We made an appointment for 1:00 and didn't get seen until 2:00. Then it was another 15 minute wait to get into the room with the Christmas background. After that it was another hour to see anyone to see our photos and pick out the ones we liked. On top of that there's not a lot of room to be seated so we stood for a lot of the time. We came here with our 11 month old and it was very difficult to keep her occupied. There were a lot of other children older then her and a lot of foot traffic so it's hard to allow her to walk around. Staff we polite but were rushing you in and out of rooms. It's obvious they don't understand how to schedule appointments. I wouldn't recommend to my worst enemy. I'd give zero stars if it was possible read more

I like this location. The photographers are great with the kids, and they have some excellent value packages. You can leave with prints in hand and it saves time. Choosing poses can be hard because you want them all! read more

This was my first and last experience with them. We wanted one picture for a package deal they we're running but were made to do "a full session" even though we were pressed for time. We ended up buying a bigger package than intended but were ok with that; we were also told we could have pictures printed later. I went in to have more pictures printed and was told it's $24 for an average sheet and $30 for the 11*14 sheet. I inquired about the $30 package and was told I could not get that because I had already purchased a package. Communication and consideration of my time is poor, and prices are too high. I will not be a repeat costumer. read more

CLOSED PERMANENTLY. Entire business went bankrupt and didn't notify any of their customers. Thousands of photos that were never seen by family members were thrown away without any attempt at contacting the customers. read more

Took family portraits here today, 7 adults and a baby. Just as another reviewer noted, there was never any pressure to hurry up and get out quickly. We got to take all the pics we wanted and have wardrobe changes too. Our photographer, Brad, knew his stuff and was great at working quick to accommodate great-grandpa but took his time at getting the right baby photos with his goofy faces. Only thing I would change is that the photography rooms are wide open so outsiders can see into your session but after you got into your session you really didn't notice. Great place, great prices. Definitely going back. read more

Loved every aspect of this. I had been trying to coordinate with a local photographer for family photos while my son in the military was home and we were not able to connect so on the last day he was here I called and they were able to get me in and the photos were absolutely stunning. The two grand kids that are usually not cooperative did great with the photographer she really knew how to get them to do what was needed. I loved that I got to leave with my prints that day and they are very beautiful quality and the price was great and I got all the digital copies of the photos for any future reprints. Could not be happier! read more

The staff at Portrait Innovations Northville are very patient and professional. My 2yr old grandson was not cooperating it took from start to finish 3 hrs to get 27 poses. The end results were great!!! read more

I am so happy with the way our son's pictures came out! To be honest, I wasn't expecting much when I booked the appointment to have my son's 2nd year birthday pictures taken since I haven't had a great experience at other portrait studios. When I arrived for our appointment, we had about a 10 minute wait which was actually perfect to give us time to fix his hair and clothes. When they took us back to the studio, the photographer was very nice. We had a certain look we wanted so when we asked to change backgrounds or props she was very accommodating. Once they started taking his pictures, I actually thought they weren't going to turn out great. The photographer was moving from pose to pose very quickly and the picture taking took about 30 minutes. I thought for sure that the pictures would be awful. I was shocked when we sat down in front of the computer and saw how gorgeous they turned out! Before we got there I had planned on purchasing just 2-3 poses and ended up purchasing almost all of them because they were all fantastic! I paid about $400 for almost 20 poses on high resolution cd, 3 picture albums, and an 8x10 and 5x7 print of each picture (you can pick what size you want). I certainly didn't have to spend that much but really did love all my pictures. Also, I spent about $500 for his newborn pictures, which didn't even include prints, so I thought the price was reasonable. Overall, I was blown away by the experience and will definitely be coming back :) read more

See all

Steer clear! Wish I could give ZERO stars. 11/3/18 at our 6 month old's picture appointment, the photographer was less than eager to be working that day. Her assistant or trainee was more enthusiastic, friendly, and professional. My son picked up on this as well. As he's normally a very happy energetic baby and we couldn't get a genuine smile out of one picture. Which could just be circumstantial but nevertheless... She complained about how tired she was on multiple occasions and how she had appointments back to back. She gave zero help or creative thoughts on the shoot as far as backgrounds and/or props. My family and I basically set everything up ourselves. She rushed through the pricing portion so we were unclear leaving the building what we actually had just purchased. Overall just not a great experience. I regret that trusted my sons milestone pictures here. To add to this unsatisfactory experience, over 3 weeks after taking pictures I still haven't received all items I've paid for. I've contacted the Northville location MULTIPLE TIMES and I've gotten nothing but unanswered unexplained questions by less than professional staff members. The rep I spoke with told me that the products would be in the following day, whereas its a full week after that phone call and I have nothing. Not only that but no one ever contacted me to give an update on the products shipping. I've literally had to chase and call this company to receive my total package I spent $300 on! At this point I asked for a refund and to speak with corporate only to be further given the run around. I am already unsatisfied with the picture session and now I've waited going on 4weeks, only including business days, without my complete purchased package. I've asked that a customer service supervisor contact me by phone multiple times, only to get emails providing no solution other than offering me a 10% refund ($30 back from spending $300). When the website clearly has a satisfactory guaranteed policy of a full refund. The website also states that packages would be fulfilled 10 business days after taking pictures and here I am on the 18th business day. Please don't trust such precious moments with these people. Just search Google, you'l see the truth! !!! read more

