Avoid Hockmeyer. A horrible company for customers and school districts, and I have heard a horrible employer. I witnessed a potential sexual assault on a student by one of their photographers. I was a substitute teacher on photo day in Georgetown. Their sales staff is incompetent and abusive. They are destroying themselves! They've lost many accounts and last year 9 key staff members quit! This year was no different. Avoid this company. My child has had bad dealings with them, they refused to fix his photos. read more

Hockmeyer Studios sent two traveling photographers to my childrens' school. Both were from restricted states to travel into Massachusetts. Both photographers attested that they had not traveled out of the Northeast and began pictures. It was later realized that they had 1) lied on their attestation form to enter the building 2) not quarantined upon entering Massachusetts 3) not had negative - or any - COVID testing results. The photographers, their company, and any staff involved in this planning should be ashamed of themselves for their egregious misrepresentation, dishonesty, and disregard for the safety of children, teachers and staff. SHAME on Hockmeyer Studios. (Please note: Parents have contacted Hockmeyer for comment and received no response). read more

I don't know how this studio keeps getting bids/jobs to photograph kids at school! My 1st grader has had 2 school photos taken by Hockmeyer and this is the 2nd year in a row that the photos are bad. The photographer clearly does not care how the photos turn out. My child is quite photogenic, but sometimes you need to coax a smile from her. Any professional photographer who deals with children know this and are prepared to work with kids to achieve the best result. They didn't bother, it's as if they just sit the child down, say smile and snap...never caring what the end result may be. With the convenience and instant gratification of digital cameras and a few pushes of a button, a person can quickly review the photo that was just taken and determine if it's worthy or not to keep! The same can be done in this environment. That said, if they photos that wind up printed and distributed are the best of the ones they took, then this studio ought to re-evaluate their business. In my 1st year dealing with them, I had my child do a retake, the result was actually worse than the original. I called the customer help line making the request that they insert her original photo into the class composite photo. I was assured very nicely and assuredly that they could accommodate my request. In the end, that didn't happen. Lastly, prints made my child look orange, as if she had on faux spray tan! Ugh!!! They tried correcting the color but it was never quite right. All in all, I just feel like this company does not care one bit about the kids and parents they serve! I've heard MANY similar complaints and sentiments from other parents. read more

I wanted to write a review about their hiring process. I was in talks with them for about a month (multiple phone and in person interviews), and they even gave me an official offer. After I countered, I did not hear a peep from them. I emailed and called, and was ignored on both fronts. Extremely unprofessional. I felt jerked around and used, as I work for a rival photography company, so I'm not sure if they were just fishing for information. I feel greatly disrespected on how they handled things. I would have been find if they said they found another candidate, but to "ghost" me was completely unnecessary. Terrible experience. read more

If I could give 0 stars I would. My son graduated college May 2019 and this studio took the comment pictures. Horrible they used a black background. The only thing that stands out is his face and hands. 4 pictures taken # alone so dark and 2 I assume with the president of the college. Even with the two in the picture they are not even looking at the camera. I contacted the school which in turn asked me to contact the studio. I did and spoke to Elizabeth Hockmeyer( make note last name) she proceeded to tell me that the school sets the grounds( hard to believe completely) when I asked because of the name was she the owner she was beyond ride and told me it was none of my business. What a great way to make more business speaking to a potent customer. Her attitude was beyond ride. Run far away from this place read the reviews also on Google. I contacted the college and let them look at the pictures and asked is that as a parent the photo you would like hanging on your wall. Hopefully they will not be used anymore many photographers out there I'm sure much much better. I hope this is helpful to the people that research before buying. Funny Elizabeth said if I buy the will clean it up, instead of let's see what we can do , you review it and the possible purchase. read more

