I just took DS to Picture People last Sunday for his 6 mos pics (per lots of bumpies rec.'s) and we had a great experience. The pictures came out so good, I love them all, it was so hard to choose which ones to purchase. They spent a lot of time with us and let us do as many outfit changes as we wanted. I did end up spending much more than I had planned (but that's my own fault).
I see you're in CT. this photographer is the BEST! We haven't had him do pictures of DS yet because we don't have the money at this time, but I hope to have them done around a year. He did my maternity photos. He's not cheap, but he is an awesome photographer.
Re: professional pics
We use Penney's too with these coupons for $4 sheets. I buy all 8x10s, take them home and scan them to print myself for WAY cheaper
https://www.jcpportraits.com/content/coupons/coupons-print.htm
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Yup. And they were pretty inexpensive. We did them there every month!