I saw a Groupon deal for portraits and am thinking about taking my LO there to get a photo for our Christmas card. I like that you get a cd with 3 photos for $20 and the backdrops look decent.
Examples of backdrops: http://www.jcpportraits.com/gallery/holiday
Has anyone used them? I know they're not going to be as good as an independent photographer, but do you think it would be worth the $20 to get a photo for holiday cards? Or is it not going to be worth the trouble?
squash / 13208 posts
My sister uses them every year - they are pretty nice considering its a studio chain!
pineapple / 12566 posts
My parents used them when we were growing up! Sounds like a deal if you just want some simple portraits.
nectarine / 2079 posts
Growing up we always did portraits there. I would say it wouldn't hurt to try.
pomelo / 5678 posts
My friends always do jcp portraits and they are great! I kind of like them especially in this pintresty world- it is nice to have some more classic portraits.
pomegranate / 3791 posts
Totally depends on the location and photographer. The ones by us are pretty terrible, but I have friends in other states who are happy with them. My MIL drags all the grandkids there a few times a year, and it's pretty rare for them to be good at capturing good-looking shots of toddlers who don't want to sit still. For their Christmas photos we had the second appointment and still waited over an hour, which is really hard with little ones. I'll admit that I'm kind of biased though because they're really just not my style, I usually stick to the mini sessions some local photos around here offer for pretty cheap. Better backgrounds and generally more experienced photographers. But that's just my experience with our local one.
blogger / pomegranate / 3300 posts
I have used jcpenney quite a bit. Their coupons are the best. But look around and get reviews for particular studios. My favorite photographer moved on and then the pictures were never as good because it was this grumpy guy who didn't try at all to get the kids to smile or look cute. I would also book early in the day or right after their lunch break because they always seem to be late. The first morning slot was always my favorite.
eggplant / 11716 posts
@78h2o: I have two friends here that use JSP portraits when there is a groupon and I think they turn out super cute! It's obviously a different style than a mini-session would be, but I still think they are cute.
Honestly, I'm considering using my LOs daycare picture for Christmas cards, and that's basically the same thing.
coconut / 8430 posts
I think the posing they get trained to do is a bit old school, but they do know how to properly light a photo.
We had our very own "awkward family photo" taken there a few years ago. So embarrassing! 
grapefruit / 4731 posts
We did JCPenny Portraits every 3 months for the first year. We actually really liked them. We usually bought all the pictures on CD for us was about 100 dollars for 26 photos - each time we went.
If you want I can show you samples of our pictures through your wall. Let me know! 
pineapple / 12234 posts
A friend of mine just got hers done from there and they turned out really cute!!
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
I did some last year b/c i paid $20 and they were a little cheesy, but I really just wanted someone to get a few pics of E besides me. And they're fine
grapefruit / 4441 posts
@Mrs. Train: That's a good idea to book the morning slot! My LO is always happiest then anyway!
@Raindrop: Yes, I'd love to see them!
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I think I will give it a go, since they are so inexpensive.
grapefruit / 4731 posts
@78h2o: It should be there now. I gave you a sample of each session we went to. Out of the 26 pictures (they take more than 26 but for some reason they only give you the "best" 26 pictures) About half of them turned out well enough to frame and put on cards. So I was pretty happy. I will say that if you want to pose your baby certain ways... they are usually really open to it!
We plan to do it again with the baby that's coming.
grapefruit / 4731 posts
@78h2o: Thanks!! The picture person at our JCPenneys really tried hard to make LO smile.... 3 months was rough! LO did not like it at all but we still got a few good pictures.
I hope if you do this they turn out well! I'm sure they will.
persimmon / 1343 posts
I used a groupon deal with them for 42 photo christmas cards I actually was really impresse with the photos and their customer service. The price was right too for all the cards! I ended up ordering a prints too and it only came out to $17, which really can't be beat ($37 total for 48 cards - 6 were free, and 4 sheets of prints). I will be going there for christmas photos from now on! We did family shots, ones of each parent & daughter, and then a few of just my daughter. Here's one of them!
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