I cannot understand how this company is still around. First let me start off by saying as a photographer the pictures this company takes are a joke for the prices they charge. They take stationary pictures in well-lit areas and they still come out poorly for what should be an easy picture to take. An iPhone x or google pixel 2 could take better pictures in landscape mode than they can. The cheapest package they have is $20 for 1 5 by 7 picture. Now this might not seem bad but let's say in today's digital age you want digital copies of the pictures. Now that is $60. Now for all the pictures you say? No only one digital copy. Now with the average of 6 pictures taken that would be $360 to get the files for all the pictures of your son or daughter. What makes this even worse is that when you purchase the pictures it gives you the impression that you will receive all the images. When I called the lady said that it would have said downloads if it was multiple pictures not download. The manager seemed to think that one letter difference was enough. They know you will have to buy them to because they are the only close up pictures you can get of your children during an even such as graduation. To top it off, they do little to no Photoshop of the pictures they take. The most they do is blacken out the background. Now, this may seem hard to do but I can tell you that this is very easy to do with any Photoshop program. At most you would need a YouTube tutorial. Now again anyone can take a better picture than any picture they can. I highly recommend avoiding this business. It seems they prey on those who do not understand photography. Now you might be under the impression that this business and its photographers are not artists. They are con artists Pros: -Photographers are well dressed Cons: -Obscene pricing -Bait and switch with digital copies -Website is out of 2007 -Poor image quality (A newer iPhone is better) read more

our HS switched to this vendor for pictures this year. If you are a school system considering them, think again. Difficult to navigate their web page, ordering is hard to figure out, and mixed communication information (some is local to MA, some is corporate out of state). I am now 5 phone calls and 15 emails in to actually order pictures. And the digital download is NOT a download - apparently they mail a USB. read more

Still waiting on my sons graduation photos I ordered in June. After multiple unanswered emails they finally replied they were at the post office. Why did I pay shipping if they are not getting shipped to my house? Save your money and dont order from this company it is not worth the time you will have to put into actually getting the photos. read more

Absolutely the worst customer service ever. My child's pictures were taken in September. We never got them. I contacted the teacher, then the school, then Hockmeyer. I was told the order was lost and they would resend them. After several weeks nothing. I called again and spoke to a girl who told me my pictures would be arriving at my home before this coming Wednesday. The previous phone call I was told they could not send them to my house, had to be the school. Several minutes later my phone rings, it's Hockmeyer. Now they are telling me they never received payment and perhaps my child took the money. How dare you accuse my 5 year old of stealing after you have already verified my order several times. I then spoke with a supervisor who was very rude who has yet to return my phone call. I have contacted the police and have been advised to take them to small claims court and contact the BBB. read more

Our school has always used Hockmeyer. I thought the photos looked a little off the past few years - skin tone, hair color, quality of photo paper etc. Then I pulled out some older photos from the same studio. It looks like back in 2011 or so they swtiched to some cheap photo paper rather than the Fuji paper they used to use. Boy - it makes all the difference! Despite using what must be much cheaper photo paper which produces sub-par results; they keep increasing their package prices. Simply not worth it. Photos we take at home come out MUCH better. I would recommend just selecting the base photo for home use and spend the money at a local big box store photography department for better quality pictures at a much cheaper price. Agree with other comments - if these photos are being taken digitally, photog should be able to determine if photo came out with a smile/glare or not and re-take as necessary. These are not photos that we share due to poor quality of current photo paper this company opts to use to reduce their costs. read more

Horrible experience with this company every year they come to my sons for yearbook pictures and I cannot figure out why schools choose this place for photos. I ordered pictures one year and they never arrived so I resorted to photo copying it straight from the yearbook. Not only do the pictures come out stale and plain but the prices are ridiculous for a company that clearly doesn't know how to take proper photos. I also have received a letter in the mail with a "file number" that I can enter online to view my sons photo. Not only did they put a giant watermark on the photo, but the price for digital copy's are $60. If your child's school ever uses this company for photographs and you would like a 'nice' copy to share with family and friends I suggest to stay away from this company and hire a professional photographer instead. read more