DO NOT USE! Horrible customer service. They tried to enforce a policy that was not printed on their coupon. When we brought this to their attention they simply used "it's a corporate policy" to hide behind not giving decent customer service. Heather and McKenna are truly unprofessional. It's false advertising and a bait and switch! read more

I know a lot of people who rated portrait innovations had bad experiences, but so far this has never been the case with us. We have been coming to this location since my daughter was 2 years old and our most recent visit was today for their Valentine's Day special. They have always been prompt, professional, and have an amazing amount of patience. It is in a good area(next to trader joes!), the studio is clean, and they have a fun Lego area for the kids to play while they are waiting. The best part?? They print the pictures while u wait! And they are of good quality and reasonably priced. So far so good, we are happy with portrait innovations! read more

Worst photography experience with an infant and after 11 years and 3 kids we have had a lit of photography over the years and this was by far the worst experience ever. Neither photographer was helpful with my son who was scared to death bc these were the first pictures so they made me reschedule BC my 30 minutes were up. Came back and thr other photographer didjt interact with him at all got huffy he wouldn't cooperate kept leaving the room encouraging me to reschedule making crappy comments about that's why they recommended 2 people for infant photos... overall just HORRIBLE! read more

This place is great if you want on the package deal but if you don't buy more they are rude and treat you like a second class citizen. Used to be great but new employees have made it awful. Only reason they get three stars is it's cheap. Also not the highest quality nor are the photographers talented. They also use the same stuff forever. read more

Really really bad place. It's kids running this place with a Best Buy camera. They have no personalities and just up-charge you after your pictures. It's a waste of money and you will be very unhappy. read more

after a not so great experience at another portrait studio i thought i would give this place a try after being told by three different people to come here. when i first made the appointment i was handed a sheet with their three "most popular" packages. of course all that were listed were over $100. when we got there two days later, the place was empty. meaning, no customers. none of the rooms were being used and there were about four employees just standing around. yet, i ended up waiting 20 minutes before anyone even helped us. and yes, we did have an appointment. the photographer was okay. didn't do too much to make my son smile. some of the backgrounds weren't that good. and i wasn't to keen on the poses as well. when it came time to go over the pictures and packages i wasn't explained any of the packages and what was included. i was just given a price. when i asked about the cd. i was told that its cheaper to just buy a package then to buy the cd. of course he was showing me only the $300 package. so i picked one pose got my $10 special and left. all in all the $10 special was the only reason why i gave this place 3 stars. needless to say, when it comes time for my son's one year photos, i will be more than willing to shell out the cash to have an actual photographer take his photos. not some sales person with a camera. read more

This place is horrible and very unprofessional. I booked an appointment online and received a phone call the day of my appointment from someone name, Jennifer saying she had to cancel my appointment. I asked why and she said because she was the only one there and the computer system doesn't update itself. She proceeded to say she already had an appointment scheduled. She was very, very rude and disrespectful. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. I was very upset because I had my heart set on taking a family photo. read more

This place just gotten worse and worse. If you are on time they take forever to start if you ever late they cancel your appointment. Poor staff, dirty, staff always in a hurry, package prices are fake, once you get there it is always more money. Been going there for all my kids bdays, holiday pics and more, but after the last time dissapointment i am done. read more

The photographs are fine (nothing great), but the photographer refused to tell us what the minimum package would be. We had to eliminate pose after pose until we arrived where we wanted (after starting out at a ridiculous $400-something package). She was in a hurry (because she was running 30 minutes late), so she picked the backdrops she liked, and didn't share what other options were available. Thankfully I knew at least one that I wanted, but I didn't care for the two that she selected. I thought it would be a step up from J.C. Penney, but now I think that's probably not the case. It seemed like a scam for average photos. read more

