Picture People portraits? And clothes advice

[noodleoo]

Anyone go there before? I bought a groupon for a picture session. My goal is to get a nice family portrait of the 3 of us. H takes great photos of baby so we don't really need those. Any advice? I have no idea what to wear. I still feel totally fat and my sister took some photos of us a few weeks ago and I looked terrible. I wore a dress that looked fine in the mirror but came out awful on camera. Any suggestions?

[oregonpachey]

We go every year. I never spend more than $75. Don't get sucked into any of their extras. If you want picture examples, I can probably PIP some. Just let me know.

[Ashley&Scott]

Wear something you feel comfortable in. Start with your outfit & build around it.

[drloretta]

Oct 8, 2015 13:33:01 GMT -5 Ashley&Scott said:

Wear something you feel comfortable in. Start with your outfit & build around it.

This. And focus on head shots if you're concerned about full body shots

[vmars]

It all depends who you get. Our photographer was a little weird, but nice and got some great shots. Luckily they were busy and we already knew we just wanted a CD of the hi res photos. The girl we got didn't give us a sales pitch just got our cd and let us leave.

[pizzapizza]

Oct 8, 2015 13:24:05 GMT -5 gravytrain225 said:

This probably depends on where you go or who you get, but they were so incredibly pushy. I was there with a $15 coupon and they started offering me a $500 package. Lol forever!

We went there as well for pictures of the baby.  I did not get my act together and her hair was kind of looking funky (couldn't find the baby comb as we were rushing out of the house).  The photographer was very nice but my daughter wasn't really feeling it.  I thought the pictures were just ok.  When reviewing the pictures they were kind of pushy, although my husband was no help at all he thought the pictures were fine.   While we did not spend $500, we spent much more than I wanted to.  Also try and go when it is not busy, the photographer was able to spend alot of time with us taking my daughter's picture because he did not have any appointments after us.

[redheadk]

Know that they have to do certain poses and a certain number of shots.

We did pics there of my dd and niece for Mother's Day one year with a coupon. Dd was not at all into it the first time but the second time we went (because she refused to take pics alone the first visit) we got an awesome photographer that was amazing with dd. I was really happy with those pictures. I was upfront that I was just there for a "redo" and not interested in more than one pose to complete a set and he accommodated us.

[thebreakfastclub]

My CW used them a lot, but she went in and said out loud that her budget was $50 or whatever and held firm despite the upsell attempts.

We found a great photographer doing fall mini sessions this time last year. It was $75 for 30 minutes with rights to 20 images, and we went to an orchard. They turned out really great. I saw a couple of photographers offering Sat/Sun sessions like that.

[mainelyfoolish]

I rarely get more than the $18 one photo package deal; tell them up front if you're using a coupon or a Groupon and they're usually not too pushy with the upsell. If you plan to go for pictures two or more times in a year, it might be worth getting the $40 annual membership card which will get you some more prints and discounts.

If there's a certain pose or background you want, ask for it. They do have a certain repertoire of poses, but I've never had a photographer unwilling to try something else or take the majority of the photos with the background that I prefer.

If the photo session is a total bust, you don't have to buy anything. I had one time where my kid would absolutely not cooperate and we got zero decent pictures, so I rescheduled and we did better the second time. 

[noodleoo]

Oct 8, 2015 13:28:36 GMT -5 oregonpachey said:

We go every year. I never spend more than $75. Don't get sucked into any of their extras. If you want picture examples, I can probably PIP some. Just let me know.

I'd love that! Especially group shots if you've done that. I have no idea what to wear. What is more flattering, pants or a dress or skirt?

[Deleted]

We use the groupon all the time. They don't push us at all, just show the options and move on

[noodleoo]

Thanks everyone! Good to know, I was prepared for the upswell but I really just want one good family shot. Hopefully we won't get sucked into buying too many, although if DD is in a good mood and the pics come out too cute then I might. Hoping to stick with the $16 deal though!

[Deleted]

[oregonpachey]

I don't have the most recent ones scanned in, but here are the older ones. Here is a newborn one:







The last one, that really is the color of the picture. I don't remember the name of the finish, but I loved the washed out color.

Me and DH aren't in any of the pictures. I really should get family pictures of my kids. LOL.

[oregonpachey]

I found more, lol.

[noodleoo]

Oct 8, 2015 15:55:23 GMT -5 ladybug said:

You guys look great! Although I can't figure out where your legs are! I definitely want baby in my lap to hide my belly! 

[Deleted]

With the Groupon they sell you all the photos on a disc for $75. I have taken dd there and they do an OK job. It's cheap.

[Deleted]

Oct 8, 2015 18:56:39 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Oct 8, 2015 15:55:23 GMT -5 ladybug said:

You guys look great! Although I can't figure out where your legs are! I definitely want baby in my lap to hide my belly! 

Haha! This wasn't the best lighting for a picture of a picture but my daughter is sitting on my legs!

[noodleoo]

Wanted to say thank you for the advice! The pictures came out awesome and we ended up buying the $100 package (images on CD and trilogy frame). I am so happy, they actually got several really good family portraits. I'm hooked!