Portrait Innovations

I wish I have read more reviews for this place before going there for family portraits. I wanted to get better than JC Penney studio experience and this seemed to be a real deal, I was looking forward to also avail of their promo package at $ 29.99 for the best picture we choose. I planned to spend more than that for more poses of course. But geez, I ended up paying almost 10x and don’t even know how in the world did we get sucked into this photographer’s sales pitch. I would say the lady photographer’s niceness wained down as we progressed thru the selection of the photos as she continuously pushed for us selecting sets of pictures from $ 500+ down to $ 200+. I liked that you could take home photos on same day, they said 30 mins, we went back and they still had to repair dirty white background in some photos. They promised we will receive 2 items in the mail which were part of the promo, but never received them, I called 10 days past the supposed shipment date and they said those items are there in their studio. wtf, they don’t even call about it? Not that I love JC Penney but I’d rather go there than this Portrait Innovations. The pictures in CD are not worth the money as you can’t even have them printed for larger prints. Portrait Innovations are just money suckers, photographers are not professional photographers.

I have been getting photos done here for the last 4 years. The photographers are always friendly patient and easy to work with especially with kids. The best part is you get to leave with your pictures. They are not pushy to get you to buy a ton of extras. They can do 1 person or a whole group. Prices are very reasonable and if sign in for email list you get special coupons all the time. We will continue to return for our family and Grandsons pictures.
Lynetta Hurley

Rip-​off!!! Photographers are unprofessional. No energy! Won’t make your child laugh/​smile… No effort at all. It’s like it’s the parents job to do everything to make their child laugh. Yes, of course we’ll help but the photographer was just dead! Jeeeez! No effort at all to think it’s the first shoot in the morning!
If you get a package that includes the CD, they will make the file too small!!! Watermark is totally acceptable of course, but to downsize the file of the photo was just total rip off. You’ll get the cd with your pictures but you can’t even make prints outside bigger than 5×7 because it will pixelate! If I only new that they won’t give you the original size of photo, should’ve not gotten the cd package that cost $ 100+ other studios will give you a cd with original size of your photos with their watermark.
Save your money!
No wonder their Unilocal scores are low…
If there’s half a star, that’s the score I’ll give them. What a waste!

They THREW OUT product that I bought from them and didn’t even call me to come pick it up before they did. NEVER AGAIN. How do I know some creep-​o isn’t walking around with a mug that has MY CHILDRENS PICTURE ON IT. Your customer service is poor. I’ll never ever return.

Our pictures turned out great, but the up-​selling they do is hard to deal with. I wanted more than the Mother’s Day deal, but I don’t know that I wanted what I ended up purchasing.
Not only that, the clients from a previous sitting were exceptionally rude (which I know the company can’t help, but a better waiting room layout would be advised) and get mad at the staff for having to wait for their photos. It’s hard to deal with people who are yelling at their oh so tired little ones. We made the choice to drive around and calm our kiddos while our pictures printed. I wish several of the clients had done the same. It would have prevented (or at least lessened) the meltdowns.
There needs to be a better way to deal with clients waiting, clients getting their photos, and clients waiting to receive the final product.

I was really hesitant to come here after reading the reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised. I had my 6 month old twins and 2 older children. The photographer did amazing with all the age groups, even the babies!!! I will definitely be back!!!

We have been going to the peoria location for 4 years, we recently moved to chandler and decided to try the chandler location. Not impressed ! We had a 9:10 am appointment, we showed up at 9 am and our photographer showed up around 9:15. The place was dirty, the photographer seemed new or Just wasn’t in the mood to care take your pick… She wanted us in and out, end of story .
I will give this place one more try in a few months, if the experience is the same, we will have to make the hour drive to peoria from here on out

Never go here! They are rude, unprofessional, and over priced!
To make a long story short I had a 3 weeks old baby and a five year old I wanted pix of. After the trigger happy unprofessional girl finished doing all her ideas, 80 pictures later I asked her to take a newborn pic of my son in his diaper. She got an attitude started slamming stuff and saying she had already taken 80 pics and spent 2 hours with us! which is not our fault plus we had to take breaks for the baby to eat and be comfortable to take good pictues. Then she didn’t even try to make him smile or anything. She just had an attitude! To make a long story short, she rushed us in the process of picking our pictures and had a melt down in front of EVERYBODY saying how she wants to go full time but this company will only keep her part time. She was crying and everything I guess that was her way of apologizing. It was so bizarre! I told management and they did nothing!
Besides that I paid almost $ 400 for prints I didn’t even want just so I could get the cd I did want!
NEVER AGAIN

I have been going there since 2007, they took good studio photo of my son 1 years old picture. the quality and lightening of the picture came out good then come 2012 for my daughter one year picture the quality went downhill, the picture contrast, color and lightening was so bad and too dark. I did not like the photo at all, I doubt if I ever try this studio again, so expensive for such a bad photos. that last photographer have no experience.