We had a TERRIBLE experience at this Northville location of Portrait Innovations. We took our baby girl in for her 1 year old photos, along with her 3 older brothers and older sister for some sibling photos. We arrived 15 minutes early (9:15am for a 9:30am appt.) and were immediately rushed to get our baby dressed and ready. When I brought her in front of the camera, she obviously wasn't smiling right away, as she had no idea what was happening, who the strange lady was that kept moving her around and why there were flashes all around her. I said at least 4 or 5 times..."she needs a minute to adjust to her surroundings and to get used to you, then she will start smiling...can we do the other kids pictures first and come back to baby's?" I was ignored and she kept snap, snap, snapping away, not caring that my baby hadn't smiled once. I got out her Minnie Mouse ears that she adores and put them on her head to make her a bit more comfortable....well the 'trained professional', as they state on the website, took pictures with the Minnie ears in front of a BLACK background so you can't see the ears at all, as they are also black! The picture looks like she had a weird black band around her head and a random pink bow floating above her head! After this (literally only 4 minutes) she says, "ok, go change into her 2nd outfit". She still hasn't smiled for one Damm picture! When I changed her and brought her back, the photographer was on the phone. Instead of finishing her phone call first, she cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder and proceeded to take my ONE YEAR OLD'S PICTURES....while talking on the phone! Not to mention the choice of background, an ugly wheat field with nothing but fall colors in the middle of February for a 1 year old photo shoot. She was done with my daughter's pictures in less than 10 minutes. Needless to say, I am pissed, dissapointed and highly dissatisfied with this portrait studio and would not recommend to anyone! I have never made a negative review of anything before in my life, but I felt so strongly about this, I had to! I left with not even one picture with a smile on my precious daughter's face. I have since had her photos re-done by a professional, and they are beautiful and full of smiles, as they should be! read more

Only reason they aren't getting one star is because my kids had fun playing with blocks. Other than that it seemed like the lady taking pictures was on a mission to only get the bad ones. They also told us the pictures would be online so we don't 't buy the cd. Then when we goto look online they were there for 5 minutes but then after refreshing the page they were deleted. I Go back to portrait innovation and ask about this phenomenon. They say it was a glitch in the system and we only get the 3 pictures we picked. If we want all of them, we have to retake them and buy the cd. I explain we were told they would be online that's why we didn't buy the cd . They don't Apologize for the confusion but instead just continue to blame the "glitch" and push for me to buy more. I talk to Jennifer whom I'm told is the manager of the store. She says they changed the policy a year ago and I need the cd to look at the pictures online. I explain that can't be right because the Halloween and thanksgiving pictures are online and those were taken this year with no purchase of cd. "Glitchglitchglitch" Jennifer says and I need to take new pictures and buy the cd. Still no apologies from the manager, a discount, just nothing can be done to clean the mess they made of my order. I declined and left with my subpar pictures. Im very disappointed in this staff. I hope they change up for better people real soon. read more

This was my second visit to this location. First visit went great we had two outfit for he kids and we were there for a hour or so. All in all a little pricey cause we couldn't decide what photo we didn't want to keep. SECOND VISIT A YEAR LATER the place was packed special promo holiday postcard single pic 29.99. we made are appointment online and we get there they couldn't find it and we show them are confirmation. We have 3 children 2 of which are under a year old and we tell her we need individual pic of the kids and group pic of the kids and 2 changes of cloths. the managers says well you can wait around and maybe someone will not show up for there app. ( She should of told us to reschedule for a day less busy when they had time)my wife is already making an App online and said you have a time at 2pm. The manager says there you go someone canceled. So we get called by are photographer at 2:55pm tell us that between each outfit change we have to let someone else use the studio which we say fine. First shoot with first outfits is 15 min group and single of each child done. We get back in 25 mins later we get the first 2 kids done the ones under a year old and we are on our last child a seven year old 2 mins in and the light are flashing. Photographer see someone taking pics and ask them to stop cause it messing with the auto flash. Another photographer comes in and says no the managers says your taking to much time your shoot is over. If I didn't just spend 3 hours here I would of packed my kids up and told my wife were outta here. Now I wouldn't of been as mad if the manager would of came over and said in a polite way that we need to hurry up but flashing the light in the middle of the shoot was just rude and ridiculous way to do it since I'm not here for there Special but for 15 different pictures. I spent $300 on pictures and told them this will be my last time coming here and will work with an independent photographer for now on. don't waste your time having them capture your memories. read more

