Portrait Innovations

I’ve been putting off my twins 2 year pictures. It’s a struggle and we were late to our 9:10 appt because coinciding kids and a 40 min drive is difficult. Our photographer Payton was sweet as could be and expressed she still had time to fit in a shirt change. She quickly realized our daughter was struggling with some sensory issues. She slowed down, simplified the background and let us do our thing of singing a slow rainbow connection and the smiles finally came! A first for us. It helped that it was the first appt of the day and empty. Thank you Payton!

We went to a store at another location. Under the impression the service was low-​priced, my mother-​in-​law booked an appointment for our visiting three month old. Husband and I live out of state and we were here so our son could meet his family.
To start, our photographer wasn’t very welcoming. We arrived on time, put him in the setting, and it was clear that her responsibility wouldnt exceed clicking the shutter release. He was unfortunately very fussy by the time we changed him into his second outfit. As we were fumbling to change him, she just sorta stood there and watched. We asked if there was any place we could set him down (like the couches out in the lobby) and she nonchalantly said, «Well, there’s a changing table in the bathroom.» We couldn’t get him to settle down so I suggested comfort nursing him, which takes up to a minute, but she wasn’t willing! She told us it would take too long as if the endless rocking and rattling was more useful. She told us to come back in an hour and try again. My mother-​in-​law wanted to just purchase the shots we did take (they did seem to look good) but it was all or nothing– she told us we’d have to come back, finish the shoot, and review all of the pictures. Our only option was that or to opt out, she explained. So we came back and got what we could.
We sat down and did the review and was ambushed with product after product. She was certainly friendlier then. My mother-​in-​law asked about the $ 19.95 deal she initially read about and the photographer told us that we could choose one pose for $ 19.95, which means we could’ve purchased what little photos we got instead of waiting and returning! It was a clear foot-​in-​the-​door sales technique. We purchased a package that came with a bunch of «freebies» but it wasn’t much of bargain in the end in my opinion.
Long story short, not very helpful or accommodating. The pictures were adequate. Maybe don’t go to the photographer who «serviced» us. There was another photographer who was very enthusiastic. we wish we would have had her.

A family member recommended this place for some same-​day family portraits. I almost cancelled our appointment because I started to read some on-​line reviews, and many of the reviews are terrible. However, I thought they did a great job, the price was reasonable, and we got our prints within a few minutes. We had a pretty big group — 2 families, 5 kids, and the grandparents. The photographer quickly and efficiently photographed the kids, the married couples, the grandparents, and everyone together, in a total of maybe 20 minutes. She was especially great with the smaller children, and even got some great smiles out of the shy 3 year old. After the photo session, you sit down with the photographer and go through the pictures to pick the ones you want. For each shot, you can get a single portrait or you can get a package that includes pictures of different sizes (I think an 8×10, 2 5x7s, and some smaller ones). They also throw in one 10×13 portrait for $ 10. The entire session, including photography and picking final photos, lasted maybe an hour. The pictures were generally very well done, although there were some minor lighting problems on some pictures.
I thought the price was reasonable. We had prints made of about 14 or 15 shots, and the whole thing was about $ 220. I think many of the negative reviews are from people who feel they were «pressured» into «buying a lot of pictures.» I guess people think they are going to go in and only get the $ 10 portrait. I didn’t feel pressured, you can choose as many of the pictures as you want. As you are choosing your pictures on the computer display, it gives you the current price of what you have selected, so there shouldn’t be any surprises.
Overall, this turned out to be a surprisingly good place to have some family photos done quickly and efficiently. It’s not as fancy as a higher-​end photo studio, but is probably perfectly adequate for 90% of families who want some pictures of the kids or the grandparents.