Portrait Innovations

I had the worst experience with Portrait Innovations in Naperville, IL. I took my seven month old girl for photos there after I had received one of their coupons. Once we arrived for our scheduled appointment we were ignored by the two girls in the studio, we waited while they had a personal conversation and ordered food. There were no other customers in the studio the entire time we were there. Once the photo session began Sandra C., the photographer had a really bad attitude. She referred to my baby as «little stinker» multiple times during the shoot. After the shooting was done, she forced us to sit and eliminate every photo one by one until there was only one left. Despite the fact that I had already chosen my best shot and wanted only that one using the coupon I had presented to them upon coming in. Sandra C. made remarked «Professional photos aint cheap» and after she was done offering her packages starting at over $ 500 and slowly reducing from there, she said it would take 30 minutes for the printouts. I went to nurse my baby, but was interrupted by her shouting just a few minutes later that the we are «all set». I walked out and saw an envelope waiting at the front desk counter. When I opened it to look at the images one of the printouts had a defect, a white spot on the black background. After showing it to Sandra C. and asking her to re-​print it, she replied «Sorry honey, there is nothing I can do, we don’t save the images». Today I called customer service to complaint and a re-​print was offered to me along with a $ 15 coupon. I declined the re-​print and the $ 15 coupon is in no way an appropriate compensation for the type of treatment we received. So much for their Satisfaction Guarantee claim :-(Do not use this place in the bottom line!!!

I have to agree with the other reviews… Portrait Innovations is very secretive with their pricing and very deceptive in how they sell their products to you.
I will say that they did take a lot of very nice pictures however they don’t explain their packages and what it is they are selling to you and I’ve ended up with a ridiculous amount of prints and products that I did not need, want or will ever use.
I will definitely not be returning and do not recommend them to anyone unless they have a good $ 400+ to be spending on items that you did not want.

Well… if the other reviews don’t convince you and you’re still going to go, be sure to avoid Vicky like the plague. I went a couple years ago and had a wonderful session with Ian. I went a few months later and got Vicky and was super disappointed with her pictures. She has zero talent in figuring out angles and positioning that works best for babies. She takes too long to take pictures and FORCES you to sit through her sales pitch… Even still I thought maybe it was a bad session and went again a couple months after that. I got Vicky again… and again, ended up with terrible pictures. I’m talking eyes closed, looking away, clothes messed up because of the position of the pose, I mean just awful.
So for my daughter’s 12 and 18 month pictures I went to picture people. I ended up paying more money but the pictures were to die for and there were too many to choose from.
I just got an email for a 9.99 package from portrait innovation and decided, against my better judgement to go again for the very first pictures of my 2 year old and 10 week old together. Ian no longer works there and I couldn’t remember the name of the lady who took the awful pictures so I made the appointment and just prayed I didn’t get her. But of course… I did.
I told her I was there for pictures of my girls together. I have so much to say about this session… Vicky does what she wants, she took way too many individuals, she takes pictures from the wrong angles so the kids look like they have their eyes closed and look like they have no necks, she doesn’t work off of the babies’ moods… And what I mean by that is, when the girls were finally settled and starting to smile she would take a couple half smile pictures then change the backdrop and they would have to start all over. It only took two changes of the backdrop before my two Year old decided she was done and wouldn’t cooperate anymore when she did so well at first. I mean, I’d rather have 100 of the same pose and backdrop so that I can choose the best one rather than a hundred varieties of crappy pictures. Vicky is a total sales woman and left me completely dissatisfied. It took so much to get the kids out of the house in this terrible winter and after all was said and done I DIDNT EVEN GET A PICTURE OF THE TWO OF THEM!!! I only had five pictures of them together to choose from that we’re halfway decent but left with only a single shot of my 10 week old and that’s because I really wanted to send a picture of her out to family. She’s not even smiling in the picture when all you have to do is look at her and she smiles! Ugh. Really, truly so sad.
At least I made sure to ask her what her name was this time.

I went to Portrait Innovations yesterday based on a recommendation from a friend (she uses different locations). I was not impressed at all. Pictures were just ok, nothing great. The website and studio show they work with babies in their portrait galleries but the poses were not good for newborn/​infants. My 1-​month old baby was not happy at all. I know there are ways to pose the babies and these were not good poses, the positioners used were not appropriate. The ladies had learned a new pose and wanted to try it out but they were unsure of what they were doing.
As others have stated, the CD you get is not for printing unless you take it back to their studio. You can use the CD images (low-​res) for facebook/​emailing but Portrait Innovations is posted at the bottom. Also, the packages are just outrageous. There is no reason you need all the extra crap they try to push. PI does have a baby milestone package but you can only use it until the baby is UNDER 3 months. Typically the milestone packages are for 3, 6, 9 and 1 year.
I will say I am probably very spoiled with AMAZING photography because I have used individual professional photographers. I only went to PI to try out the photography for a quick picture to send out to the grandparents.