In addition to the quality issues others have experienced, I recently had a disappointing customer service experience. My daughter's photos were printed on the background choice and with the name of another student, and that student's photos were similarly flip-flopped. When I emailed the studio to ask how to fix the photos I received this response: Can you give me a description of your daughter? I have [Student 1] as a dark haired girl and [Student 2] as a blonde one. Not, "I'm sorry for the mistake and inconvenience!" Not, "We'll take care of that right away!" Not even addressing me by name. And I have to describer her? Really?? So I emailed a snapshot of her for their reference and their next response was: She is in our system as [Student 2]. It looks like she brought [Student 2]'s form to the camera. We can switch them and fix it. So there's still no apology and now they're blaming my daughter for the mistake. Not to mention that my daughter is a responsible 13-year-old and isn't friends with or in the same class as the other student, so the probability of switching forms is as close to 0% as it's possible to get. I will say that they responded in a timely manner, but we'll see how well and how quickly they fix THEIR mistake. So disappointed we are at the mercy of the school district's choice of school picture photographers. read more

They're only getting 1 star because I have to give them 1 to write a review. Over a month and still haven't received my son's photo. I'm ticked off its taken so long, but relieved that we had our kids photos done by a real professional photographer and got those photos back within a week. Next year I will not even bother with SUCKmeyer. read more

This is for the bad review people. How long do you think it takes to photograph 100 kids, 200 kids etc. The photographers are limited on how much time they have to take school pictures. Kids have art class, lunch, recess, phys ed, I don't know about you but I don't want my child's picture taken after he/she has eaten, or played outside, or art class or yikes phys ed. So pictures are taken first thing. Now you have say 100 kids to photograph, you take 1 picture every 2 minutes, that's 200 minutes of picture taking. Or a total of 3 hours plus. They start taking pictures at 7:30, or 9:05, your now entering the lunch hour. As for how long it takes to return your photos, your not the only school. They have to be printed then packed then mailed. How long does it take you to sign, address and mail 100 Christmas cards. I guess they could hire more people, but that just raises the cost. If your child doesn't smile, that is not the photographers fault. Maybe your child is unhappy with what their wearing, or just got disciplined, or the child next to them upset them by something they said, or is shy. As for the lady that commented on a near sexual assault, did you report it? People quit jobs all the time. Maybe they don't like the fast pace, or don't like dealing with the kids. Did you ask those photographers why they quit? Would you drive 2 hours to a school to take say 100 pictures then drive another 2 hours home? Your school is not the only school, nor is your child the only child that didn't smile. Don't forget on retake day the photographers have to do it all over again. Please don't judge a company badly because your picture was not up to your standards, think about the other 10 or 15 thousand pictures they take. Just so you know, I do not work for Hockmeyer, I do however work for one of their competitors, and we get the same complaints. Nothing is always perfect. read more

Exceptional company - grassroots local company providing top-notch customer service as well as vital support to schools across New England - I heartily recommend! read more

Yet once again I can not use my son's school pictures for Christmas cards. Hockmeyer Studios is horrible. Each year my son has had his school picture taken he has to go back for retakes. not quite sure if the people taking these pictures are photographers or not but I don't really think so. This year there was 2 shadows on each side of my son's nose (nope he does not have a big nose either) last year I ordered online requested a red back drop pictures came back with a green back drop I double checked yup I placed the order correctly called left them a VM and emailed them they never responded. Several years ago I had my son's hair perfect, yup gelled dried and hair sprayed. they gave an 8 year old a comb and told him to comb his hair. who does that? knowing the teacher I asked her and she said nope his hair was still perfect. she was surprised when he came back with his hair combed. I would not recommend Hockmeyer to anyone and I wish our school system would ask parents what they thought. I posted a comment on my facebook page an hour ago and I already have 10 comments with the same issues. my son is in the 8th grade now and there is only 1 school picture of the school pictures he has had taken that I like on the first shot and it is not me being picky it is shadows, bad angling and bad photo taking. Probably so they can make an extra dollar so you have to order the touch ups. Bad business, and bad customer service. Gave 1 star because I had to. read more

