Portrait Innovations

I wish I could give 0 stars. We had a great experience at JC Penny last year and so we were shocked at the level of incompetence and indifference we witnessed here.
To start, the photographer told us that the standard resolution images were 300 dpi. We decided that could work for us as were were not going to continue with our session if we had to pay almost $ 300 to get «high res» digital images. So we made a purchase decision based on false information.
We then got a CD with images that were unusable at 96 dpi. Since the incorrect information was given to our entire family and one other family there also heard, Natalie promised a «Business CD» of 300 dpi images of everything we got PRINTS of. That’s only 8 out of the 70 images we expected to get usable 300 dpi digital files for! We were promised 70 300dpi images; she offered 8 300dpi images to «correct» the situation. We accepted after reading all the other negative Unilocal reviews (which we should’ve done beforehand) and seeing that this company and this location just did not care.
Even still, Natalie was not true to her word. She promised the 8-​image CD by Sat ¹⁄₃₀ and did not prepare it. Tuesday I called again before driving another hour back to the facility and Syreeta answered and put me on hold to check to see if it was ready. She left me on hold 12 minutes and did not return. I hung up and called back, and she answered. I reminded her I had been on hold and was told «Oh it wasn’t ready».
I called corporate and they got Natalie to finally burn the CD today, and she only included 3 of the 8 printed images. So in the end we got 3 of the 70 images we were expecting based on the original photographer’s info. Again, another misrepresentation. I cannot waste another minute chasing down a group of employees who show no interest in doing things right the first or even second time.
Sad. A waste of many hours of my life and my family’s to end up with pretty much nothing we came in for.

This was the most unprofessional facility. We had an appointment and were told there were 6 families in front of us. What is the purpose of appointments? All of the staff needs to be replaced with individuals who actually care about their jobs. The manager came up and didn’t said a word about working to deescalate the situation. I will never come back or recommend them to anyone. Now after reading the previous reviews, this seems to be a constant issue.

Our appointment was scheduled for 1:00, needless to say we waited one hour. Then why make an appointment? With children, it is difficult for them to be patient that long. I would not recommend this place unless you have plenty of time on your hands.

We are in very interesting times. Photo studios are closing down left and right. Olan Mills, Sears, WalMart, locations of Target, etc. Now, I was a bit young and was not the main decision maker, but when you went to Olan Mills, while the photos were pricey, you felt like you had something after you made your selection. The photo paper was high quality. The photos were actually cut professionally. You had a nice little golden logo in the corner with the Olan Mills symbol. You had realistic wait times. So… fast forward to now. I have a newborn. I want to ensure that I have milestone events of her life (at least the start) for the records. Somehow, I ended up going to Portrait Innovations. While I did not really care for the way that backgrounds were selected for me without ANY regard for what I might be looking for, I can get beyond all of that. What it boils down to for me is the fact that the business practices for selling photos is high pressure, big package.
So… you saw parents of a newborn that are just fresh off of the classification of DINK’s that are fresh blood & sure to want all of the pics of their new baby. But, seriously… WHO needs ALL of those dang photos? Should you locate your closest 30 friends and offer each of them a full set of photos to include a 10×13, 8×10,5×7 and 8 wallets of your newborn. Should I return to do the same for them each quarter? This is absolutely silly. But, wait… I want it printed on your low quality paper. I want the line of demarcation to barely exist so that I cut the photos crooked because you can’t be bothered to cut it for your customers. Oh, and all 1,567 pics? We are going to just stuff them all into this envelope for ya, you can figure out for yourself how to organize them.
Oh, and nice trick to tell me when you are starting your high pressure sales tactic on me that I will get ALL of my pics that day. But, give me a nice little print out as you hand me the pics that you have that states that the rest of the pics will be available in a few weeks (but it isn’t even on hand on THAT date). As you look at modern day technology, you will notice that computers are not as widely used, customers are lacking CD drives — but what most people want is a simple disk to be able to print off their own low quality photos or to have the opportunity to make photo albums on their own.
You got me twice in ONE week, but I PROMISE… NEVER AGAIN!

