Portraits

Vision Photography is AMAZING!! visionphotomi.com, she will come to you or you can go to her studio in Royal Oak.

Portrait Innovations in Brighton is good. I used to go to JCP, but hated having to wait a couple weeks to go back and pick up the pics. With PI, you get your pics back within an hour.

Portrait Innovations! I love them and they are reasonably priced. We ordered the smallest package you could to get the CD of all 60 poses! It was about $119. It was well worth it. They are the nicest and best trained photographers! We can take our CD back to them for reprints on any poses! I will be going to them for all of our portrait needs!

We have done both and HATED JCP. We had a horrible experience. On the other hand we LOVE PI. Best pictures for an amazing price!!!

Keepsake Portrait Studio is better than both and less expensive as well. It's next to Randazzo's at 16/Garfield.

Portrait Innovations gives you the most pictures for your money and is definitely on-par with the cost of JC Penney. Personally, I have done both, and think that Portrait Innovations does a better job.

My favorite place, however, is Picture People. It can be pricey, but if you sign up for their deals there is always some sort of free picture (with no catch) that you can get.

Just my 2 cents!

I have never been to JC Penney, but we use Portrait Innovations and love them.

I have had bad experiences with PI (the one by Lakeside Mall). I find that they don't ask you what you want, and they insist on taking photos that you don't want. On two different occasions, the girls were very rude. One was rolling her eyes and sighing a lot when my nephew was being difficult (a little bit...definitely not the worst she's seen, i'm sure). The photographers have not been very creative. They usually start with a white background, and don't ask what you want until the end, when your kids have had enough. I went to Penney's (at lakeside) and had a great experience. Dana was so nice, and friendly, and creative. They have more props and backgrounds to choose from.

I think it depends on what you want. at PI, you can't beat the $9.95 special, but I have sensed some attitude from the girls when that's all we wanted to order. If you want a lot of photos, they are probably the best, and you get them same day. Just be prepared to speak up about what you want in the beginning. If you have ideas...say them right away!

I have always taken my kids to JCPenney. They are 6 and 9 now. We have tried a few different JCPenneys but have had the best results at the JCPenney at 12 Oaks mall. The photographers there are really good with my kids and I always have quite a few poses to choose from. (My daughter loves having her picture taken and we usually have 20 to 30 poses to choose from. My son isn't quite as cooperative, but we have always ended up with 10 or more poses to choose from.)

I HIGHLY recommend Keepsake Portraits.

JC Penny is ok. but the real photographers aren't nearly as good as the ones who take the sample photos up on their wall and they don't have most of the poses and props that they show in the samples. If you only want to select between these two places, though, I recommend them over Portrait Innovations.

Portrait Innovations is crazy busy and crowded. We have been there twice. We had to wait an hour before they were ready to see us each time despite an appointment. We had other people's kids walking in to our "shooting" area because their parents weren't watching them (I had to interupt the shoot to get them to leave and go back to their parents). You have to wait for other families to finish with a background before you can use it. Then when you are finished you have to wait again before you can see your "proofs" and you HAVE to look at them and choose right then. You can't even leave for an hour and come back. It makes for a very stressful, long experience.

Keepsake Portraits is a LITTLE more expensive, especially if you want a million copies to give to every single relative and friend. But, personally, I would rather have a quality photo. I send my relatives a wallet and if they want more they can order more for themselves through the internet. Keepsake is still quite affordable, though, compared to other places. Their is one photographer who owns the studio, so what you see in the samples is exactly what you get! You have an appointment and she only schedules one family per hour, so she is on time and you are in the studio all by yourself! She does a wonderful job and is great with kids. You CAN look at the proofs and choose right after the session or you can wait until you go home and look over the internet. You can even get her to make changes to the photos over the phone. She crops, does vingettes, and other enhancements at no extra cost. She is VERY accomodating to what you want.

We've used Portrait Innovations. I like that they take a ton of shots, you get to narrow it down right there and see the price. Plus you leave with them in hand, no going back, etc. I have noticed that for our family shot, it's the same pose, so I'm going to be sure to ask for something different. We're doing my son's 18 month old pics there next week. I have friends that also use them and are always satisfied.

Good luck!

Try onceuponamemoryphotography.com
My niece runs her own business out of her home as well as working at a studio (Focal Point in Canton). She is awesome! She will come to your house or meet you someplace...check out her site. :)
D.

Portrait Innovations, hands down. Hated the pics at JCP (in Ann Arbor), love the pics at PI.