Moxie Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 With the baby coming next week, I need to join one of those portrait clubs. We have JC Penny's, Sears and Portrait Innovations (I think). Does anybody have any idea which one is a better deal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirstenH Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I don't know about better deals, but the pics I have seen from Portrait Innovations are the best of the bunch. Have you considered finding a local photographer to do the portraits? Usually those photos turn out better, and you just pay a sitting fee and then pay for only the photos you really like the best. Often, they'll even come to your home or meet you on location. As far as chain studios go, we used Target one time, and they did a pretty decent job. It was very inexpensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenangelcat Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Have you considered finding a local photographer to do the portraits? Usually those photos turn out better, and you just pay a sitting fee and then pay for only the photos you really like the best. Often, they'll even come to your home or meet you on location. :iagree: IMO those stiffed posed portrait studio photos are uniformly awful. The better option is to find a photographer (even an amateur hobbyist would do) to take more casually posed shots in natural lighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissad2 Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Portrait innovations is awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 Portrait Innovations is my favorite. If you like, I can share a few pics they've done of the girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moxie Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 Portrait Innovations is my favorite. If you like, I can share a few pics they've done of the girls. Please do. I'm surprised how many like PI, I wasn't impressed with their web-site. I do hire a real photographer for family portraits. Right now I just need a cheap place to do school and 3, 6, 9 month type photos. You know, get the Grandmas off my back :tongue_smilie:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I get the boys pics done once a year (around their birthday) at Portrait Innovations. DH bought me a really nice DSLR so I take most of my own pics now. I did The Picture People when the boys were infants. Those were good. I've done Kiddie Kandids once. They were pretty good. I did a professional photographer once. Pics pretty good (loved her website), but won't go that route again. Way too expensive for my blood. I've never done Sears. I did JCPenney for the boys 1st Christmas pics. Ended up going again to The Picture People for better pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 JCPenney has the best deals - coupons and such. Portrait packages for 7.99, or portrait sheets for 3.99 each, usually with a free sitting fee for 1 (though if you are a member of the portrait club, it wouldn't matter for that part), and a free 8x10. Sears doesn't usually offer that, without buying x amount at regular price, or something else that makes it not as good of a deal. :) Portrait Innovations takes wonderful pictures. The thing with them is, they take a LOT. JCP takes maybe 10 - PI takes maybe 50-60. I usually only do PI for particular things - like I got my kids' pictures taken there when they started 'Kindergarten', and ordered about 6 different poses in all sizes to give away, hang all over the house, etc. :) They DO offer a regular portrait package for, I think, 9.99, which has everything you would need (but honestly it's too many pictures for us for regular yearly photos or whatnot- like 36 wallets, etc), but I have always had a hard time imagining weeding out ALL of the others just to pick one good one. :) So I just don't go there for the smaller things. JCP takes less pics to begin with, but they do a good job with those. I'm sure it does kind of depend on the individual studio, as well, but ours has worked hard, when necessary, to get cute pictures. And I've never been disappointed with them. :) I'm ok with only having 10 to pick from if they are 10 good ones. :) I usually only pick 2, maybe 3 poses, anyway. (I have gotten my kids pictures taken at 3, 6, 9, 12 months, and yearly thereafter. We've used JCP for all of these.) ETA: I can show you pics of my kids from each place, if you are interested. Oh, and professional photographers are great and all...but around here, to get a good one, we have to pay $100 just to see them. So I save those for the good 'family' photographs that we only do once every few years. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 19 years of using JCPenney. Always great pictures, good photographers, never rushed or pressured to buy more portraits than we need. Some Targets have potraits studios are very good also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluezoo5 Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 We are partial to PI here as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne115 Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I always loved Picture People. They are more expensive than some, but I love the pictures. Unfortunately for me, they went out of business in our area. Suzanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 I love our local Sears-I think it's really a matter of finding which local store has good photographers who work well with kids-there's one lady at Sears who is wonderful with DD, who is about as camera-phobic as it's possible to get and can't pose without looking stiff or bursting into tears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 (edited) I can't stand Portrait Innovations. They use lighting that is too high, so it shines down on kids' heads. This lights up their foreheads, nose, and top of cheeks. The rest is in shadow. Sometimes a shadow of their jaw is cast onto the neck/chest area. I know a lot of people rave about it, but every photo I've seen from them has this problem, including all that we had taken there. ETA: The Picture People have the lighting problem, too. And we've been to The Picture People in more than one state, so it's not the photographer. The set up is the same for both PP and PI, no matter where you go, as far as I know. I have used Sears, but it was several years ago. I don't recall a problem with their photos. I really like JC Penny's portraits. Small children are usually put up on a platform so the light isn't too far above them. I don't know if they adjust lighting for someone who's on the floor, or if the lighting is generally lower to start with. I have never seen any lighting problems in our JCP photos. Edited March 31, 2012 by gardening momma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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