After my experience at this studio I would never go back. I did have a coupon which I understand is to get you in the door. Yasmine was our photographer she did take beautiful pictures. When I was ready to view them this is where the problem came in. So I was reviewing the pictures I had to pick my favorite for the coupon great no big deal. Then I asked several times for a price list! she continued to say you’ll see as I go! Patiently I said ok! She started at about 309.00 for the first package. I said I can’t afford that went down 15.00 increments when she got down approx 200 ish I said if u give me a price list I’ll let you know what I can afford! She then said DID U EXPECT TO GET PROFESSIONAL PICTURES FOR UNDER 200.00. I was floored then she continued to say I took all those pictures with 2 outfits and your not going to buy a package? I said I have to see what I can afford! She was rude and couldn’t sell anything to a fly with that attitude .
So today I called the corporate office. The lady listened and didn’t say anything like I’m sorry for the troubles. All she said is I recorded what you said. I replied I would like a manager to call me back. She said this will be handled internally and you won’t receive a call back. I said again I would like someone to call me back she said the same Sh.
She said I can offer you a 15.00 voucher off your next visit. I replied I would never go back thanks!! z

Had a session there with Natalie about 1 week ago. She was good with my daughter, but the poses, backgrounds, and props were cheesy, cheap, and dirty. The pictures came out okay– albeit super expected poses, not creative in the least, and kinda old-​school looking. After the shoot, they sit you down and show you the pictures on a low-​res monitor. I truly believe this is to hide the flaws. Packages are ridiculously priced and include all these stupid, useless, cheapo objects. Who uses a flimsy calendar? A vignette of double images? This is not 1982. If you want the disc of high-​res images, you have to buy a large package of junk. They insist that you cannot get the disc with a smaller package — the least you can spend and get the disc is $ 300.
So long story short, got the prints home and the color on the prints was way different then on screen. Also, the imperfections that weren’t visible on the low res viewing monitor, were clear as day on the prints. The images appeared fuzzy, out of focus, and oddly colored. Put the disc in my iMac to look at the images digitally — just to find out they too were low res and blurry. I called and Natalie answered, she told me I’d have to drive all the way up there and they’d reburn the disc. Um… I live in Midtown — it’s a 45 minute drive each way. I truly feel like the employees could care less about the experience and quality at Portrait Innovations.
UPDATE: Contacted Stephanie Stowe, the manager, and working with her to get the hi-​res images that should have been on the disc. Will revise star rating once problem is fully resolved.

I gave two stars for the great photographer we had and the flexibility of different backgrounds and opportunity to change clothes. However I regret going with portrait innovations it’s a complete ripoff and I don’t understand why they keep your pictures hostage. I’ll stick to JcPenny where I get all my pictures on a hi res CD with printouts for a decent price. You would need to have about $ 300 to get your pics on hi res CD. Like I don’t care about the photo books or fancy picture sets. At the very least you should at least have the opportunity to order more pictures online after the fact but oh no that’s not even an option! I can only order crap like mugs and stuff. It’s very frustrating and disappointing. I will never go back and never recommend.

