Portrait Innovations

I only come back because usually I can get a good deal. But it doesn’t matter if you have an appointment, you will wait. You will wait minimum of 20 minutes after your scheduled appointment time. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
It’s hit or miss if the staff is courteous.
After your session you will wait a minimum of another 20 minutes to load the pictures. Then you will sit with a sales person determined to sell you the highest package. It doesn’t matter if you don’t want it, you have to start at like a $ 600 package and let them continuously down sell you.
So minimum time there– 2 hours
I suffer through the misery because I get a good amount of pictures for the cost. That’s the only
Reason it gets 2 stars. I’m not sure if I recommend it or not. It depends on what you’re looking for.

Do not go here! This was the worst portrait experience I have ever had. We waited beyond our appointment time and by the time we were taken back my kids were very fussy… had a 6 month old with us. The staff was also very rude. Also the photos were horrible and had to have them reprinted and they are still not ready! Save your money and time, spend a little extra and go to a professional photographer.

Love this location! Great specials… be prepared to over spend the picture s are so cute! Julie is awesome and customer service is great. My family gets all our pictures done there! Thanks for the beautiful memories!

I’ve been taking all my family photos here because they have really good specials in addition to getting your pictures printed right then and there. The associates will always try to upsell you into getting this extravagant package that costs a lot of money. I personally only am there for their featured coupon and if I see another pose that I want, then I’ll just buy that sheet at an additional cost. Don’t be pressured into spending tons of money unless that’s not a problem for you. Depending on who you get, if they see that you’re being «cheap», they’re attitude will be less friendly. The waits can also take a very long time even if you have an appointment which isn’t good for young children. The photos do come out great though.

I am a very disappointed customer, after having a bad experience 5 months ago I decided to give them a chance to redeem themselves «Why did I do that!!» I won’t say they have the worst customer service but I will say one bad apple has spoiled the bunch for me and we will not be back. This past May my baby did photos there and unfortunately we could not give them out or display them because the towel they used as a prop had a big visible tag in the picture & ruined it, also the cropping on the other poses made it difficult to even frame because it would cut out her face, after being promised that it would get fixed FIVE months later we are still without corrected pictures or my CD. The manager and I came to agreement for us to come in and take new photos done by her, well she was out sick no one bothered to call and cancel the session and to add insult to injury I experienced the worst representative there «TY» she was rude, screamed at me over the phone and basically gave me the impression that she didn’t value my business. I will not be back and I hope those that reading will re frame from going there also. They are always over booked, they screw up and act like you are the problem, and they have rude employees.

I was very disappointed this last time I went there. It would be the 4^th time I take my 3 year old there and the 2^nd for my 3month old. I should have known better. All the cousins took pictures when my son was 5 days old and I complained he was too little for all those extra poses and lighting but they said they were «required to take shots of each child separately». I was very upset and finally told them to stop when he was looking cross eyed, for god’s sake he was not even a week old but they had to «follow their rules». So we went again for a family picture and this time both kids did pretty good but I felt so rushed was not happy with the outcome. They put me in uncomfortable positions, didn’t give us time to ask for different poses, there was no creativity in the poses, no variety in backgrounds just white and gray, and I felt that they just rushed my 3 yr old through his self portrait shots. I was hoping to do some standing family poses to match with our previous fam pic, but by the time I realized we didn’t do any she was already showing us the packages. And every time we asked a question she had to consult it with someone else and they still didn’t have a straight answer. We were not pleased with the pictures so we decided to just get the 1 pose special and one extra sheet of the baby pics. Of course they kept pushing for us to buy $ 250 package so we could get the CD with high resolution pictures. We ended up getting a $ 70 package with CD, 3 poses and a collage. They said we should go pick them up the next day because it would take too long, even though we were the only ones there, they just wanted to close. Next day the hubby goes after work and guess what, wrong sizes, wrong picture on the collage, and a really bad one. Again they said come back tomorrow and we will print the right ones. I called them to ask for my money back, I wanted to return everything and just get my 1 pose package. They said no refunds only offered a new session. So I called corporate and they didn’t seem to care about my complaints but they will mail me a check after I go return my stuff and get a voucher from the studio which I have to fax to corporate. It is all very upsetting, they give too much run around, no one wants to be held responsible. And they need to train their photographers on being more creative not just having someone sit there and take picture after picture. The only thing they were good at was making my kids laugh for the pictures, I will give them that. But they could have told me that my hair was messed up or that I looked too stiff instead of just letting the pictures be ruined. Overall an unpleasant experience, I will not go there again. If you want cheap prices there are many photographers in the Houston area that will do 30 – 60 minute sessions on beautiful outside locations for $ 50 – 100 and you get the CD so you can print your own pics.

