If I can give them more than 5 stars, I would. My son got into a car accident on the way to school and had a big uneven colored mark on his cheek. Due to this, he was embarrassed for months and didn't like his pictures. Thankfully the wound healed, but the school picture had already been taken by the time the wound existed. I contacted Lauren Studios and spoke with Alejandra that was so nice to tell us that she will ask her editor, Liz if she can edit those blemished out from his picture. Long story short, they emailed us back and told us they already sent the edited pictures to our home address without any additional charges. I can't thank them enough. Thank you so much for everything! We truly appreciate you guys read more

Lauren Studios is a rip-off! I am a UC Berkeley student. The studio states in its emails that the fee ranges from $15 to $35, but that only covers the photo-taking service--and the service itself was poor. The photographer arrived late and then shifted the blame to UC Berkeley staff for not opening the door on time. The most frustrating part is that I cannot receive a copy of the photos unless I pay an additional exorbitant fee. A reputable business would clearly explain its pricing upfront. This studio, however, avoids providing adequate information to students and charges them in a misleading manner. read more

This photography company is a SCAM! you are better off doing your own at home pictures with your iphone. Way over priced, I paid $200 for 1 singular picture to be given to me through email. The pictures were not worth it, no edits were given unless you paid more than you already did, all 16 poses look unprofessional , backdrops showing, not to mention they DO NOT give a refund if you do not like any of the pictures you took, they say you have more time if you pay extra but it all still feels rushed, overall this was just a terrible experience. They are pathetic for scamming people out of our hard earned money. As you can see by the reviews, they do not give a damn about what you think about them. They will continue to scam you every chance they get. Thanks for ruining my daughter's senior photos. read more

I have unfortunately had to use Lauren Studios for both my high school and college senior portraits. My high school experience was very bad, but I thought it was a one-off occurrence due to a single unprofessional and rude photographer, so I decided to give them another chance in college. First of all, they cancel appointments completely last minute with no explanation. I had planned to get my portraits taken on a day where I had no other appointments or classes, but when I was forced to reschedule, the only possible days were when I was busy and would not have adequate time to get ready for the photo. At the actual session, the photographer was in a bad mood, complained about the weather the whole time, was rude, rushed through the session, and did not make obvious adjustments such as hair in front of my face before taking photos. When the prints I ordered came (which are very expensive), one had a noticeable scratch on it already so I had to contact customer service to get a replacement, which they did do. However, both prints came out blurry and pixelated, and even after discussing this with customer service, there was no solution. It seems like the prints come out better if you get the glossy or economy finish. Also, they make economy seem like it's literally just printer paper, but it still has a glossy finish as well, so don't spend more money with these people if you can avoid it. Overall, their photographers don't seem the most professional, the prints themselves are low quality in relation to the price you pay, but I guess customer service is responsive (in fact the only part of this whole process that deserves any "star" is customer service, everything else was stressful and regretful). While I did purchase prints, I would never work with Lauren Studios again. The only reason I did this time was because it was the only option. I recommend taking your business elsewhere if possible. read more

Too bad, there's no 0 star. Crazy price , rip off for over $100 for 1 picture. They charge 14.95 for P&H on top of the print, what's that? Isn't $79 per picture enough? read more

Lauren Studios and USC should be ashamed to even suggest this vendor as an option for senior pictures. The price for just ONE digital download photo is $200+. I reached out to the company to make sure I was reading the pricing correctly. Their response to me was to buy a bigger more expensive packet to make the price per photo go down. Unreal. I will hire a photographer for a full photo session before I pay $200 for one untouched digital photo. Do better with the pricing Lauren Studios. And USC as a parent paying the enormous tuition, this should have been included in the grad package I also have to pay for. read more

The photographer who took my pictures was very nice; this is not a reflection on him, rather on the business practices of the company itself. $400 for *unretouched* digital copies of all photos? $150 for each singular unretouched photo if you don't buy into the packages? I understand that things like wedding, graduation, and other event photos are expensive, but charging this much for photos that aren't even baseline retouched is ridiculous. Oh, and they do send 'discount codes' to be fair, but realistically, how much is 30% off (a minimum purchase of $150 btw) going to help on packages and individual photos that are this expensive? I get that businesses have to make money, but there's profitable and then there's exploitative, given how many universities are partnered with this company (which isn't saying much, given the pricing of US colleges every step of the way). If you can afford it, good for you, but if you want something cheaper (and likely more personalized & creative) take a look at on-campus individual photographers. Someone will be advertising, either on your university Discords or subreddits. read more

