JC Penney Portrait Studio

I would like to emphasize that I do not blame the individual employees for this, as I believe it was the result of the difficult situation they were placed in.
Last December, my family went here to use a LivingSocial certificate, the terms of which were as follows: Photo shoot package with included sitting fees, single-​image CD, two single-​image enhanced portrait sheets (10×13 or smaller), and 40% off additional portrait purchases. I therefore expected to receive all items at no additional cost once I had presented my voucher.
The session itself, with my wife and baby (who was then 3 months old), was very rushed, though a few decent shots did result. The studio, to my mind, was overbooked. Furthermore, there was only one employee out front dealing with all the customers. This gave neither employee enough time to discuss with us in detail what we really wanted from the session.
The employee who showed us our shots and the various options was quite rushed, and slowed down by the fact that she apparently had to show us a number of options we were completely uninterested in. She was also misinformed, in that she told us we would have the option to choose later which pictures, if any, to have burned on a CD (this deal only included one image). As it turns out, one must purchase all the images or none — no in-​between.
As I mentioned, we expected to be able to leave with what was promised in the voucher without being charged extra. However, we were in fact charged extra because the system would not accept the fact that we didn’t want any «enhancements» applied to our photos, after having been showed examples by the employee. All of them, in our opinion, made the images worse, so we opted to go with no enhancements. The employee understood our concerns but there was nothing she could do, as she was not empowered to override the system. (She couldn’t even do this for the elderly couple who was in before us, who only had a certain amount of cash… I’m not sure what the resolution was there.) I’m not even sure if there was anyone she could have called for help, but at this point we were so tired and irritated that we opted to just pay the extra money and leave.
Again, I’m not blaming the individual employees, but the employee above didn’t know the correct pronunciation of «vignettes,» saying VIGnets instead of viNYETS. This tells me that while the photographer obviously must have to know something about photography, no such requirement exists for the sales folks. Perhaps JC Penney Portraits should reconsider this policy. Hire folks who know something about what they’re selling, and empower them to make good customer service decisions. Take some lessons from Nordstrom, just north of you in the same mall.
I would only recommend you use this studio/​a similar deal if you really have very little money and all you want is a professional-​looking shot… and you can wait a few days for it. But otherwise, stay far away.

This place is great! I needed business headshots done and found a Groupon for this place. I booked my appointment online (always love that!), and was sent a reminder email a couple days before. I showed up and was greeted by my photographer McKenzie. She looked at the jacket and shirt options I’d brought and had recommendations for background colors. The shoot itself was very quick and painless. She used 2 backgrounds and took shots from several angles, and we were probably done within 15 minutes. Afterwards, we browsed through the pictures and chose a few that I could take home that day on a disc. The shots looked great and she helped me pick out the best ones.
My only issue was that, when I got home, I noticed that in one of the shots I have a strand of hair running across my face that neither of us caught. It isn’t noticeable when the picture is smaller than 4×6, but it would be unusable as a larger print.
Overall, thanks to McKenzie for a low-​stress and efficient experience!

My extended family and I scheduled an appointment with JCPenney Portrait Studio because it was the first time in many years every member had been together. I searched thoroughly for a good studio including independent photographers. Preferably we would find someone who was willing to give us the rights to the images so we could make our own prints, as we all live in different states.
JCPenney seemed to have the best cost and quality out of the places that we looked for. My initial interactions with the portrait studio were great! I confirmed that they would be able to accomodate such a large group (10 people) and that they would be willing to take the time necessary to obtain good pictures. They assured me that they take their time with each group and schedule appointments appropriately so as not to rush anyone, and even offered to schedule our group as the last appointment before lunch so we would have plenty of time. I live out of state so I wasn’t actually able to go in and look at the facility, but I have been to other JCPenney Portrait Studios and they are usually, large and accommodating, so I expected the same.
Wow. I was wrong.
This «Portrait Studio» is a glorified stockroom with a waiting room the size of a small living room, and two photo studios about 10×11 in size, packed with photo props (so it seems much smaller). From the moment we walked in, the «manager» was sharp and rude. Several times she acted as if we were inconveniencing her by being there. She asked which background we would like and I asked her advice, showing her what we had chosen to wear. Her exact words? «I don’t care. It doesn’t really matter.»
The waiting room was PACKED with families because they scheduled the appointments 10 minutes apart and they only had two people working. We waited for 30 minutes after our scheduled appointment before my «favorite» manager called us back. At that time, my family was already irritated and I was afraid her attitude would compound the situation. I politely requested the other photographer.
The other photographer, Barbara, was nice. I gave her the list of groups we wanted to include and she rolled with the punches well. However, the photos we received were not of the quality we were hoping for, and many of the issues (people looking down, not smiling, poor framing, etc.) could have been remedied by taking her time.
We paid for an hour of studio time, she took a total of 35 pictures, and none of them were great. I did see other families and kids come out with some great photos. But from my point of view: they were not prepared to accommodate such a large group, the experience was exhausting, and the product sub-​par.