I actually wrote a good review a couple years ago, but my family had a terrible experience this year, so I had to come back to update. Two absolutely opposite reviews demonstrate honesty though!
This year we went back yet again due to a $ 19.99 package deal. We made an appointment for 5 pm one day, and we got there about 5 minutes early. When we checked in, we immediately noticed the place was a madhouse. But the women at the front desk didn’t say anything to us about whether we’d have a wait time, so we just went in and sat down.
Approximately 20 minutes later, no one had said a word to us, so my mom went to the front desk to inquire. Not only did they not apologize, but they were flat out rude to her. They said that due to the holiday season, they were overbooked. And due to families having children who don’t «behave» they were unable to stay on time. Interestingly, my mom said when she booked the appointment, they asked her whether we’d have any children. So what’s the point of asking that question if they’re not going to allot any additional time to families with children? They told us at that point we had about another 30 minutes to wait.
45 minutes later, we were still waiting. First rule of customer service: DO NOT underestimate wait time! The fact that they don’t understand this very simple concept is proof enough of their incompetence and lack of care for their customers.
This time I went to the front desk with my mom to inquire again. Again, there was no apology, and we were given the same excuse that they were overbooked and running late because of children. When I said our appointment was at 5 pm, and it was now after 6 pm, the response I got was «Having an appointment does not mean you will be seen at the time of the appointment. It just means you’re guaranteed to be seen that day.» Oh really?! Maybe they should look up the definition of appointment in the dictionary. I’ve never heard any establishment claim that to be their policy and find it absolutely RIDICULOUS that they would say such a thing! I told them if that’s their idea of scheduling, they should explain that when appointments are made.
Finally, we were taken into a room for our photos after about an hour and 15 minutes of waiting. We were so frustrated at this point that we told our photographer we only wanted full family photos; we didn’t want to waste our time taking couple or individual shots. The photographer rushed to take a total of 22 photos, and she completely ignored our request and kept asking us to take separate parent and children shots. Then she said we needed to leave the room and WAIT AGAIN to go into a different room with different backgrounds.
At this point, we were livid. We went back to the front desk and told them we didn’t want to wait yet again for another room, and we’d choose our photos from the ones we’d already taken. Here’s a snapshot of the conversation that followed:
Me: We don’t want to wait anymore and would like to just pick our photos and leave.
Front desk: A normal photo session lasts around 1.5 hours anyway, and you’ve only been here for 1.5 hours. So it’s not like you’ve wasted any time.
Me: We spent an hour and 15 minutes of that 1.5 hours WAITING, not taking photos! The room we’re supposed to go to next has children in it, so it’s going to take a long time before it’s our turn again. We’d rather not.
Front desk: I don’t know if there’s children in your next room, so I can’t estimate how long it will be before you can get in there.
Me: There are children in there. I can see them from where I’m standing. I just told you that.
Front desk: If you can see them, then why did you ask me?
Me: I didn’t ask you, I TOLD you!
What kind of a conversation is that?! After that they said they’d tell our photographer we were finished with our shoot, but I never saw them leave the front desk. So after 10 more minutes of waiting and not seeing any movement from them, we found our photographer ourselves and told her we wanted to just end our session. Although she was willing to let us go, once she found out we weren’t taking any more photos, she never looked us in the eye again.
We very quickly chose the photos we wanted, paid, and left. The pictures themselves were only ok quality, but since they were cheap, we don’t really care. What we do care about is how RUDE EVERYONE we encountered was, and how we never once got an apology for anything, just excuses that didn’t make sense. We will never go back and are filing a complaint with the corporate office as well.
Unless you want to wait at least 1.5 hours and experience incompetent and just plain rude staff, I’d highly recommend never going to this place.

Pictures aren’t bad but bit great either. The «props» are worn and damaged and can make your pictures look terrible and cheap. If you go in for a special watch out they always try to upsell you on other packages. I though the CD would have been good. It’s total CRAP! Unless you have a pro picture printer at home it’s about as useful as a toddler frisbee. You think when you purchase the disk you’d be able to make your prints. Even after I specifically asked if I could use it on an online printing sight and was told «yes!».
You can’t even order prints online. Mugs and other junk is all you can get. Why… I have no idea.
If you want inexpensive pics this place is fine. Don’t go looking for anything artsy or out of the «sale» package though.

I have been a customer since 2007 and love this place but HATE this location with a passion. Our photos were horrid; the poses, lighting, quality, everything! For the first time I had to return my photos and get a refund. The new guy sucked beyond measure. I went back for refund which I was told I could get just to be told I have to mail something off just to get my money back. There was NO sympathy by the staff. I’ll never return again taking my business elsewhere from now on! They don’t even deserve the 1 star truthfully!