Lauren Studios - Packages - Session Photography Near Me - Corona, California

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SCAM!!!!! Way overpriced, I don't care to hear "Our package and digital prices are comparable to other professional school photography studios in the same line of work". How about be a decent company and charge less than other studios in the same line of work? But no, you would rather be fueled by greed and suck every last cent out of us. Not to mention, the photo session with Lauren Studios was horrible. You can't even look at your pictures as they are taken to see if you need to change your posture, hair or make any adjustments. TRASH! read more

My college hired them for senior portraits despite having no yearbook. I got some taken, because why not? I might want to look back at a picture in 10 years. Yeah the cheapest option for a standard 8x10 was $100 for ONE printed photo. That is beyond ridiculous. read more

Worst company ever. If I could put 0 stars I would. Like other reviews say you first pay around $30 to get your pictures taken but to download one single digital photo it was $150. The scam aside, they are very careless with the photos they take. A lot of photos did NOT center me and the backdrop fabric IS WRINKLED. HOW CAN YOU NOT EVEN MAKE SURE THAT THE BACKDROP IS NOT WRINKLED?? I ATTACHED A PHOTO BELOW FOR PEOPLE TO SEE. read more

Lauren Studios - Wrinkled backdrop, not centered, scam company - Session Photography Near Me - Corona, California

Frankly, I felt misled by the whole thing. I paid $123 prior to scheduling for what was scarcely a 20 minute photoshoot. I figured I was paying for the convenience and partnership with the University campus. A couple weeks later, I receive an email that my photos are ready. Now, they are charging me an additional $147 to download a single digital image. Be wary of the somewhat misleading advertising. read more

Tried finding my old college photos from over two years ago. Caitlyn helped me get back into my account within two minutes and they were all there! 10/10 service. However, trying to order one digital photo is going to cost $179.99. The customer service is great, but after order physical photos $163.16, I thought the digital photos would be available for a relative reasonable price. Lauren Studios were unresponsive in communication and block the customer's option of a single item purchase. They are not in the service to help college students but run them dry on glorified high school background photos. -Thomas M read more

I kept getting emails from this company to take professional graduation photos, so I finally booked a session. It was about 5 to 10 minutes long, very basic setup, basic poses, nothing special. The $20 price tag seemed fair at the time though, so I didn't complain. But the real issue is the photo pricing. Nearly $200 for a single unretouched digital photo. Just one. No edits. Just emailed to you. Honestly, I would still think it's overpriced if they charged that much for all the photos combined, so when I saw that only one was included, I just laughed and closed the tab. I'm not buying anything. I don't even want the photos anymore. I had a friend take my graduation pictures instead and they turned out the same if not better lol. Not to mention we had a blast taking our own photos around campus. They actually felt personal and memorable. The whole experience was a waste of time and money. Totally ridiculous pricing that takes advantage of students. Wouldn't recommend. read more

To get the digital downloads of all of my portraits, I have to pay $399... For a single image, it's $149. Where tf do they get these numbers from read more

Rip off. DO NOT USE. OVERPRICED. Sessions are tiered. $5-$35. Makes it look favorable that you get extra time and more pictures to choose from. I chose the $20 session, but she went through it so fast and I did not even like them and she didn't listen. I bumped into friend after and she said after paying extra that the $5 got a 'complimentary' cap and gown photo. Then on top of that you pay $150 to choose ONE digital photo. The rest are way overpriced. So what was the point of getting a $20 session over a $5?? There is no bundle and they do not advertise this before you pay for the session. This is a big scam and fraud. I will tell ALL my friends to NEVER pay for this.. DO better. read more

Avoid taking photos with this company! They advertised a relatively low upfront price (~$35) to get students excited for the photo shoot. The photographer was super nice and showed me the photos after the session to get me psychologically committed. However, when I finally received an email when the photos were ready, Lauren Studios pulled a bait-and-switch where they revealed the actual price of photos to be much much higher than advertised ($400 just for the digital copies of the photos). The business preys on college students excited to graduate. I go to Stanford University and I will be contacting everyone I can within the administration and student government to ensure that future students won't be scammed in the same way I was. read more

