Ever dreamed of living the soulful life of a 19th-century prostitute, or wielding a Tommy gun and a sneer for your career-making "Wanted" poster? You can't go back in time, but you can play pretend on the Ocean City Boardwalk at Old-Time Photo. Choose your set (the Lucky Lady Saloon, a 5 cent bathtub or stylish fainting couch) and your preferred fake-historical persona (leggy bargirl, Prohibition-era gangster or flapper, cowboy, "Indian" or Civil War hero and his belle) and appropriate props before the friendly Eastern European teen staff expertly directs your poses and captures them on camera. Fun for the whole family -- be ready for crying kids and a looong wait on rainy days -- and customizable to your personal fake-historical preferences. Not so cheap, but fun and worth it. read more

We come here every year for a photo for the kids and was very disappointed this year. Seems like new people are running it and the guy at the front has no personality ( was actually kinda rude to my son) The girls except for one have no idea what they are doing. Do not waste your time or money here read more

Stopped by on a complete whim when we were trying to kill time on the boardwalk. I had never gotten an "old time" photo and so I didn't have much to compare it to. I'm happy I did it, more for the fact to have one, but it was not a great experience. The place is dirty and skeezy and there is really no turning back once they let you back. You pick a "scene" from their books although there is maybe three at best. You don't get to pick out your own costumes either, you're forced to wear whatever they give you- they being the man that stares you up and down deciding which will fit. The costumes are in poor shape and they don't fit all the way, they're just strings they tie in the back. You leave all your belongings behind he counter and you go to the back to change. The back is two tiny wood paneled rooms with curtains that don't close all the way. Then you walk out you're forced to wear outfits that don't fully close in front of a bunch of strangers and then set up while he adds props around you that include garters, boas, hats, and fishnets etc. Then you're told how to pose and not very nicely either and all of the poses are stupid, none of them are candid. And they show how much they don't work when you look at the 9 proofs, and are forced to pick one that isn't good but is the best possible photo of all of the shitty options. They're not actual photographers , it's very much a money making scheme where quality and cleanliness are not important. I wanted to bathe in hand sanitizer afterward. You pick 2 photos for about $50 and then they try to sell you extra frames and mattes etc. Anyway, if you're dead set on a photo this will do, but I don't recommend other than to have one done. read more

If you are greeted by someone who smiles back at you when you say hello and answers your questions, if you are given an outfit that you like and looks good on you, if the person taking your picture gives some good creative direction, and if the person taking your money (and this is not cheap) at the end is respectful, polite, and professional...then everything works out well. You certainly can come away with an absolutely awesome photo and overall enjoyable experience. That isn't what happened to me. First, I was greeted by a girl who didn't smile at all. Once you discover how much money it is, most are going to ask questions in order to determine the personal value. She seemed annoyed by this. I only asked what scene was most popular, if she had any suggestions, and if the photographer (I use that term lightly) gave any creative direction when shooting. Second, after we decided on a general idea and she lifted the velvet rope to let us in, we were handed outfits. You cannot look through them beforehand when making your decision, and you cannot look through them yourself once you get in. You can ask to be shown more options (there aren't many) if you feel comfortable doing so. I was highly discouraged by my unhappy "helper" so I didn't. Also, there are only two very tiny dressing rooms with curtains that only close maybe 95%. Someone who works there can absolutely walk by and see you changing through an opening in the curtains if they really want to. In addition, neither the dressing room, nor the room where you get your photo taken has any mirrors. You are relying 100% on them to let you know if anything needs adjusting..but they don't tell you. Next it was time for the picture, the most enjoyable part. How much direction you gets depends on who is taking your picture. It seems they do have basic poses for each scene. You do each pose once with a serious face and again with a smile. They do take several pictures so you have some to choose from. It seems to be in the area of 10 pictures, give or take. I highly suggest already having an idea of a few poses before actually doing this. I say again - there are no mirrors there, anywhere. Lastly, after the pictures are taken, you take the outfits off and change back into your cloths and then you get to see your pictures. We weren't thrilled with our pictures. I immediately saw things they could have easily told us to adjust...a leg here, a face tilt there, hold your prop this way, etc. I wondered if they would let us put the outfits back on and try again. Getting those outfits on was such a big to-do though, at that point I decided to just pick one and buy it. No frame, nothing extra, just the print for a keepsake as the picture wasn't that great. We were very disappointed. Regardless, we went back up front and waited for the image to be printed out. While we were waiting, a lady on the boardwalk handed us a coupon but it was only good until 4pm. We figured it doesn't hurt to try, what's the worst that could happen? Our pictures are printed and we hand the man our coupon. As expected, he says we can't use it because it is only good before 4pm. We jokingly ask if we can come back tomorrow and buy our picture then. He doesn't find this funny at all (don't these people EVER smile??). We then (nicely) ask, 'what if we don't like our picture and don't want it anymore?' just out of pure curiosity, to which he responds, dead serious....."Then I will call the police." Can you believe it? In under two minutes this man is telling us he is going to call the police if we don't buy the little 5x7 crappy picture he just printed out! We couldn't help but to start laughing, but he was 100% serious. He continued, "we did the job and if you don't pay for it, I will call the police." So be warned...once that velvet rope is lifted and you walk in...if you don't pay up, they will threaten to call the police...who obviously won't do anything, but still...THAT is the kind of people you will be dealing with in this establishment. read more

If they would've been a little more accommodating and willing to take pictures for the customer and not how they wanted to do it, I probably would've spent $200 in there today, but instead I left spending only $40 on one picture that I'm not even that pleased with. They act like they are the ones taking home the picture. And they don't even want to make sure the customer is happy first before buying them. I won't be back that's for sure. The one in Wildwood is so much more accommodating, if you go on an empty day they show you the actual digital camera while your still sitting up there dressed so that if you don't like it they'll take a few different ones for you. Then after you undress they'll show you again on the bigger screens so that your not dressing and undressing and hopping up and down a million times. This keepsake place on ocean city Boardwalk is just horrible everything is too much of an inconvenience for them. You would think since photography is their specialty they would enjoy taking the pictures and making the customer happy. But whatever, their loss. If anyone is reading this review definitely take the drive to Wildwoods boardwalk during the day (when they are not busy of course bc when they are busy they just don't have the time) to get them done, the guy is so much nicer and makes sure you like your pictures. read more

It seemed like the workers had little to no customer service or photography experience. They handed us books to pick out our pose. Not much eye contact or smiling. No mirrors. The costumes seem dirty. We did a family portrait and the girl wanted to put a gross bonnet on my toddler. When I told her my daughter hates things on her head she said "oh well ok let's just see" and proceeded to put the hat on her. Sure enough my daughter whipped it off! I thought the price of one 8x10 was pricey. They offer to frame it for you in an old fashioned looking frame for an additional fee and when I asked if it was glare resistant the two workers looked at me like I had two heads and said "no". How could photographers not know what a glare resistant photo frame is? read more