Portrait studios

twoitalians · July 2013

My mom asked me the other day if I was getting any pictures done for DS's birthday. While I'm kinda upset that she doesn't care for my (apparently crappy amateur) photography skills, I really wanted to get professional pictures from this one photographer I had my eye set on but that's not in the budget right now. I can understand that she wants to be able to have bigger pictures to hang on her walls but all she has to so is ask me for the digital image to print on shutter fly or something instead of just copying the pics I post on FB.

Anyway, out of the Target, Sears, and JCP portrait studios, has anyone had any good or bad experiences with any of them that you could share with me? I have coupons for all three so prices are pretty much the same. I don't know which one would be best to go to and I guess it depends on the area.

I still plan to take pictures too and hope and pray my kid sits still long enough for me to get some good ones.

tumblefluff · July 2013

We've used Target and didn't like it. The studio was a closet and we felt really rushed. We also used JCP after going to Target and loved it! Completely opposite experience.

bigbootyjudi · July 2013

We used JCP and I wasn't impressed. We waited 15 minutes past our appointment time, she shot pictures for maybe 5 minutes, put together some really lousy collages, and then we were on our way. She got two shots of him half smiling, on a bean bag, and you couldn't even see the background she had put up...so it was pointless. I could have set him on a black sheet and taken the same ones.

Toni79 · July 2013

I haven't use any of them. I had a groupon for picture people a couple of months ago. The experience was good, DD cooperated and they got some nice shots! However, but I wasn't super impressed with the quality. Our package came with a bunch of prints (all the same image). I choose my favorite, but even the 8x10s seemed grainy at that size. I have the digital images of the others, and haven't printed any so I'm not sure if all the images will be grainy or if it was just that one I picked.

piphigirl · July 2013

One thing you could do is ask friends on FB if they know any photography students or amateur photographers who would do pictures for a price that is closer to your budget.

An ad on Craigslist could help find hobby photographers or students, too! (My sister just got a BFA in photography and during school would do weddings and kids for super cheap, just for practice.)

Some photographers in our area do "mini sessions." For example, one will do a mini session in the park. It will be open to anyone. She shoots in 15-minute sessions and it will be $15 or so for a disk of 10 images. I follow a couple local photographers who do this in Facebook so I always see their announcements. The ONLY pro pictures of I have of Charlotte were either taken by my sister for free, or done at mini sessions at our diaper store.

Option for the future: invest in a nice camera and some classes. Then you can always be the pro photographer at your family events!

jillybean7582 · July 2013

Do you have a Portraits Innovations in your area? I can't say from personal experience but a lot of my friends and famy use them and think they are of better quality than JcPenny or Target.

I believe their photographers have professional training they have to go through unlike places like JcPenny and Target.

SJandVA · July 2013

Like PP mentioned
I've only used portrait innovations and they seem to be pretty good. Not sure if you have one near you.
Unfortunately, I think it's one of those things that differs from place to place no matter what chain it is.

alake · July 2013

I do my own photos. I have hired a friend who does baby- four year portraits exclusively to do Eryn's cake smash photos. My friend is making the bright pink, large cupcake for the smash.

lady_tytah · July 2013

We've always done Sears. I've always had great photos.

austenfan919 · July 2013

We have done DD's photos at JCP many times (every 3 to 6 months for 3 years). We did Sears a couple times too, but I thought all of their portrait studios had closed in the last few months.

JCP has usually been good for us. Sometimes there aren't tons of great shots, but there are always a few, and that's enough for me. The photographers/sales people have been pretty good at not pushing me to buy more than I wanted.

I have heard that Portrait Innovations people are really pushy, but that might just be the one by me. I just got a Groupon for Target Portraits, so we are going to try that for DS' one year photos.

I'm with you that a pro photographer is not in the budget. I try to find someone I know with photo skills to do an outdoor family photo once a year for Christmas cards.

rainedrops117 · July 2013

We have Picture People in our malls on this side. I've never used them but others swear by them. The specialize in kids and their pics turn out great.

mswood1977 · July 2013

We use JCP they do pretty good. My favorite place though is portrait innovations, you get your prints the same day within about an hour of your photo session.

MrsWhipple · July 2013

We have used JCP and have been very happy.

jessalynn521 · July 2013

We use JCP and I got the membership that makes the sitting fee free. I really like it, and I always order a disc so I have all of the shots. I think it is worth it, and have appreciated the photographers when we had them done. I think it is going to depend on the person doing it and the time of day (if they are busy or not)