Need Advice - Best deal on infant/baby portraits

[gobadgers]

Hello!

I'm hoping for some advice, I've been overwhelmed by the choices for baby/child portraits and feel like a deer in the headlights. Does anyone have advice on particularly good (or bad) experiences with portrait studios - JCPenny's, Sears, Target, Kiddie Kandids at BRU, others?

I'd like to get some good quality portraits but am wondering if I really need to spend a bazillion dollars to do it. I'd like to have electronic copies of the pictures too, but I don't know if any studios besides Kiddie Kandids do this?

Any thoughts or advice are much appreciated!

Thanks,

Christine

Mommy to Lucy Theresa, born 9/2/07

[happy2bamom]

My personal favorites are Picture People and Portrait Innovations. Both have one hour processing, so you get your pictures the same day. They take a ton of pictures, so you have lots to choose from. I think that Portrait Innovations is less expensive and same and/or better quality than PP. Oh yeah, at Portrait Innovations you can purchase the CD that contains all of the photos from your session (even the ones that you don't purchase) HTH

[kcimato]

I'll second Portrait Innovations. They have a $9.99 deal and you get plenty of pictures. Problem is they take so many pictures you can't just walk out with the one pose. It's the one place I felt they were not rushing you to get on with the next customer. Also try to get the first appointment of the day. They are not as busy and sometimes you have 2 people helping out with the pictures.

[fattytuna]

I live in CA so unfortunately we don't have Portrait Innovations.

I've only taken DD to Picture People, mainly for her birthday, Xmas and Halloween (went more during the first year). IMO, they take good pictures that I don't mind paying a little bit more money for. There's usually always a coupon for a free 8x10 or 11x13 (I know, weird size, hard to find frames for) print if you sign up for their emails. And sometimes the coupon also includes an additional 15-20% off any prints (not re-prints) you order. Between us and the two sets of grandparents, I usually always end up ordering quite a bit of prints. So I have a portrait club membership ($40 per year) that includes three $10 off coupons and three free sheets and another $20 off online orders.

As far as the studio experience, depends on the location, day and time of your appointment, and photographer. I used to go to the one near this busy/fancy shopping mall and it's at least a 30-min wait (this is with appointment, showing up on time) every time. They do take a lot of pictures, but some photographer are obviously better with working with kids than others. There was only once where I had to speak up when DD was about 15-months old and was already getting bored after 40-min of wait, then they gave us someone new who were being shown how to use the camera. So I had to politely tell them DD won't last much longer before getting cranky and we need someone else that can do it fast. Obviously, try to go there during weekdays (and a non-Friday) if you can, and of course mornings work better. They are all digital but you won't get original image files. (Before all their stores went digital you can purchase all the proofs for about $80).

HTH.

[brittone2]

Thirding Portrait Innovations. In reality though, so much depends on the individual photographer. When we lived in a different state I took DS to a great place several times in his first year. One of those times the photographer was a total dud. He wasn't playful, funny, engaging, etc. and the pics were just so-so.

Portrait Innovations just opened near me and I've heard good things here before. We hadn't had pics done of DS in 2 years (he refused from age 1 until now at 3.5), so we did pics of DS and DD individually and together. The photographer was great, the studio wasn't busy (not sure if they leave extra time when they book or ours just isn't that busy since it is newish), and we ended up with so many amazing pics it was hard to choose (a good problem to have!). We ended up with a LOT of pics. DH and I couldn't decide, and he never, ever wants to pick more than a hanful of photos. He wanted them all!

We got a CD with our photos on it as well.

We'll definitely be going back. We took DD to Picture People for her 2 month photos, but this was so much better (again, a lot of that depends on location and photographer...these are definitely generalities). I also got a few sepia-toned pics of DD as I already have a bunch in sepia of DS from his first year of life, so it was nice to have this option (I wasn't offered the option of sepia at Picture People).

As the PPs said, they had a 9.95 special that looked great, if you could handle sticking to one pose only. They gave us that part of our photos free (we got several poses, but they gave us the $10 credit because they were having printer problems. We still ended up having our pics in about an hour...they called our cell once it was fixed).

[danagee]

I vote for Picture People and I give 2 thumbs down to JC Penney's studio.

Dana
ds 8/04 * dd 1/06

[jd11365]

Picture People!! A bit more money, MUCH better pictures, and a lot less hassle!

[MommytoEliana]

We had a horrible experience with Penney's when we brought our DD there for her first pics at 3.5 months. Haven't returned and didn't buy anything, either. Switched to Sadie's (http://www.sadiesonline.com/) and were happy with them. However, got tired of the "accessorized" pictures this time around and so went to Target for DS's first pictures (singly and with his sister). Had great results and will be going back. The downsides are the length of time it takes to receive the pictures (about 2 weeks) and the need to make on-the-spot decisions to get the best deal (true of all the places I've seen, though). I don't know if you can buy a CD with the digital images. I would guess so but didn't explore that option.