Loved loved loved!!! got pictures of my whole family and some individuals for the first time here, so happy happy happy! Wonderful staff, awesome position ideas that they photographed and a very funny photographer that helped make our 8 month old laugh and get great shots! Got tons of pictures for such an incredible deal! plus all the extras that come with what you spend.
My favorite thing was we got ALL of our portraits and hour later! no two week wait necessary! I am forever committed to them and will never ever ever ever go back to anyone else.

Terrible, terrible experience at Portrait Innovations today. My family has been loyal to this studio since 2010, initially starting out at their now closed Scottsdale location and moving with them way down south to Chandler — 35 mins drive. We were happy with their backgrounds, props, staff (especially Kelly), and prints.
All this is sadly a thing of the past. Their 2014 Christmas special brought us in and our photographer was John — a cool guy who got several nice shots. The people at the front desk obviously weren’t paid to smile — why should they, it’s only a photo place, right? They neither made us feel welcome or at ease.
While waiting our turn, we noticed how dirty and gross the furniture was. Absolutely disgusting. What a way to welcome your customers.
Their monitors you view the photos on are really poor. Old Pioneer TVs — very grainy, pixelated. Neither 720 or 1080 HD, probably just 480 resolution — like your old tube TVs. They are pretty crappy to view photos on — you can’t tell if the shot is in focus, lightning overexposed, or if the contrast is right.
When we got the prints, the trouble really began. The quality was abysmal — even the prints I get at Walgreens are better! There was no contrast, the picture was overexposed, skin tones were grey, the color temperature was way cold with very little saturation. I would be embarrassed to send those Christmas cards to family or hang the prints on the wall.
Even worse, the attitude from the staff was ice-​cold and completely arrogant. The prints were awesome, in their opinion. Yes, they didn’t match the examples they have available on the counter because «those had been photoshopped» (which they don’t offer to customers), they were with a different background, and with different lighting. I even spoke to a manager, which was like speaking to a robot. Repeated the same empty rhetoric, essentially putting the blame on us for choosing the snowflake background.
Eventually, we ended up (reluctantly) asking for a refund. I even asked twice if there wasn’t ANYTHING they could do (maybe calibrate the printer?) but no. Loyalty and past experiences didn’t matter to them. No offer to retake the shots, nothing.
Needless to say, I recommend staying far away from these amateurs. Choose quality. It’s photos and memories — they deserve better than grainy, pixelated, overexposed photos with weird color tones.

We came back for retakes and Kenny and Matt were very helpful and did a wonderful job.

Awful! What the ¥@&# was I thinking coming back here? I haven’t been here in 4 years, and the phone call to schedule the appointment should have been my first clue. All the person could say is «awesome» and «cool.» Is English still required in high school? The second should have been their less than poor quality portraits showcasing their walls. If this is their best work, they shouldn’t be in business.
Are the people working here photography majors who flunked out? I take better photos at home and I have no professional training. The person taking the pictures asked if my baby smiles… why, yes smart person, as soon as he sees a stranger holding a camera in his face, he genuinely smiles. This person has clearly never had a child and hasn’t had too much experience with babies.
We have a family photographer. I just wanted some quick snaps of my two children without the sitting fee and then portrait fees on top of it. I got exactly what I paid for; bad pictures at a bad price. I didn’t even want to select any pictures they were such poor quality.
I won’t be back. If you are looking for a passport photo, this might be the place for you. Otherwise, if you are looking for some «good» photos of your family, find a professional photographer. This is not the place to go.

I’ve been coming here for years, at least 2 times per year.
Sadly, the quality has been going downhill each time.
I feel like the cost is going up and what you get is getting less.
They can’t seem to get you in at your appointment time, ever. I think the fastest I’ve ever gotten in was 20 minutes after my time.
I always ask to not use the backgrounds like the beach or the meadow. I’m not interested in that, and who would believe that my AZ kids are on beach anyway? They either argue with me that they have to take them or seem bothered. If they are going to waste my time and theirs by taking pictures I’m not going to buy, fine… but why?
I like the clean look of the white background for my kids. But the white backdrop they use is always gross and dingy from dirty feet and shoes. And it shows up in the final product. How hard is it to keep their things clean? It’s gross.
This last time I was there, the pictures turned out horrible. The lighting and focus were off, making the subjects look orange. I know they don’t photoshop the images, but the finished prints had an «overprocessed» look to them. When I complained, the woman said that they looked fine to her. So I held up the picture to the actual child and said, «Does my kid look orange to you?» She again said they looked fine. After some debating, she reluctantly agreed to retake the photos. I felt like she was rushing and not doing as good a job as she should have, especially since I was so unhappy with the first set. If I’m going to drop $ 200 on pictures, I want them to be nice and to be happy with them.
The 2^nd set were a little better, but not as good as I’d like. The coloring was still off, the lighting was still weird and they had a weird «pixelated» look to them. In the end, I just accepted them, although I’m not satisfied for what I paid and what I received. But I had a deadline to meet with getting the pics done and couldn’t come back another day or find somewhere else. I’m disappointed. The customer service was not great. They turned out a bad product, and then argued with me that they saw no problem. What happened to making the customer happy? I wanted a good product for what I paid, nothing more.
Will I be back? I don’t know yet.
I think they need to reevaluate their service and make sure they have proper photographers on staff. I get the feeling they pay minimum wage to high school yearbook photographers who don’t understand how to really work the SLR cameras and equipment.