I am convinced that the school district gets a kickback from this studio. I see no other reason that they switched from the wonderful quality and reasonable prices of Lifetouch to the subpar images that Hockmeyer produces and outrageous prices they charge. The first year, my son's photos came back with horrible glare from his glasses. The photographer didn't bother to coax a smile out of him. The retake was horrendous, with his skin so washed out that he looked terminally ill. After this experience, I don't know why I even bothered to order photos the second year. Neither the original photos nor the retakes were worth the paper they were printed on! This year there a comparable photo package with Lifetouch costs $10 LESS than Hockmeyer's photo package. But, hey, Hockmeyer gives you plenty of little 1"x2" photos in every package to wallpaper your bedroom. I gave up and had my son's photos taken by a professional photographer this year. read more

I'm sad to see all the negative reviews for Hockmeyer as I feel the complete opposite. We have now taken our son to the studio twice. He is special needs and has a hard time taking his fall/spring pictures while in the school setting. It's just too much for him. The studio has been so good in accommodating us. Very professional, kind and patient. I understand some of the pictures might not be 100% perfect but pictures are memories. Are all memories perfect? We are just thankful to have pictures of our son smiling at all. So thank you Hockmeyer for being so accommodating and patient with my family and I. read more

Horrible! Horrible! Horrible! Not only did my photos arrive wet (paper envelope left in rain), but the order was wrong (printed school name/date on photos when I specifically asked for no print) AND they spelled the school name wrong. When I called, I did not receive an apology. After a month of not receiving the correct order, I called AGAIN! They said I was supposed to send the incorrect order back before they would re-run my correct order! Are you kidding? They should have sent me a postage-paid envelope and I would gladly have sent the garbage back! It is now 6 weeks later and I STILL have not received my correct order. I have contacted the school and they have contacted the studio, to no avail. DO NOT USE THIS STUDIO...EXTREMELY UNPROFESSIONAL!!! read more

My school makes us all go to the same place to get senior portraits done, this year they changed to hockmeyer and both me and my mother were upset about that because I usually hate my school pictures (which have been done by hockmeyers) I tried to keep and open mind going into the session. Getting to choose a location was a fun idea that I thought would give us more freedom, but in reality they did not have enough time slots for everyone to choose there ideal location. I just got my pictures today, before I saw mine I looked at the sample pictures on the website... some of those people are girls from my school, yes those pictures came out amazing and the quality and coloring look amazing so you can imagine my disappointment when I opened mine to see grainy photots and yellow looking teeth. I do not have yellow teeth and I know my friends have had this same issue. I called to see what could be done and all I can do is pay extra for them to touch up my teeth to make them the white they actually are or retake my photos. Obviously I'm not paying extra for crappy photos and will be going elsewhere to get senior pictures that I can send out to friends and family and hang in my living room and feel good about when I see them. So if you are looking for a place for senior pictures I DO NOT recommend coming here read more

Dear Hockmeyer Studios - I just wanted to THANK YOU very much for the amazingly great high school graduation picture you took of my son at Georgetown High School last June. You exceeded our expectations with this unposed, candid shot taken at just the right moment. Posed shots are one thing, but candids I think are harder. Your photo is now a treasured part of our family history. We deeply appreciate your outstanding work, your special talent came out at the right time! Thank you again for rising to the challenge! read more

It is unfortunate that there are several photographers within our school district who would be a great match for photos. I will need to attend more school meetings to determine how it is that Hockmeyer is our photographer; from graduation photos to team sport photos and everything in between, Hockmeyer is forced upon us at Bedford High School in NH. Their lighting, posing and quality are no better than fair. I always order the minimum for the keepsake, which is what I assume they are banking on. For any school administrators looking to add Hockmeyer to their district, I strongly urge you to look elsewhere. Beyond online reviews, there is an abundance of parent groups that express their dissatisfaction with this company. read more