Where do you take your kids for pictures?

[sherry7]

Just wondering...where do you all take your kids/babies for pictures? How much on average do you pay? Do you use coupons? Do you get a CD of the photos?

My baby is a month old now, and I'm realizing that she looks SO much different than her newborn pictures from the hospital. I want to take her somewhere in the next few days to get her pictures done, and maybe get a Mommy/Daughter picture with her as well. I'm taking a few months (unpaid) off work for maternity leave, so I can't really afford anything super expensive right now.

Suggestions? Thanks.

 

[Minniemouse07]

Picture People hands down.

I tried a few other places with nightmare results (Sears, Target, JCPenny's).

Picture People may cost a bit more (they always have coupon on the website though) but well worth it. Dd is 9yo and ds 4yo and in all the years we've been going there (starting when dd was 1yo) we've never left with a bad picture. Even through difficult sittings, we always manage to have to make a hard decision as to which ones to buy and which to leave!

I could kick myself for going the budget route for dd's first year of professional photos and missing out on documenting those precious moments (her first pictures at 3mo...they cut off either a hand or foot in every shot! )

 

[Mrs D]

We have a new place that opened about 2 yrs ago called Portrait Innovations. They do a $10 special that you can get every 3 months. It comes with a 10x13, 2-8x10, 4-5x7 & 4 sheets of wallets.
They are all digital- they upload yourpics immediately and you get to go thru pic by pic to choose your favs. They then print them within 20 mins.
It is a little bit of a hard sell to pick lots of pics to do collections or special effects or get the cd. I ususally only get the $10 special and maybe 1 or 2 other poses (@ $15 per sheet). So I typically walk out for under $50. But sometimes I want the cd (I used it to make my own birth announcements) so end up over $100.
I tried to do baby pics every 3 months up to 18 months.
HTH!

 

[puffkin]

If you have a Portrait Innovations near you, hands down they are the best option. Similar to the picture people but a fraction of the cost. Love them

 

[MinnieForMe]

Does anyone know how much additional pictures are at Portrait Innovations? Their package deal sounds great but I always want more than one pose.

To answer the posters' questions, I have my children's pictures taken at two week's, one month, three months, six months, nine months and a year. Then, 18 months and two years. After that, it's once a year around their Birthday and a group picture every Christmas. I have three kids so I feel like I'm always at the photographers.

We also did a family portrait at the Grand Floridian last year and I'm hiring a local photographer to do a family picture this year on a local beach. I'm picture crazy!

 

[EcbLovesMickey]

We use JCPenny's, but it really depends on the photographer. You can go to an expensive place and get a bad photographer as easy as you can get a good one at a cheap place. We use Penny's because we love the lady there and the prices are just awesome.

 

[SaraJayne]

If you have a Portrait Innovations near you, hands down they are the best option. Similar to the picture people but a fraction of the cost. Love them

 

[figment3258]

I take my own photos. I do not have a expensive camera infact its old. I find its easy to upload photos and print them at home. I have taken some wonderful pictures without really trying. Be creative and they will come out great.

 

[redlawyer]

I second ( or maybe third) the vote for Portrait Innovations. Picture People is no longer in my town, and Portrait Innovations is much cheaper. I like to get the cd so I can easily email the photos to family out of town. Otherwise I'd be scanning the photos to email, and losing some quality.

 

[heatherleigh]

I'd look into a local photographer w/ a studio. Those are the best images and much superior to those at Penneys, Sears, etc. Try to find someone who is just starting their business so you won't have to pay the steeper prices.

 

[sunshine74]

I also LOVE Portrait Innovations. Not only are the prices good, they do an amazing with my DD who has special needs and can be a challenge to photograph. We always walk out with pictures I love. I also love that you get them immediately, but are much less expensive than Picture People. We've been going 2x/year for the past 4-5 years.

Someone asked about the prices, the additional poses get less expensive the more you buy. I always do walk out spending more than I intended, because there are always so many wonderful choices!!

You do get a CD of your poses, but they are not printable quality. They work great on your PC screensaver or digital photo frame, though.

 

[Lisa_M]

Does anyone know how much additional pictures are at Portrait Innovations? Their package deal sounds great but I always want more than one pose.

To answer the posters' questions, I have my children's pictures taken at two week's, one month, three months, six months, nine months and a year. Then, 18 months and two years. After that, it's once a year around their Birthday and a group picture every Christmas. I have three kids so I feel like I'm always at the photographers.

We also did a family portrait at the Grand Floridian last year and I'm hiring a local photographer to do a family picture this year on a local beach. I'm picture crazy!

I took my daughter to Portrait innovations and got the smallest package deal with the CD. I got the $10 package and 9 additional poses with 4 sheets of each pose, 4 free special effects 8 x 10's or 10 x 13's and the CD for $167 w/ tax. I wasn't intending on spending that much, but I did.

They turned out pretty good. Next time we go though, it will be the $10 package for us.