At the Champions location, it’s a Joke. They schedule way too much at one time. You can’t find a place to sit and Drew Carey look –alike dude likes to make snippy comments about people. The staff is pretty rude in my opinion. Telling my kids they can’t take a picture with the fake Santa Claus by the door even when your basically paying to be there. Pictures are mediocre at best. Not a good experience… obviously

I was extremely disappointed that this place continuously over books or books the appointments too close together. I had a 9am appointment, didn’t get photographed until after 11am. The positives the female manager was awesome, even after a few upset customers voicing their concerns she was polite to everyone that approached her. Trust me many customers were upset. I hate to see how bad it is in December. The quality of the portraits were very good. Brad our photographer was awesome. These 2 made the situation bareable. Please do something about the holiday scheduling

Bradley was amazing! He was so upbeat and fun, my 13-​month old had a blast and the pictures show it. The prices are downright cheap. For easily less than $ 100 (I paid about $ 75 and didn’t even get the special deal) you get a LOT. I will be going back.

I am writing this as a longtime customer of Portrait Innovations. I’ve been a customer since they opened their studio in Cary, NC, in 2005 (?). Each year, I have been in with my children each Fall and Spring like clockwork. Last year, we relocated to the Houston area. I was delighted to see a studio in Sugar Land, even though it’s a bit of a drive from our new neighborhood in Katy.
This studio does not compare to the service I experienced in NC. The staff is not nearly as polite. They are not flexible when you want to deviate from their standard script. (After all these years, really, I know what I want and how to streamline the process! We’re working with children here, folks!)
When you come here for portraits, expect to wait. And wait. And wait. After your portrait sessions, an adult has to be ready to go through all the photos to select the final poses. This takes time and attention, something the kids have long since run out of at this point. You’d be wise to have another adult handy to watch the kids after the session.
But, why the low star rating, why today after years of being a customer? I had such a bad experience this morning that I actually left before our session. The appointment was scheduled for 9. We arrived at 8:45. Granted, this is a busy time of year, but intelligent scheduling should help manage this, yes? After waiting for over 45 minute with 2 families ahead of me, I bailed. Given limited time during the holidays, the hope of getting good pictures didn’t seem like a good trade for our hours. The front desk just asked my last name and literally shrugged shoulders at me. No apology. That really gets me.
There are many things that the manager could have done to improve the situation. For starters, someone could have been circulating from time to time to set expectations for those of us waiting. They could manage their scheduling better. Instead of seeing visions of $$$ dancing through their eyes today, they could think about building strong customer relationships for tomorrow. Finally, if I decide that it’s time for me to leave, APOLOGIZE. Just say sorry. Show some emotion. Communicate with me human to human.
Will I ever make the 40 minute drive back down to continue giving Portrait Innovations the privilege of photographing my children? Doubtful.

This new company in the portrait game is the closest your going to get to private photographer quality at wal-​mart or target prices. Don’t let their $ 9.95 special fool you. This is not cheap studio. They are at the top of their market quality wise higher than Studio-​one-​to-​one/​glamour shots, but priced to compete with wal-​mart. There are not fitting fees or minimum purchase either. You get the pictures same day, 15 minutes to about an hour depending on how busy it is. Would you rather have your kids picture taken on a table or in a studio room the size of a bedroom?
Don’t take your past experiences from other studios and expect the same run around here. When your photographer says to buy in the collections (3 sheets of a pose), do it. They are trying to get you a better deal, like they say. Not trying get the most of your money like you have come to expect. They don’t work on commission, so you should not feel pressured. If you do it is because you are too consumed by your misconceptions of value. If you spend more on your child’s outfit and on the pictures it is for, your priorities are in the wrong place.
The company is the same in every location, so you should have the same experience where ever you go. There are lots of props for the pictures and you are allowed to have a change of clothes. This does not mean to bring your closet with you. They do invite you to bring your own props. It definitely brings out the creativity in the photographer when they get to use something new and it makes the pictures even better when they are personalized to your child. If its for a special events don’t forget what is important, if its their birthday talk to the studio about you bringing a cake, if its first communion for God sakes remember your Bible and rosary, if its graduation seriously bring the cap and gown. You can’t see the event in your pictures if you don’t bring your props!
They expand their hours for the Christmas and Easter holidays. Which means they open on Mondays and expand their hours to about 7 am to 7 pm depending on demand. Do make appointments, they accept walk-​ins but as appointment times are available. They are not going to take a walk-​in ahead of an appointment, that is just rude and inconsiderate of the person who took the time to make an appointment.
The best tip I can give you is if you go the last week of October they have their Christmas set already up and you can get fun pictures in halloween costumes at the same sitting and save you a lot of time, money and unneeded frustration during the holidays.