We took family pictures today. I guess you could also consider them Noel's newborn pictures because we didn't do a special newborn pictures thing with her separately. I like the way the pictures turned out, but I have some things that I don't like about photography studios we have tried:
- Pushiness. Biggest problem. They are ruthless in the things they try to sell you. And in trying to convince you of what you need. We ended up with 157 pictures today, and they started at the top, as if we were really going to buy 3 sheets of each of 157 pictures. It was like $1300. Yeah right. And when we wanted to keep narrowing things down and at least explore other options, the photographer tried to argue with us and tell us why we would get a better deal if we paid more and why we should order more than we think we need because each sheet is cheaper if you get a million sheets. We understood the math, but we still didn't want to pay for a million sheets, ya know.
- Making us stay in the studio after the photo shoot to decide EVERYTHING right then. We were there over 3 hours, and Amy was not doing so well by the end. I think we could have been better equipped to choose what was best for our family if we weren't so desperate to get our crying child out. And we want to decide together, not have one spouse choose with the photographer while the other spouse wrestles Amy.
- Matt requests that photographers take a little more time to get to know the family - particularly Amy.
- I would like if they also asked our opinions a little more about backgrounds and poses, etc. That said, I liked the backgrounds and poses and thought the girl got a lot of great shots this time.
- I LOVED that this studio suggested on the phone that we could bring props. I LOVE the duckie pictures we got as a result.
- Overall, I think we paid too much and got some stuff we wouldn't have wanted because that was the only way to get the stuff we did want. But, I love the pictures we got. And we got a CD of all the pictures which I am about to turn into a slideshow and post. We won't go back to that particular place, but I am doubtful that we can find one that won't be pushy like that.
care to share where you went? I am becoming convinced that the way to get good family photos (or good photos of Allison) is the expensive way... pay a photographer to shoot on site somewhere and do some poses, but lots of unobtrusive type candids. Allison currently HATES the portrait studio...
ReplyDeletePortrait Innovations. Liked a lot about the studio. But, well you read the post, had some issues. I'm starting to agree, Rosie. Matt told me that my brother and his fiance picked a photographer for their wedding (in August) that includes in the deal the right to the pictures. So they can print and reprint whichever ones they want forever without super expensiveness. Granted, the photographer is probably not at all cheap, but this option sounds nice. We'll look into it. Amy doesn't hate the studio at this point, but I agree that candid shots would be really fun. I like studio shots too, but it is pretty rediculous all the silly things Matt and I do as well as the photographer to keep her happy during photo shoots.
ReplyDeleteWe did one of our "million" family pictures at Portrait Innovations, and we walked out of there with only the $9.99 deal, but it was like killing someone to get them to listen to us.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how much you ended up spending, but I've been VERY pleased with the portrait studio at Target. They don't take a billion pictures, (usually it's about 30) but I kinda like it that way because every time I've gone we've had a lot of great ones to choose from, and the less great ones the better because it makes it easier to narrow the choices down. (I hope that makes at least a tiny bit of sense) They would probably have taken more pictures if we did some thing besides "Sunshine only pictures."
Anyway, the reason I like them is because they send out coupons all the time for $3.99 sheets. You don't have to buy packages to get the sheets you want. You can get as many different poses as you want, in whatever size you want.
Like I said, I've only gone there for "Sunshine only pictures", but I watched from a distance family pictures being taken, and they looked great.
Having said that, if I was planning on getting more than 10 or 15 sheets (which is all I usually buy), it would probably be worth it to just go with a photographer that gives you the right to the pictures.
I'm just glad we have friends that will do really good quality shots for cheap. Huzzah!
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