Where do you take your kids for pictures?

[amylynne01]

We've taken our girls to Sears and the Picture People. HATED Sears - photographer was awful, we waited over an hour for our appt so my girls were done before we even started, and there were shadows in the pics. We really liked Picture People - we went during the week so not busy, the pics are amazing, but they are expensive, and they really try to upsell.

I think we're going with a local photographer and studio next.

 

[hsmamato2]

after a few years of going to various places, I realized that the pics we all took with our own cameras were the ones I treasured most..... so I stopped going years ago! I have about a million portraits of the kids,and almost every one is stuck in a book on the shelf. My pic wall is covered in personal ,lovely photos that we took ourselves over the years,in this digital age,the quality is so good....

 

[neatokimmo]

I use Olan Mills when I do the professional route. They have a coupon for under $15 that gives you a ton of pictures. We have one in Kmart and one in Belks locally.

Their paper is a lot thicker than Walmart portraits I've noticed. Plus the paper is textured. I think overall their pictures look the best.

 

[apnep]

I'm with several of the previous posters. When we had our second child and she was 6 months old, we went to Target. I felt so awkward with the way they pose you and then trying to get my oldest who was three to pay attention to the camera and smile, I was so stressed out. That was 9 years ago. I have never taken a "professional" portrait again. I prefer to take my own photos of my children when they are pensive, or just doing some activity that makes them happy. I take them when we are on vacation, or like a previous poster said, in my yard, or at a park.

Those are the best photos to me because they are real moments that I treasure. I take their pictures often and I blow up my favs real big and put them in nice picture frames.

Angela

 

[mrodgers]

When the kids are outside playing, I will hang out on the porch with the camera beside me. I'll be messing around with the guitar, messing around on the laptop, or just hanging out. My youngest was sitting on the porch swing chilling out while I sat in a chair and had the camera sitting on my knee. I was just snapping pictures when I got the one I posted earlier.

Another time, youngest was sitting on the porch swing again and my camera was just setting on my knee again. She was blowing bubbles and I was snapping away. This one won me $250 gift card to Target and $100 worth of bubble products from the Gazillion Bubble company. You can't get this at a photography studio. Impromptu photos are the ones that are great, not fake poses...

 

[ekatiel]

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.

We love Portrait Innovations, too. We haven't been there since Christmas (so things could ahve changed), but we only had to buy three poses to get the CD. We always get the $10 package plus three more poses so we can get the CD. We end up paying just under $90. HTH! --Katie

 

[lucigo]

We took my youngest to a professional photographer every 3 months, and although she did a great job (she really did), my favorite ended up being ones I took myself. We had to photoshop out the date to hang in it on the wall so keep that in mind and don't make the same mistake!

Another tip I have is to find a graphic design/photography student at your local college! We have one who will do beach pix, candids, whatever you want and give you the whole disc for a very good price. We always tip her well. Here is one of hers...she captures the essence if you KWIM...

When you have a child with autism catching these beautiful eyes can be a challenge, and definitely not something you get on command at a photography studio.

BTW...these aren't the same kid LOL

 

[lucigo]

Another time, youngest was sitting on the porch swing again and my camera was just setting on my knee again. She was blowing bubbles and I was snapping away. This one won me $250 gift card to Target and $100 worth of bubble products from the Gazillion Bubble company. You can't get this at a photography studio. Impromptu photos are the ones that are great, not fake poses...

Beautiful! Did you find a contest to enter about bubbles after you took the picture?

 

[lucigo]

I have my own processing that I like to do. These are my kid's portraits from 2 years ago.

So you develop them yourself? Thats pretty cool! We recently bought a new lens with a really shallow depth of field or focal length? (I think thats what its called?) I love the pix but boy you have to take 100 to get one good one, especially if you have a moving target LOL (We recently took kitten pix - what a challenge!)

 

[mrudman]

I agree with taking your own pictures.. as long as you have a decent camera, it really isn't hard to do. Sure, you won't have the "professional" backdrops, or may not get "professional-looking" pictures, but to capture the child's true essence or their true facial expressions is well worth it. Most of the time, my dd's school pictures have them looking too stiff, and not smiling their true smile. And the studios such as picture people, sears, etc. have had them looking too 'posed' in my opinion.

Sure, I still have their school pics taken each year, just to have them, and I've taken them to the professional photo studios as well, to have professional looking pictures taken.. but most of my favorites of my dd's have been the ones I've taken myself.

Here's just a few examples of ones I've taken in the last couple yrs... excuse the size differences, having a hard time re-sizing them today.

This one was just a candid shot during a nice fall day as we were all raking up leaves (and she needed a break, lol).

I LOVE this one, cause this just totally captures my younger dd's personality.. she was riding her bike on the porch at my relative's vacation house, and she was not wanting me to take a pic of her.. so she was giving me "the look", hehe.

like to take a pic of both dd's in their halloween costumes each year, so this was a "posed" pic in that I had her in her costume outside.. but i love her expression/pose.. totally "her".

And this was just a candid shot of younger dd as she was playing in the sandbox.