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER! I took my kids to the Naperville, Il location on ⁴⁄₁₉ after a friend highly recommended them. After waiting 55 minutes with a 14 year old, two 9 year olds and a TWO year old, we finally had our session. That is, after they took another family that came in AFTER us, before us. We were told the session is usually 1 – 1.5 hours in length. Ours lasted a total of 35 minutes, beginning to end. Pictures picked out and all. Partially because I was way off schedule and had to get my oldest to another appointment. Our photographer even commented that shes «never done it this fast». Needless to say, I got NO acceptable pictures of my 2 year old and the pictures of my older kids were ok. We ended up purchasing a package for 129.99, after $ 50 off. It included a bunch of sheets, a book, 2 smaller books and a calendar. The books and calendar were of sub par quality, the pictures were blurry. Not happy at all and corporate was basically of no help. Yes, they have a guarantee but your money gets refunded by corporate. Lets see how long that takes.
I should have looked on Unilocal first but I went with my friends recommendation instead. I would give 0 stars if possible.

This experience in itself has sent me to finally get my Unilocal account! We have used Portrait Innovations for four years. We were first introduced to it in Carmel, Indiana by my sister’s house. We continued to visit them and had our son’s pictures taken there. When the Naperville location opened up we used them when we needed pictures taken locally, should be more convenient, right?
Well, our first couple experiences were okay but the last 3 in 4 months have been less than desirable. They have been at least 30 minutes late on each occasion which is very upsetting when you plan pictures for when your child will be happy. For small children this window closes quickly! Especially when they have to take a certain number of photos before finishing! Really, if we are done, we are done!
I have also noticed that the check out process has become a lot longer AND they continue to make it confusing to really see how the costs are adding up for what you get. It’s not about what you need but about the «deal». Thankfully we are veteran customers and know what we want and how it works. But if your business is having a hard time running «on time» you need to shorten the cycle somewhere and stop trying to upsell five different products.
The final straw for us was yesterday. I gave a courtesy call at 11:30 for our 11:40 appointment to say we were running late because of new road construction. I asked if there were on schedule for a change and was told yes, we are right now. We got there 5 minutes late, at 11:45, we were told that the appointments ahead of us had just gone into the two photo rooms. Really? But you are running on time. That is wrong! We waited 40 minutes before our pictures started. They also have only one room «themed» so you have to take pictures in both rooms which is really a bottleneck! This was not the practice in Indiana where we started and it ran a lot smoother.
Maybe they will take a look at efficiencies to improve their business. I hope so but for now we will coordinate our pictures with visits to Indiana. When that doesn’t work we will find a different option as Naperville Portrait Innovations is too busy and without efficiencies needed to run a satisfactory business!

WAY overpriced. Came in, took 40 – 60 shots and then you review them with the photographer immediately. They print out the shots you like, and give you a CD with all of the shots.
What we were told: We choose our favorite photos, and the ones we don’t like will be deleted. You’re given no time to contemplate what pictures you would like, and in what print outs (8×10s, 5x7s, or wallets). We were told we would be given a CD of our shots, as well (presumably those that we selected as our favorites).
What happened: Any shot we selected as a favorite is printed off in a package of hard copy photos: 1 8×10, 2 5x7s and 8 wallets. You’re not given the option to choose what size/​quantity you want for each shot. We were given a CD of all our shots — even the ones we didn’t choose as a favorite. We thought that, with the CD, we would be able to make additional prints as we wanted. Not the case — all of the shots on the CD have a border imprinted on the bottom with the «Portrait Innovations» logo. The border is added ON TOP of the image… so it messes up the cropping of the photo.
14 shots printed with the (useless) CD ended up costing us $ 268. I will never return to this company. If you’re doing standard studio shots I’m told you’re better off at a place like JC Penny.

First things first: I’ve been an enthusiastic customer of Portrait Innovations for 3 years. We’ve spent over $ 600.00 with this company at their Glenview, IL location since 2007 and have been generally pleased with their products and processes.
No longer.
We called this Naperville store on March 24, 2010 to set up a small shoot for our son’s 4^th birthday. We knew exactly which picture we wanted: A shot of our son with a specific «big numbered block» showing his age that we’d made an annual tradition. Because Portrait Innovations advertises that you can buy a single picture for $ 10.00, we figured this was a great solution. In and out. Mission Accomplished.
When we told them of our request, they robotically informed us that their policy is to take 40 to 60 shots of the child in various outfits and backgrounds. We replied that since we were only going to be buying one shot (the block shot), we could save them time and have then only take 2 or 3 shots.
They refused!
Restating this: We wanted to pay them $ 10.00 to spend 5 minutes taking 2 to 3 shots of our son with a block, and buy one print. They refused. They stated their policy FORBIDS them from taking any less than 40 photographs of a child with different outfits and backgrounds. It’s clearly a policy devised to cajole a customer with a clear, simple need into splurging on additional purchases.
When we told them we would still only buy the one pose regardless of the potentially adorable 39 alternates, they insisted that the 39 alternates MUST BE TAKEN.
Herein lies my core issues:
1. Their insistence on a process rooted in upselling the customer took precedence over the customer’s explicit requests and needs.
2. When we expressed that an hour of (let’s admit it) «stressful» posing for our child was not in his (or our) best interests, they stuck to their unfeeling robot reply: «Sorry, That’s our policy.»
3. When we asked «Aren’t you willing to work with a loyal repeat customer to meet our needs?» they replied, literally: «Of course! So long as you sit for 40 to 60 shots».
We ended up calling the Glenview location to test this policy, and were greeted with the same automaton response. Well, almost: That location forces your kids to sit through 50 to 100 shots.
We’ll be taking our kids to Jill’s Portraits in Naperville from now on, where we pay a bit more, but are treated with infinitely more respect.