Sears Portrait Studio

The studio was unattractive. The person who took our photos was nice but not a photographer. She clicked a camera button. She knew how to work the Sears computer system. That was it. I have three small children, I knew they would be hard to photograph, but I thought that the photographer would be accustomed to this. She seemed to be clueless in understanding how to work with kids. The result-​terrible photographs. There were really none to select from, most of them were kids looking in different directions, spaced far apart and just plain… bad. The background was ugly. They forgot to do the Christmas background I had requested. I would never go back, even if they were cheap.

They take good photos, I had many great shots to choose from, but the store and the studio are dingy. And even worse, we ended up waiting OVER TWO HOURS when we had a scheduled appointment. It’s a wonder my child did not melt down. And as others have said, don’t buy many prints at the store. You can purchase the same photos from their website later for half the cost!

First, the bad: Everything in the studio is cheap and worn, and you have to wait a million years for your appointment and then a million more years to view the pictures. Come with toys and snacks for your kids, because there is nothing but one tired old toy to keep the kids entertained. Now, the good — I keep coming back to the place because it is so AFFORDABLE and I consistently get good shots of my kids! I go there at least twice a year (birthdays and holidays), and I’ve always left with a great set of pics for the grandparents without breaking the bank. I go in expecting to pay $ 150 to have enough pictures to send to the grandparents and to get a CD with the original images in case I want more, and I always leave happy. Let’s be real — you’re never going to get a 40 pics for $ 9.99 — that’s just for if you want a quickie photo shoot, not for if you actually like more than one picture. They’d go out of business if that was the case. I’ll keep coming back despite the less-​than-​no-​frills ambience because I get the pictures I need at a good price.

I went to get photos of myself and my 9 month pregnant fiancé and we ended up dealing with more that we expexted. We were there for two and a half hours!!! We were finally seen 1 hour after our appointment time and not once during that time did an employee come out and check on us. I was however pleased with the outcome of the photos and being that the baby is coming any day now I’m glad we got it done.
I’d recomend showing up late, and don’t but a package! Just order prints on-​line later. This will save you much time and energy

Absolutely fantastic customer service here. Was helped by Shanice, who was thoroughly informative, professional, and cheerful. Was getting my passport photos, and could not have asked for better experience.

I’ve spent a lot on professional, more «artistic» photographers, so I wanted to try the alternative with Sears. I was actually happy with my photos, but unhappy with my general experience at this studio. I might return for the convenience and cost, even though the visit was a little stressful.
The strong salesman-​y vibe was annoying and slightly sleazy. We did one session and the photographer was great. She managed to get some great poses and was patient with my toddler. However, we waited awhile for our session to begin and after it was finished, my baby was tired and we just wanted to leave. I told the photographer that we needed to leave and wanted to choose and buy prints online. She said that we would have to wait. After 40 minutes, she sat down with us and tried to up sell us on packages and photoshopped «enhanced» photos. She pressured us and really didn’t make it sound as if there was an alternative. So we sat down and I bought a package, choosing my prints quickly while my baby cried so I could just get out of there asap.
Then later in the day, I received an email from Sears with a link to a site with all my photos and the ability to order prints online. So we didn’t even have to stick around! We could just buy prints online afterall! So what could have been a quick and easy visit to get decent photos turned out to be generally stressful.
I may go again and just walk out after the photo session and check the prints online, but who knows if they would upload my photos.
pros: convenience, ease getting an appointment, photographer expertise, cost
cons: hustling of packages and enhanced photos

I got better service and better quality pictures from an amateur photographer for a third of the cost. Those people are true hustlers. The customer service was slow. I had to wait almost 30 minutes after my scheduled appointment to get served.

The photographer was 35 minutes late opening the studio, which accounts for the minimal rating. However, the photos came out great.

This is the 4^th Sears portrait studio I have been to. While I have yet to pick up my pictures the customer service was significantly good enough for me to give them a positive cs rating.
Had pictures taken of my daughter & my sister’s 3 kids. The photographer did an adequate job of making sure we had enough poses to choose from. But she took just one of each pose. I am used to having more choices. There was one of my nephew that would have been nice to have a different choice.
So this studio would be average. Good customer service. Adequate pictures, but not a lot of choices for each pose and not a lot of creativity in posing.