 

[JamesMom]

I take my kids to Kiddie Kandids. They closed at the first of the year in bankrupcty but I was estatic to get an email that they have reopened some locations locally! I had gone to the same location with the same people since my first child was born. Very important when you have an autistic child who doesn't handle new people/situations well. So I am happy I can go back for his birthday pics next month.
BTW - pics are important to me. I had each of my childrens pics taken monthly since birth to age one and then quarterly till age 3 and now just for their birthday & christmas cards which works perfectly since they have Jan/July b-days.
Its not cheap. Usually spend around $60 - $200 (2009 - got family portrait 11x14, cards and 8x10s for family at Christmas, plus DS7 b-day pics w/CD) each visit. But it is my indulgence. It is wonderful to look at their albums with all those pics showing them growing up.

 

[lucigo]

Ok don't laugh but I get my son's pix done on cruise ships The benefit is no sitting fee, and you have 4-7 days and several different backgrounds to to get a good one!

 

[pam95]

We go to Sears....have been going there for years and always gotten great pics. They offer packages where you can get all of your photos on a CD with the copyright release so that you can print them at home or elsewhere.

 

[woodkins]

Picture People hands down.

I tried a few other places with nightmare results (Sears, Target, JCPenny's).

Picture People may cost a bit more (they always have coupon on the website though) but well worth it. Dd is 9yo and ds 4yo and in all the years we've been going there (starting when dd was 1yo) we've never left with a bad picture. Even through difficult sittings, we always manage to have to make a hard decision as to which ones to buy and which to leave!

I could kick myself for going the budget route for dd's first year of professional photos and missing out on documenting those precious moments (her first pictures at 3mo...they cut off either a hand or foot in every shot! )

Our picture people has been horrible, I have had the exact opposite experience and they are very very expensive. Ours is in a mall, so maybe it is a busy location, but they always seem rushed, kids are running all over the place and it is not fun. Also the print quality that we have gotten is not great.

We have used Target since my dd was 3 (she is now almost 8) and have always gotten wonderful pictures with great quality and prices. I just took her there for her communion portraits and got 3.99 portrait sheets, a free 8x10, and $10 off of a purchase of $50 or more. They always have online coupons and send out lots more by mail. You can choose multiple poses and although I typically choose a plain/solid color background they do have cute backgrounds and props. I got over 12 sheets for about $42.

I think the most important thing is the person you get taking the pics. If they are patient and friendly you wil get good results.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

I've used both Picture People and JCPenneys. I've had good luck with both, I just hate waiting for Penneys! I've had great, but very different results from both.

 

[justintime]

Picture People hands down.

I tried a few other places with nightmare results (Sears, Target, JCPenny's).

Picture People may cost a bit more (they always have coupon on the website though) but well worth it. Dd is 9yo and ds 4yo and in all the years we've been going there (starting when dd was 1yo) we've never left with a bad picture. Even through difficult sittings, we always manage to have to make a hard decision as to which ones to buy and which to leave!

I could kick myself for going the budget route for dd's first year of professional photos and missing out on documenting those precious moments (her first pictures at 3mo...they cut off either a hand or foot in every shot! )

The Picture People near me is absolutely awful. Just because they are more expensive doesn't mean they are better. I went to a few different photographers there before I gave up (I had been given a few gift certificates for there, which is the only reason I went back more than once). The last time I went, the pictures were bad, and they were really rude to me on top of it. I ended up going home in tears.
I have gone to JCPenney using the $3.99 a sheet coupon every time since then, and have had great results. But as a PP said, a lot depends on the photographer, and that will go for all the chain photography studios. Some photographers took better pictures than others, but overall we were happy with all of them. My sister was happy with pictures she has had done at Sears, but now goes to JCPenney, since it is so much cheaper with the $3.99 coupons that are out there. Friends have also been happy with Kiddie Kandids, but they are more expensive. The one near me closed, but is now reopening. I didn't realize that they had been in bankrupcy until I read it on here.

 

[mrodgers]

I go to the backyard, the lake, the river, Grandma's house, Cooks Forest State park, the bike trail......

I take my own. My wife doesn't even order the school pictures. The school pictures are usually horribly out of focus and the backgrounds are always wrong and don't complement the picture. I also hate oversaturation in pictures. I have my own processing that I like to do. These are my kid's portraits from 2 years ago.

 

[ktlm]

I think it depends on the photographer that you get at any given place. We took DD to Picture People once when she was 6 months old. They rushed us through and took 5 quick awful shots with one background and no props. They are the worst pictures we have ever had taken of DD. Our Portrait Innovations is AWESOME. DD is 4 and she has had her picture taken there since she was 9 months old. We loved the photographer we had the 1st time, so we request her each time. DD is high energy and doesn't sit still and even so, everytime we are there we get a ton of fantastic pictures. They have a ton of different backgrounds and props. You control what you spend. They aren't nearly as high per sheet of pictures as some other places. You get a CD with all the shots. We usually do spend quite a bit there because the pictures are so good, but you don't have to.