My family and I went to this studio for the first family photos we’ve taken in well over half a decade, and were helped by a gentleman named Caleb. I’ll admit, we were a little late for our appointment, but when we arrived, he told us that he’d have to get us in «when he can.» No time frame. The wait actually wasn’t to bad, maybe 10 or 15 minutes, but when he took us back to take the pictures, he was clearly rushing through a series of generic pictures and poses, clicking away so fast, the flash felt like a strobe light! When we were going through the pictures before our purchase, we got a FEW fairly cute pictures of my little niece, one good picture of my sister and myself, but not one DECENT family picture! Who h was our whole purpose of going! So after what felt like being pressured to settle on pictures for packages over $ 300, we asked to reshoot our family portrait.
We did eventually find pictures and a package that we liked, a little basic photo editing being required. We were told to come pick the pictures up in an hour, and left content (if not experiencing some buyer’s remorse) with our selections and purchases.
An hour later we come back, and our pictures still aren’t quite finished and had to wait over 15 minutes for our order to be processed. After returning to our vehicle we decided to sneak a peak at our pictures. Over half the photos were cropped poorly, and NONE of the photo editing we had been promised was done!
We started this process at 4:30, it’s now pushing 8:30 and we’re still waiting for our «professional» family portraits.
Family photos are supposed to be a fun and easy experience. This has been neither fun nor easy!
Ordinarily I with a review like this, I would only give 1star (less if that we’re an option) but while waiting for our pictures the first time, I did witness some amazing customer service, which i believe should be recognised. The associate not only walked her clients to the door, which she held for them, but also literally ran to their car to give them something they had forgotten. Had she been the one to help us, I’m sure this review would have been much different, but Caleb obviously could not be bothered to deliver even passable customer service.

We visited to take a family picture with my sister’s family. As one of the children is a special needs child, it is generally very difficult to get a good photo. We were skeptical but hopeful when we reached the studio.
They were running behind resulting in a 30 minute delay and we were concerned that the kids would get restless. We explained our situation to Amber, our assigned photographer who was just fabulous and helped us get an excellent photo. My brother-​in-​law who was a skeptic was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.
We have been to Portrait Innovations a few times and we have never been disappointed.

I was able to sneak in a Mother’s Day sitting Friday before the Holiday and picked up my photos and Mother’s Day cards the same day. The photographer did a great job of being patient and getting lots of smiles out of our tired and hungry 4 month old. That alone deserves 5 stars!

I am from the east coast and visited Portrait Innovations in Maryland prior to this experience. I was extremely pleased with the photographer, the quick turn around of the pictures, and the overall price was much better than Sears, JCPenny’s or Picture People.
Knowing what I had known about the Portrait Innovations in Maryland, I was thrilled when I found out that we had one in Chandler, after being here 6 months. I went and had pictures done of my two kids and myself. The overall cost was again, extremely affordable. The photographer we had understood that my almost 3 year old was not going to cooperate unless he made it fun, so he did make it fun! A lot of the proofs show both of my kids laughing and having a great time.
I would go back in a heartbeat! The pictures turned out wonderfully, the kids had a good time, and the price was very affordable for as many poses as I got. I will definitely be back for more pictures!

I scheduled an appointment to have photos taken of my twin grandbabies as a surprise Christmas present. We arrived a little before our appointment time to be told there were three families ahead of us still waiting to be photographed.
The place felt like it was a cattle run, a lot of noisy kids. I was not told it was not a private setting. We waited over an hour, by then the babies were so cranky they were miserable during their photo shoot so we only managed to get three good shots. I will never use this place again and I definitely not recommend it to my friends.

Disappointing and mistreated, first we have to wait more than an hour after our appointment time, then the photographer was complaining she didn’t have the necessaries implements to make specific simply shoot, she was in a rush
The supposedly 2 hours session and two different rooms end up being 45 min.
The final result was dark and blurry pictures even after we mention it and we were assure it was a software glitch, plus a low resolution CD the was part of the package
Overall was a frustrating experience and we ask for our money back with will take 3 to get it.