Family Crying Laughing After 5 Pictures from 'Professional' Photo Shoot Arrive
A Missouri family paid several hundred dollars to have a “professional” photographer take pictures of them, likely expecting that the resulting images would reflect a happy group of people who love each other.
What the Zaring family received instead was endless laughs.
When the photos finally arrived, they appeared to have been edited in such a way that the faces of each of the family members looked like they had come straight out of a cartoon.
“Ok. This is NOT a joke. We paid a photographer, who claimed to be a professional, $2-250 for a family photo shoot. Please see these FOR REAL photos she delivered to us,” read a Friday Facebook post from the joint account of Pam and Dave Zaring.
The photos showed Pam and Dave, as well as their children — 12-year-old Cade and 8-year-old Connor — and Dave’s mom Sharon happily smiling back at the camera.
But it was hard to believe the images were real.
“My kids were so confused,” Pam told KCEN. “They thought we were playing a joke on them. They just kept saying they looked like Lego people.”
“I was thinking, like, ‘What the heck is this?’” Cade remembered.
The photographer’s explanation did not really help clear things up.
“She said the shadows were really bad on the beautiful, clear, sunny day and that her professor never taught her to retouch photos,” the Facebook post added.
“I asked her if we also looked like cartoon characters on her end and she did say that we do,” Pam told Inside Edition. “She just really struggled with the lighting and the shadows.”
The Zarings had originally been approached by the photographer — who claimed to be experienced — in spring 2017. They decided the time was right for family portraits, and made the trek to Forest Park in St Louis, which is about 45 minutes from their home.
However, after the photos were taken, they did not hear back from the photographer for months. It was only last week that they received a package containing a disk with the photos on it.
Instead of being upset, the Zarings were highly entertained.
“I’ve never laughed this hard in my life,” Pam said.
The Zarings decided the rest of the world — or at least their Facebook friends — simply had to see the photos.
“This is too funny to keep to ourselves,” Pam said.
“We laughed until we cried,” Dave added.
Pam said the photographer offered to take the photos again, though the Zarings declined. In fact, they haven’t even asked for a refund, and have no hard feelings.
“This has been worth every dime that we spent,” Pam said. Her husband, meanwhile, just hopes the photographer is also able to find the humor in the situation.
“I literally have not laughed this hard in YEARS!!!!! You can’t make this stuff up,” read the Zarings’ Facebook post, which has been shared nearly 400,000 times.
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