Good luck!

Cheri

[cbscherer]

Portrait Innovations. You get the CD free with all the photos if you buy 3 pose packages (not including your 9.99 pose). I think each pose package runs 15-17 bucks and you get three sheets of photos in your choice of sizes. They also allow you to get sepia and black and white special effects sheets in your package at no extra charge for the special effects. You usually also get a free 10x13 special effect photos if you buy 3 pose package.

[tankersmommy]

I refuse to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on portraits since I generally have them taken quite often, so I have sampled some of the least expensive of the choices: Walmart, Sears, and JCPENNEY.

In my opinion, AVOID WALMART PORTRAIT STUDIO AT ALL COSTS!!!!!

Sears,at least when I was there a few years ago, was very low-quality and the photographer only had the option of having the camera set on the tripod, instead of the ability to move around and get better angles and shots. Their coupons are also no longer impressive as they say the portrait sheets are $3.99, but in small print it says you only get that price AFTER you buy 7-8 at the regular price.

JCPENNEY is my portrait studio of choice. It is good to know that JCPENNEY Studio is owned by the same company that owns Flash Photograhy (a higher end studio) and they use the EXACT same equipment as Flash. They have lots of great coupons out there...$3.99 portrait sheets, free 8x10, and no sitting fee is my favorite coupon. They also have a camera that is not attached to a tripod, so the photographer can move all around.

Lastly, I have had friends who have had great experiences at Target. They used to be a bit pricey, in my opinion, but now have some great coupons out there comparable to JCPENNEY. I have seen some of the photos from Target and am very impressed.

Just my two-cents....hope it helps!!

[nehamamtani]

I am JCPenney's biggest fan. I believe that LifeTouch (JCP) also runs Target's studios, as far as I understand. Some of the people from my JCP studio also have to work at Target's studios sometimes. I had a couple of problems with JCP in the past: 1)a bad manager in Plano (Dallas area) and 2)JCP Roosevelt Field mall in NY twice treated me badly. But the company worked hard to amend and rectify with me. And all of our amazing photos have been from there over the last 3 1/2 years, despite trying Sears and Picture People many times. The employees at Picture Peopple have been too transient and too moody for me. And that is over 15 visits worth of experience with them. Sears was not bad, but the pricing is SOOO good at JCP. Plus, you get coupons, tons of them. All the time. And they let you give an online survey to get you another $3 off your purchase, in addition to the coupons. We have a 5-yr membership with them because we love it so much.

[ShellB]

where do you get coupons for JCP?

Shelley mama to Skyler and Kaian
Love my boys!!

[Happy Mommy]

Coupons can be found on their website, the Entertainment Book, baby magazines, etc.

In the past we have had great luck at JCP--but really only because of a photographer that we request. Unfortunately, our JCP has had really long waits lately due to gross understaffing.

I've never used Innovations, but have used Picture People. I found that the photographers we had were not very experienced. Again, it all comes down to the photographer. Maybe ask friends, coworkers, etc. who they have had good luck with at your local photography places.

For milestone portraits we have used high end photographers. We feel that it's worth the cost for those yearly (1,2, etc.) photographs.

Good luck! :)

[cheme]

I also prefer JCPenney's to the other choices. Recently, some of their studios are going digital which is great because dc can be on the floor (not a stage - which my dc's always dislike) and the photographer can move around. It can be hit or miss with the quality of the photographer, but we have had good luck with several studios in several states (since we've moved a few times!).

I've also done Portrait Innovations and they did great with my hard to photograph 4yr old dd. As long as I go at a slow time they always bring in extra photographers to help distract her, and they spend a long time trying to get a good picture. However...for me the bad part of Portrait Innovations is the cost. Yes, the $9.95 package is great...if you can stick with it! Even though we had few good pictures of dd, they were very much trying to sell more. I've had friends stuck there for the "sales" part of the session for almost an hour! (of course, these weren't forward people who were able to just say that they only wanted the one pose and walk out!) Penney's however, has never given me a problem for just getting the one-pose package.

I believe Portrait Innovations only gives you the CD once you spend a certain amount (around $70 - 80?? I think) and I don't think they are high quality images - I think you need to go back to the studio if you want reprints. I could be wrong since I haven't ever gotten it myself.

Penney's does offer a $5(?) service to email you the pictures - and these are low-quality images, but you can order reprints (at a higher price) online

[cellenly]

Which photographer do you request in plano area? & colin creek or stonebriar?

[brittone2]

Being able to move around more is a good point. Portrait Innovations also advertises that their photographers can move around when doing their photos. I liked this and it came in handy!

[gobadgers]

Wow, thanks everyone for the great advice and help! I had not heard of Portrait Innovations or Picture People before, but I found one of each in our area (Chicagoland) so it was really helpful. Now that there are so many good options to try, I'm going to have a hard time holding myself back - we might be in for portraits every couple weeks!

Thanks!
Christine