Stanford. This is a Pathetic studio. Quality of images are no where the price they are charging. each session is only 2 minutes - 15 minutes. not only that, your photographer are definitely being treated terrible. They sit underneath the book store like a troll. After talking to the photographer he express the terrible pay of 17 an hr. They said bonuses but apparently they will withhold from you. As Stanford student taking last year grad photo, I feel as taking this picture is a F me. don't pay for your grad pic, get it for your end of the class pic but do not purchase. ask your local photographer to take better pictures read more

0/10 Do Not Recommend! The photo I attached is what I received in the mail to take Grad photos. From reading it I chose the "executive session" thinking I would get some photos for "$20 + tax". I was wrong! I set up my appointment for 8am (it was the only slot available this day) and the photographer didn't even show up until 8:30am. Fast forward to my portraits being ready, I go to the site and it's 1 million dollars for one photo! (I'm over exaggerating haha) but seriously it's $100-600 for pictures! To receive ONE single image digitally is $300. I'm in grad school! I just don't have $300 to spare for ONE photo or $600 for a package. Your price is your price, whatever. But DONT portray it as if I'll get some good photos for $25. Include package pricing with the info sent out. I wouldn't have even made an appointment once I saw the package pricing! Or I would've done the free one just to be included in the yearbook. read more

Lauren Studios - What I received in the mail, no info on the expensive package pricing. - Session Photography Near Me - Corona, California

I just tried placing a order and this is the website. In order to get to the order placement page you have to click on the space next to "click" and once you get to the pricing page it's just the pricing list flushed left read more

Lauren Studios - yup this is the website right now - Session Photography Near Me - Corona, California

STAY AWAY!!! Just graduated college and used Lauren Studios to get my yearbook photo taken as well as some professional headshots to use for job applications. Nowhere on their pamphlets, emails, website, or forms do they explicitly express that the packages they sell you are just to have your photo taken. So when I was startled by a $400 price tag for untouched digital copies I knew this was a predatory business scam. Its sad and unfortunate that this company conducts business this way. At least I was able to get my day of graduation photos for $140 all said and done WITH touch ups. DO BETTER! read more

Both Caitlyn and Stephanie, were very kind and helpful with correcting a misspelling in my son's name and helping me w an additional order. Thank you so Much! Kerri B. read more

This place is simply a scam. All school photos are overpriced for poor quality but their Senior portraits are outrageous. The photographer takes a couple shots of a few poses. Doesn't bother to make sure student is posed correctly in frame and doesn't care if eyes are closed. Just going through the motion. Then after paying for the session, you eventually get to see the proofs that are covered in water marks and low quality making it difficult to even see the images and are finally given the pricing. Over $200 for one digital image. And don't even think about buying prints from them without taking out a loan. Just have your senior take their free yearbook photo and go to a real studio or hire a private photographer that will care about their customer and leave you with great images. Unfortunately I was scammed out of $200 and now will also being paying for a private photographer. Also their customer service is non-existent. They have a chat feature where the agent rarely responds so it just times out and they provide you with conflicting information. All around a joke of a company that would be out of business if they hadn't scammed schools into hiring them and leaving parents guilted into paying them hundreds of dollars. read more

Terrible customer service Not an easy website to navigate and understand the packages that are offered or what is included And more importantly what is not included. For instance if you want the digital copies of All the poses that were taken it will cost an extra $350 PLUS the sitting fee of $112 AND that gets you NO PRINTS AT ALL Then if you want actual prints for a frame you can buy an additional package for another $$$ absurd amt of money! Nasty people that work there Total Rip Off And yes....I did speak with a manager which was just a waste of time. So what are they doing with the digital pics of my son?? Nothing but they won't sell them to me Go figure read more

I had some questions regarding the yearbook pictures and used the online chat . Stefany was extremely helpful and answered all my questions and then some. Thank you so much Lauren Studios! very impressed! :) read more

misleading offering - they repeatedly said the files would be sent but they sent watermarked files with a SECOND purchase option. why did I pay already ???? read more

Renee was super nice. I felt very comfortable getting my photos taken by her -- she gives good suggestions and fixes, and she's very considerate. Overall i had a great experience! Edit: Nothing bad to say about their photographers, but the studio is just as scammy as everyone else is saying. They're not kidding about ONE, SINGLE UNRETOUCHED digital image being $275. At least be transparent about the pricing upfront, seeing as how everyone, including me, assumed we would receive the digitals included in the $5-50 we paid. read more