We went to the location in Newnan, GA. Photos turned out great, but once they sit you down and try to sell the photo packages things went to hell. We just wanted a CD or thumb drive of the photos. After several minutes of the sales person trying to get us to buy an album or collage, we flat out told them we just wanted the CD. They continued to refuse because its not an authorized package (granted they have the ability to make the CD). After another 10 – 15 minutes of going back and forth we just left and got the phone number of the manager.
Fast forward to the next day, we have a friend go to the store and ask about getting a CD. The employee said they could make a CD. At that point, my friend calls me and I come into the store and the manager and I have a talk. Finally after using their own employee’s statement against them, they made me a CD of the photos. To reprint the photos I just resaved the as a different file to get rid of the copy right stuff.
I would never go back because they know you can get the pictures printed cheaper elsewhere and they are just trying to make a buck. But be advised they will make a CD.

Some rated this place pretty low, however you have to be specific and know exactly what you want before you get there and let your photographer know beforehand.
Yes, there were quite a few people there but we only waited about 5 minutes. We had an appointment. Our photographer was absolutely wonderful and made our first time experience great! I felt like we were the only ones in the studio.
We had a coupon and paid $ 150 for 9 poses, which included a cd, calendar, hard and soft books, and decorative poses.
Our pics looked really good. I mean, it helped that we are damn good looking anyway… hehehe. We will be back!!! Oh and you can also change into another outfit…

Worst experince ever! I arrived 20 minutes early for my appt (as I was directed to do), and the place was packed… completely OVER-​BOOKED. My appt started 30 min late, and I was given an INCOMPLETE session… completely rushed through. Got 2 – 3 poses of my child (who by then was crying) while others around me got no less than 10 poses. They took about 22 pictues while others arond me got over 60! I was given measly $ 10 off their over-​priced package… or the option to reschedule my appointment. I live far away and was not going to waste the time/​gas to come back. Very unprofessional… DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY.

The actual shoot we had was good. The wait was reasonable, and the pictures were decent. However, I did not want printed pictures. I prefer buying the pictures on CD with the photo release form, and when I stated this to the PI photog, she simply stated the CD comes with the package you buy. As such, I bought the cheapest package available that included the CD. Upon receiving the CD, I noticed all of the pictures were low resolution proofs. I explained this was not what I wanted, and then they went on to tell me they can only give me the high res copy, with the release form, for the prints that I had purchased which was about 3 different poses. The cost is$ 15 per image which is ridiculous. Out of the 100 pictures we took, there were 24 that I really wanted which would have cost $ 360. In short I wasted 3 hrs of my life that I cannot get back.
If you are in the digital age and prefer your pictures on CD, DO NOT go to Portrait Innovations as you’ll be severely disappointed. I’m guessing they make their money on the cost of prints which customers are pushed towards.

Disappointing to say the least. My brother and sister-​in-​law used PI in Mobile to have Christmas photos taken of my niece. The pictures came out very cute and were reasonably priced. While they were in Atlanta for a weekend this spring we decided to get some family shots done. We had an appointment for Sunday morning (this is when they were supposed to be least busy) and this place was slam packed when we arrived. Somehow we only ended up waiting 30 minutes. I thought that it was going to be significantly longer based on the number of people in there.
It was time for our shoot and our photographer really rushed us. She kept asking us «what shots do you want,» «how do you want to pose.» It has been my experience with «professional» photographers that they design the shots. She shot all our pictures on a white background and we had to ask that the background be changed for shots of my niece. The photographer acted like this was a huge request and seemed upset about it. The worst part of the whole process was trying to make selections for which photos we wanted to purchase. They rushed us through the process and made us select almost instantaneously. If we asked to go back to look at pictures that had been «discarded» the person helping us made it seem like a big deal and inconvenience. Somehow we ended up spending well over $ 300 for pictures that came out looking sub par. The coloring looked nothing like it did on the monitor we used for viewing. The pictures are dark and lackluster. I probably won’t even display them in my home. We were also told that the CD containing our photos would be «low resolution and wouldn’t look good if uploaded to a website.» What is the point of the CD then? Really disappointed in the customer service and quality of PI. We won’t be going back…