It is one of the best photo studio in Ottawa. I faced many of bad experiences with many other studios until I get this good one.

Absolutely horrible experience. My husband and I went in as a walk-in to get some photos of our six month old baby and I didn't realize you had to make an appointment, which to be fair is my fault, they did have a cancellation though, so they booked us in. So we proceed, which was nice; however, I DID NOT WANT photos with myself or my husband in them, and I told him that I just wanted some nice photos of our baby. He continued to insist that we get in the photos, which made me feel very bad about myself and uncomfortable because I was completely unprepared and was not dressed for pictures, nor was my husband. These pictures then wasted about half an hour of our time with a baby that was constantly getting more and more tired and cranky, so when we finally got to the pictures I actually wanted, there was only one photo out of forty pictures where my baby was smiling. I then felt pressured to buy the pictures and just get it over with because my baby was crying by then and had to pay almost $400 for pictures that I am very unhappy with. I'm just getting more and more upset thinking about my experience here and I feel like crying having wasted so much money. Don't go here, it's a complete waste of time, as they don't actually listen to what you want and way overpriced. Next time I'll just pay a professional to come to my home. read more

I called to book my newborn session with the Ottawa (St.Laurent) location and spoke to a rep on the phone. I had a coupon for a 45 minute session and one free digital print for 25$. I asked the rep how much it would cost for additional prints since I knew I would want more then just one. The lady on the phone told me that for 20 additional prints it would cost 200$. I thought that was pretty reasonable so I went ahead and confirmed my appointment. The photo shoot went well, the photographer was really good with my son considering he was wide awake throughout the entire shoot. The photos were really nice and I had a hard time even picking 20. The rep waited for my husband and I to go through all the photos before asking me if I was familiar with their pricing. I said I had a quote and she informed me that the price I was quoted over the phone must have been a misunderstanding and that 5 prints would actually cost me 250$. This was heartbreaking. This price was completely unaffordable for me and there was no way I could leave with any of the beautiful pictures of my newborn son. I was in tears as I was paying and my husband was livid. They did not seem to care as long as I paid. My husband called the manager and she was very unhelpful and stated this was not the first time this issue has occurred and she stands by her pricing. She stated that this pricing made sense with a different kind of session but not ours. I called back as well to inquire about a refund. They said the order was already sent to head office and it was non-refundable. They made us feel like we were trying to scam them! Eventually they issued me a partial refund and I left with only one print. The whole situation was truly heartbreaking because you see all of these beautiful photos of your newborn (and they are only that small once) and then they tell you that you cannot have them unless you pay a insane price. The way they conduct their business is just wrong. They know people will look at those photos and fall in love and would be willing to pay a ridiculous amount just to have them. I'm happy I got at least one photo but I will never forget how upset I was that day and how the staff at magenta photo studio made me feel. Save yourself the heartbreak and book with someone else. read more

I would not recommend this photo studio- at least not with the photographer I got. Sam had little patience with my 5 and 7 year old kids. My son did not want to hold his sister's hand and instead of thinking of a new pose she just said - well it's not going to look nice. The passive aggressive comments lasted the whole session and into picture selection where she got annoyed that my daughter was pointing out pictures that she liked. I used a Groupon which is probably why I got terrible service. I know they probably have sales target so I was not the ideal customer. It's stressful enough to get kids ready for pictures but Sam just made the experience that much worse. On the bright side, a few pictures came out great but I'll be taking my own Christmas card photo next year. read more

Magenta has a very shrewd business model where they lure you in with a cheap promotional offer for one picture (e.g. Groupon) and then they gouge you for an assortment of pictures that are taken at the same time. This is not something that alone should warrant a bad review - I'm sure it works for them at least 50% of the time so that's how they end up making money. What was really annoying was the horrible customer service I received. During the photo session the photographer acts lovely and professional and then as soon as you go to view the pictures he/she turns into an aggressive car salesman that is completely inflexible. You have to make a decision about your pictures in the 15 minutes after your session and (they say) you can't think about it and come back because they'll delete your images. I walk away in those high pressure sales situations but then I read on the invoice that they keep your pictures for 3 months, so I decided to go back to get the pictures as a present. On the phone they gave me a fake story about how the pictures were deleted but then after 10 seconds on hold they were miraculously found and I would be charged an additional $25 viewing fee. In the end I contested the viewing fee and it was refunded (probably because I spent $250 on pictures) after the agent places another fake call to the manager. On top of that while I was viewing the pictures I asked to zoom out a bit on the screen so I could picture them in 5x7 format and I was yelled at by the photographer! The pictures are great - which is the only reason I'm giving 2 stars - but I will never go there again. read more