Lauren Studios - Session Photography Near Me - Corona, California

Had a lovely time with Renee for our session today! She was incredibly kind, helpful, and fun. I am nervous about having pictures taken but she alleviated my stress and my pictures came out great!! Thanks! read more

Like everyone's saying: absolute scam of a company. Paid $15 to have the physical copy come in otherwise I would have done the free session. Called customer service and they said what I paid for doesn't include any physicals. What a joke read more

I rarely give poor reviews, however, there are instances that one should address horrible customer service. The grad photos taken were fine. However, when we called their office today and a certain Caitlyn answered, she appeared to be impolite and in a rush. Of course, details should be accurate for the keepsake photo like the courses since our daughter is a double major plus the picture that is chosen should be correct ---since it is an important event and only happens once in a lifetime after how many years of studying. However, Caitlyn's tone was very dismissive and arrogant as if she does not want to be bothered. My husband even asked about the discount since if it is $200+, there is a $25 discount, however,Caitlyn, did not mention at first that it was for the subtotal only (not including tax) so when my husband asked again she seemed really irritated. What kind of customer service is this? She certainly knows how to ruin the mood of customers who are looking forward to see the grad pics of their children. Very disappointing customer service. Also, towards the end my husband asked if everything went well with the card since the transaction was done manually, Cailtyn again answered itritantingly that it has to go to billing. Upon hearing her disrespectful tone, since the call was on speaker, I told her that we are just asking to make sure that everything is fine before we hang up. Did not expect this kind of customer service. Such customer service leaves an impact, unfortunately not a good one. read more

I honestly hated everything about this process. When I first bought the grad photo session it was not clear what included. I got the most expensive package expecting to have at least one picture included on my time to go take the pictures. The photographer was late, she was nice but very late. I was on a work break and it became a problem. I got anxious waiting and look tired in every single picture. Once the pictures got ready, not only I got least 3 annoying e-mails about my last chance to get the pictures, while I was clearly busy to answer, but the prices to get the pictures were insane. I am sorry you can be the best photographer out there but an untouched online picture for over U$250 for a student is beyond me. It was a big waste of my time for absolutely nothing in return. read more

Great customer Support! Assist me quickly and been helpful!! Highly prefer this place and appreciate the support team. read more

Such a scam. Paid $120 for a session, and then had to pay an additional $350 to get the digital copies of the photos. My advice? Don't book with them. Take the $500 and get a legitimate photographer. read more

Preys on college students and parents with ridiculous pricing. Markets their graduation shoots as FREE with NO MENTION of insane pricing to download images. $400 for a digital download of a few images? I can hire a professional photographer for an hour to shoot around campus and recieve 80+ images for half the price. DO NOT FALL FOR THEIR SCAM!!!!! I wish I didn't pay the $12 for poses in my cap and gown. read more

Great customer support! Caitlyn was super helpful and quick to respond! I accidentally chose a wrong photo for my yearbook and she was able to quickly fix it for me. I am very grateful for her service. read more

Another year, another set of terrible school pictures. I detest leaving bad reviews, but it is completely warranted here. In the past, we've always purchased our kids' school pictures, but have yet to purchase from this studio. Such a bummer that our school continues to use this company. I sincerely hope we can get a better studio next year. One star is generous. read more

$160 is way too overpriced. They do not allow you to only select a few photos too. It's either $160 for one picture, or it $400 for all pictures, with one of them being a photo of you holding your name. This is a ripoff and extremely heartbreaking for all students who took graduation pictures, excited to have them for a decent price. I would've paid $160 for 5 out of the 15 photos, and that would still be overpriced but doable. This is quite sad. Honestly, do better. read more

How are you going to charge $35 for portraits then charge $250-$600 for the digital photos when you only took 10-15 pictures? This company is a literal scam. Very disappointed in UCSD for having this filth be responsible for taking headshots and yearbook photos. Not only that, the cap and gown were insanely dirty, the man who took my portraits was super rude and rushed the entire session, and the lack of transparency with pricing is absurd. To my fellow UC peeps, definitely just get a legitimate photographer to take your photos (and report this company to your school as fraud lol). read more

