups would turn out good. She even went to the extent of emailing me all the chosen pictures for my consent before finalizing them.

And surprise.. surprise! It did turn out good. In fact, it turned out damn good! The photos are so natural and classy - I loved it!


You be the judge! :)

My conclusion is, if you wanna do a maternity portrait just for the fun of it, then just go ahead with Keep Gallery Kids because they are relatively cheap. However, do lower down your expectations. Else, if you really want a "professional" one, then please find another one - Keep Gallery Kids is not for you.



Love;
Mummy Geri

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