I like doing their Christmas pics each year too.. we have a lot of out-of-town relative, so send a pic with each christmas card. And after the first few yrs of paying for the pictures, found it was just as easy to take them myself, and a whole lot cheaper since I need about 40 copies of the pic. So this was one from last year.

 

[dreamalittledream]

I tend to use JCP, I love 2 of the photographers there. It really depends on the photographers. they also have the good deals out there currently.

 

[mrodgers]

Beautiful! Did you find a contest to enter about bubbles after you took the picture?

Actually, yes I did. I had the picture and my wife said she found a contest that it would be perfect for. It was for Funrise toy company, which is the makers of Gazillion Bubble products (or distributor). If you google Funrise, they had another contest this year. Unfortunately, it was really nothing more than a vote popularity contest.

So you develop them yourself? Thats pretty cool! We recently bought a new lens with a really shallow depth of field or focal length? (I think thats what its called?) I love the pix but boy you have to take 100 to get one good one, especially if you have a moving target LOL (We recently took kitten pix - what a challenge!)

If by "develop" you mean like film, then no. They are digital and I just play around with them in Photoshop. It is merely a $200 superzoom that is about 3 years old now.

I had a yellow Lab. Try as I might, I could not get a good picture of her out playing in the yard. She was just too darn fast. My kids couldn't throw the ball or frisbee far enough and by the time I threw it and got the camera up to my eye, the dog was sitting at my feet waiting for me to throw again. This one is a shot my, then 7 year old, daughter got. A little bit overexposed, but she's not a full fledged manual control photographer yet...

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

I used to take DD to Babies R Us, I did when she was 1 and 2....
Now I don't even bother, you pay so much, the kids don't sit still, its crazy.
Instead I take her to the beach when the sun is setting, put her in a pretty dress and start snapping away. This is from last week....

I got a few 8x10s (2.99 on snapfish)
some 4x6s and 5x7s
so much cheaper than Babies r us.
Good Luck with whatever you decided to do.

 

[sherry7]

When the kids are outside playing, I will hang out on the porch with the camera beside me. I'll be messing around with the guitar, messing around on the laptop, or just hanging out. My youngest was sitting on the porch swing chilling out while I sat in a chair and had the camera sitting on my knee. I was just snapping pictures when I got the one I posted earlier.

Another time, youngest was sitting on the porch swing again and my camera was just setting on my knee again. She was blowing bubbles and I was snapping away. This one won me $250 gift card to Target and $100 worth of bubble products from the Gazillion Bubble company. You can't get this at a photography studio. Impromptu photos are the ones that are great, not fake poses...

I absolutely LOVE that picture!

 

[sherry7]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I am a bit of a photography buff, so I do understand why some of you said just to take candid photos of her myself. Still though, I like studio/professional pictures as well. I wish I could afford to hire a professional photographer on a regular basis...I did that with my DS's high school senior pictures and they were outstanding.

Anyway...after reading the replies here I had decided to go to Portrait Innovations, even though it's almost an hour drive away. But today, I had to go to Target to return some items. The baby was waking up right as we walked in the store, so I walked back to the portrait studio to see if they had an opening. They did, but unfortunately Olivia went into "melt down" mode a few minutes later. Amazingly, the photographer managed to get several good shots of her between the times she was screaming. I ended up being in all of the shots since the baby didn't want me to put her down, but that was okay since I really wanted some Mommy/Daughter pictures.

We were fortunate that we got a good photographer, and I wrote down her name so I can request her for any future appointments. The prices weren't bad at all. There was a $3.99 per sheet coupon, but I ended up also buying a couple of the collages that she did which were more expensive. Still, I only spent $95 and got a lot of pictures.

Here's my favorites from the session, some are duplicates in black & white.

 

[CC12005]

Sherry7
Great photos. Only $95 for those beautiful pictures. You got a great deal. Your daughter doesn't look fussy. She looks like an angel.

 

[lucigo]

Sherry7
Great photos. Only $95 for those beautiful pictures. You got a great deal. Your daughter doesn't look fussy. She looks like an angel.

I agree, great deal!! Good thing you were dressed for the occasion! LOL I know its hard to get out the door with a newborn and look your best..but you look great, and I love the mommy/baby pix

 

[sherry7]

Sherry7
Great photos. Only $95 for those beautiful pictures. You got a great deal. Your daughter doesn't look fussy. She looks like an angel.

I agree, great deal!! Good thing you were dressed for the occasion! LOL I know its hard to get out the door with a newborn and look your best..but you look great, and I love the mommy/baby pix

Awww, thanks....you ladies are making me and Olivia blush.

 

[MinnieForMe]

Absolutely beautiful both mommy and baby! Thanks for sharing!

 

[daisy2jae]

We go to a local photographer. She charges $35.00 sitting fee up to 3 outfits. She lets us buy all the proofs for $25.00 and normally we get 60+ pictures. We order one 8 x 10 for the wall $25.00 and some wallets for friends. We let grandparents buy the size and price they want. She's amazing and will do outdoor or indoor. She even came to us once to do the photos. Maybe you can find someone local. We also have a really nice camera and take photos ourselves at the lake. Then make prints from walmart for friends/family.