THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: Sunday, July 28, 1996 TAG: 9607240044 SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL COLUMN: My Job SOURCE: BY KRYS STEFANSKY, STAFF WRITER LENGTH: 80 lines
KILEY IS tough.
In the first 18 months of life, she's seen grown-ups do a lot of stupid stuff.
This is no different. A bunny on the head. Peekaboo. A disappearing bear.
Come on. Give a toddler a break.
Kiley won't smile. Won't even come close.
So Nancy L. Jobes pulls out all the stops. She whips out a rubber ball and grins. Overdoes it, really, ``See the ball? See my bally? Do I have a bally on my head? Do I have a bally on my nose?''
Kiley stares. Not funny.
It's shaping up to be a long morning at Sears Portrait Studio in Virginia Beach. Never mind. Jobes swears she loves it.
``There are the hams and then you have the ones who have to stop and get fed because they're crying or the ones who fall asleep while you're taking their picture. But they're children. You have to have patience with them,'' she says.
The patience of Jobes.
Petite, auburn-haired and completely unself-conscious, Jobes says she's paid to make a fool of herself. This time, in front of Kiley, the rock.
``Can you say cheese? Oh, you so silly,'' Jobes croons.
Kiley, perched on the gray fake fur with her legs crossed just so and her white pantaloons poking out from under her dress, sits stonefaced.
Jobes is 25 and has been a professional photographer for about five years. She started in her home state of New Jersey after deciding it was just the creative outlet she was looking for. She began with school photos and ended up here, at Sears, again taking pictures mostly of children.
``Newborn to four years old. That's a lot of our business,'' she says. ``Parents will even stop in on the way home from the hospital with a two-day-old.''
Even though infants can drift off into dreamland without warning, they're easier to deal with than toddlers.
``Some two-year-olds, you can't even get up on the table. But you can't just give up,'' she says.
Then, of course, you gotta make 'em smile.
``I keep in mind what parents say makes them laugh. And I have any variety of noises in my repertoire,'' says Jobes. She lets loose a sampling - clucks, meows, barks - enough to wake a barnyard of animals.
Kiley, though, couldn't care less.
``Kiley, what does the horsey say?'' asks Jobes.
``Moo,'' mutters Kiley, barely moving her lips.
Kiley's mother is getting desperate.
``Honey, I'll give you a surprise if you say cheese,'' begs Amy
Delahoussaye. She stares at her daughter, still sitting silently on the fake fur. ``I can't believe it. Does it count if I hold her cheeks back?''
Some parents bring their children in once a month for photos while they're little, says Jobes. Some arrive all gussied up in frills and tiny suspenders. Others bring along their own props - teddy bears, favorite dolls.
Around holidays things get crazy.
``I'll never forget this past Easter. The place is packed and I've got ten kids and two adults from a day care center from infant to four and five years old. And they're all singing their ABCs at the top of their lungs. We did a group shot and then their individuals. But you know, for me, a little chaos is a challenge. I hope they come back next year, I really do,'' she says.
Nevertheless, she's grateful for the child who arrives in the middle of the day and is all smiles. She's thankful for a healthy ego that keeps her going even when parents don't pick the pictures she knows are best. And she hopes one day she'll grow two more arms to wave bunnies and do dumb tricks.
In the meantime, she refuses to let the camera-shy drive her crazy.
``Some like to play ball and some don't. Some like to play peekaboo and some don't. Some think the fish is really funny and some don't,'' she says.
Kiley never gets to the fish. But she chews a string of pearls, flips her dress over her head and refuses to sit in a chair.
She never smiles. Until she glimpses a picture of herself projected on a TV screen.
Jobes pounces.
``Who's that?'' she says.
Kiley grins.
CLICK! Gotcha. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by CNB