Just before I moved away from Seattle, my friend and I went to JC Penney’s to have our portraits taken. We were only half-​serious about it, and we downloaded a coupon (from JC Penney’s website) for a free sitting free and a couple discounted prints. We agreed ahead of time not to spend more than $ 25 because we were both kind of broke.
The shoot was great – we had control over which backdrop to use, and the photographer was professional, friendly, and understanding. She took many shots, but very quickly, and explained that it’s important to go fast before people start getting bored and faking their smiles. This is key for kids especially.
The photos were great – my friend told me they have a «gorgeousness filter» on the camera, though I think it’s the lighting. Whatever it is, my grey hair looked non-​existent and my skin had a lovely natural glow.
The way they make their money is on convincing you to buy more than you had planned. The photos look great, and every expression seems priceless when it’s a picture of loved ones. But remember that you only have so many frames and you won’t really ever look at them all, and stay strong. (Unless money is no issue, in which case, buy them all!)
To get any digital copies of the photos, you have to buy the maximum package, which I think was about $ 125. This is actually quite reasonable if you want a headshot for business purposes, FYI. It’s lame that you can’t just buy the digital shot of one pose. Maybe you can if you tell them ahead of time or if you are a good negotiator.
The photographer will also make funny collages for you in front of your eyes, and you will want them. Basically, if the photos were of my child, I would not be able to say no to any picture.
Luckily, my friend and I stayed strong. For $ 25 and our coupon, we each got three 5×7 pics of three poses. I love these pictures, and the fact that they are prints and thus the only surviving copies only makes them more precious to me.
Finally, I loved our photographer because near the end of the shoot, she suggested that I give my friend a piggy back ride so she could snap a picture. Of course this was an absurd request, and of course we did it. It ended up being the funniest and my favorite photo.
When we finished, I wanted to do a shoot with everyone I love. It’s fun and weird (see my yahoo profile pic). Pro cheap-​ass tip: JC Penney will give you a link to the website to view and order extra prints. You can take screen shots of the photos directly off their website. They won’t be high enough quality to print, but you can upload them to Facebook and other places for people to see. You can also give a link to friends and family so they can order prints for themselves.

This was a great portrait studio. Why? Because they had an awesome manager by the name of Marisa running the show. She was fantastic with my daughter — never a bad picture. I always ended up purchasing more than I planned to because all the shots were great.
Today I found out she is no longer with JC Penney’s. Which I understand as she had a lot of talent and should have her own studio.
Since I can’t get her last name out of anyone to see if she has her own business, maybe she will see this review and touch base.
She had a lot of fans of her work and will be sorely missed. If she does open her own studio I would pay more just to have her take my daughters photos. She was great with getting the kids to smile and give great expressions.
She is a great loss to JC Penney.

I have brought my kids several times over the years to JCP to get pics done, the most recently was about a month ago. I took my 3 yr old daughter for her annual pics and the woman who did her pics was GREAT! She made my usually shy daughter come out of her shell and smile big for the camera, she didn’t pressure us into buying pics we couldn’t afford though she did take the pics just to «show us» but I never felt like I HAD to buy. Wonderful job. Fast forward to last night. My mom wanted a Christmas pic of her 7 grandchildren and we came here. She signed up for the portrait club to save money and she said she got some good deals on her package. The lady that did the pics this time wasn’t quite as engaging as the other lady but she got the job done with a difficult teen, 2 pouty preteens, 3 goofy kids, and a shy preschooler… and a partridge in a peartree! We come here every year for pics and will continue to do so!