STUDENTS, AVOID THIS BUSINESS!! EXTREMELY OVERPRICED AND NOT HONEST WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS! I am a UC Berkeley student who was super excited to get his graduation photos taken with Lauren Studios. Everything started great with communication through an email that my appointment is scheduled and how the process will go. Except the most important detail that was not provided: A SINGLE DIGITAL PHOTO WILL COST YOU $299, and the whole package is OVER $500!! (I ve attached their pricelist on this review since they do not provide them up front). I completely understand that Lauren Studios as a business can choose to set up their prices as high as they want. However, THEY SHOULD BE TRANSPARENT to their customers (especially students - since we know many of us our struggling financially) on what the whole process will look like and how much it will cost. Lauren Studios purposely makes you think that they are giving you a good deal by hiding the last part of the process until after you get your proofs and its too late to go to another business. VERY VERY UNPROFESSIONAL! I had a chance to take my Graduation photos with few local student photographers and it would have cost me no more than $100 for 5 digital copies, and when I mentioned this to one of the managers at Lauren Studios, she said that they are actually cheaper than their competitors and their prices are normal. NOT TRUE! I also asked her if she thinks its normal that they have a 1.5 stars ratings on both Google and Yelp, and of course she could not defend that. Again, Lauren Studios, you decide what you are going to charge for your photos, but PLEASE MAKE SURE TO LET STUDENTS KNOW HOW MUCH THE TOTAL PROCESS WILL COST!! STUDENTS, I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND TAKING YOUR BUSINESS SOMEWHERE ELSE! read more

Lauren Studios - Their Pricelist which they do not provide at the beginning. - Session Photography Near Me - Corona, California

First, we weren't happy with the first set of photos taken, but I won't completely blame the company for that other than they had my daughter do a bunch of poses with her head tilted that looked so odd. The second photographer even agreed and did much better at posing my daughter. I went on to the website and the first step is selecting the photos you like. The photos are all numbered differently (they are not in sequential order) which makes it hard to find the number you want. I selected the photos we wanted but did not see where those photos were posted so I could see which ones I actually selected. I went to the next step to pick the package, and the photos I selected were not anywhere. I had to select them AGAIN to order photos and was astounded at the price tag!!!! I'm tempted to take my college graduate to Babies R Us and would get a much better deal, but we don't have that kind of time. There are two different finishes or unfinished, but they only describe what they are, they show an example. I guess I have to use my imagination. I ordered the cheapest package ($175) which only included one pose, so I ordered one page of 5x7's of another pose we wanted ($74 later for ONE SHEET, 2-5x7s)!!!). My cart showed the package and the extra sheet of photos but not the price of the extra sheet. I went to pay but they don't take American Express (the card that gives us the most points). When I got to the list of items I was paying for, the extra sheet was not listed but the price tag told me it was there. I didn't trust the extra sheet would be done right or included since I didn't see it on the total, so I called in to talk with someone. Jessie took my order over the phone since the website literally sucks. I'm surprised Loyola Marymount is using such a crappy company to do graduate photos. It took me three times as long to order these photos due to their website and I feel violated in how much I had to pay if we wanted the photos (which so far look good). I can only hope and pray these photos look fantastic when we get them because $289 for 4-5x7s, 4-4x5s and 24 wallets is atrocious. read more

UPDATE, June 5, 2024: Since the very negative review I wrote of Lauren Studios regarding my senior portrait for SMU, a manager in the company contacted me to apologize and make amends. I'm very glad she did this. She expressed sympathy for the recent death in my family and the situation where I couldn't get the portrait I selected for the yearbook by their deadline. Much improved! She said she would talk to the agent who gave me the rigid, unsympathetic response of the previous day. So, I have changed my review from one star to three. PREVIOUS REVIEW FROM JUNE 4, 2024: First of all, my senior portrait photos for my graduate degree at SMU were terrible. I was not taken from flattering angles. I have a weight problem caused by a health issue, and if I'm not taken from a certain angle, I look even worse than my health condition already causes me to look. Secondly, I had a death in my family, the death of a close family member, around the time of the deadline for selecting the photo I wanted for the yearbook. They would NOT let me choose the photo I preferred among the terrible ones they took. They were absolutely inflexible even though I told them there had been a death in my family. I was getting ready for the funeral on the deadline for selecting my photo! These people are not skilled photographers in the first place, and they have absolutely no compassion on someone who is grieving. I believe that my university is greatly mistaken in employing them, and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. read more