I received a flyer for Portrait Innovations for a one pose package for $10. with no additional fees. Needing Christmas cards I thought this would be a great idea. We have tried Sears in the past and the expereince was fine,but I liked the idea that we would not have to wait days for our pictures, only a few minutes. At out appointment the photographer and support staff were great. The kids were having fun and the pictures were super cute. I was ready to be a loyal customer and sing all the praises of this company. We sat down with the photographer and narrowed our choices down to the $10.00 special and then two additional poses. At that time the photographer showed up a "special effects" portrait that we would be getting and told us we would receive the CD as well. We paid, ran and errand and then returned and picked up our photos and cards and everything was Awesome. Until we looked at our package and found that neither the "special effects" picture or the CD were in the bag. I went back in and a woman who was most likely the manager, greeted me and asked me what I was confused about. I asked her about the CD and the "special effects" picture. She informed me that they did not come with what we had purchased and that they would be an additional $30.00. I told her that the photographer had not said that and that we should expect them with what we had received. She again said "No". She then asked me if it was my "first time" there (to which I replied yes, as it was) and "that was why I must be confused". I took my prints and left knowing this situation would not improve. My husband decided to go and speak with the staff about the missing item. At that point the people told him that he was incorrect and the "photographer had made a mistake" and they had "thrown away the CD" already and those items were not part of what we paid for. It's customer service 101 that you do not get into a shouting match with a customer, which is what this woman did with my husband. We are not the type of people to complain about a dollar or two or standard sub-par service. Considering, however, that I work in customer service/sales management I would be fired if I treated a customer the way my husband and I were treated. Hopefully their HQ will take our concerns more seriously than the staff at this location did. read more

I've been looking for a studio to use from time to time for family pictures. Particularly one of the things important to me is the ability to pay for and walk away with the digital high-res files. Not to undermine the importance of a great photographer capable of posing the subjects and extracting and capturing the smiles, character, etc., or the capacity of the studio (backgrounds, props), or anything else, but living in the 21st century, I feel that prints are cheap, and often disposable, and what matters is the original digital file. If I want to print a 4x6 for work, or put a collage together, or an album from various photos from multiple photoshoots, or a montage for my daughter's wedding decades from now, or even just create a family photo gallery online, I should be able to do that. I know most studios try hard not to release the copyright to the originals, and for those that don't care, that's probably not an issue, but I choose not to work with such studios. I'm primarily writing this review because I was told, when I made the appointment, that the CD with high res photos would be part of the package (it's advertised on PortraitInnovations.com). Last night, after the shoot and receiving the printed photos and CD (only a few hours later), I discovered that the CD in fact contains the high res files, but they're encrypted, and if I want prints, I must take it back to the studio. What's worse is when I called corporate to explain, I was told that what I was told was accurate, the high res files were provided, the representative was sorry I misunderstood the purpose of the "archival" CD (first time I heard that term), and the refund process takes many weeks. For anyone who doesn't care about the digitals: the studio is nice, our photographer was very experienced, and we had a second person there specifically to make our daughters smile. I can see how some people would feel rushed, but having a 4mo and 2yo daughters, we appreciate the fast nature of our session, before the girls lost attention and got tired. I personally will not come back, despite everything being great, only because I need the digitals, and I feel I was cheated. Let this be a warning to anyone thinking that the Portrait CD advertised contains high res photos you can take anywhere. read more

Tried this place several times when the kids were little. Had varying degrees of success, but after a bad experience 5 years ago, swore off them. Decided to try again this year because I figured no one could screw up my 15-year-old's dance pictures. My daughter was dressed when we went in and had no other outfits to change into. The photographer rushed her the whole time! She would tell my daughter wear to stand, and snapped out a succession of pictures before my daughter could even get posed. I finally stepped in front of the camera at one point to push my daughter's hair back over her shoulder, and was awarded a heavy sigh for my efforts. We went during a weekday morning when there was one other individual in the studio, so they could not be considered to be busy! I applauded their effort to get us in and out, but I would have rather have less actual poses taken and not be rushed then to get in the required 10 or 12 that they do. The other problem was that at one point, my daughter was told to take off her glasses because they were causing glare. Told the photographer that I wouldn't take any pictures if my daughter's glasses were off because SHE ALWAYS WEAR HER GLASSES! Seriously! Hasn't the photographer encountered people who wear glasses before?! I bought a bunch of pictures because the photographer was rushing me so much, and I couldn't decide. The pictures looked pretty good from what I could see on the screen. When I got them back and actually starting to look at them, at least 1/2 of them had huge glare spots on her glasses. You couldn't see it in the small picture that was on the screen, but I would have thought the bigger pictures would have been reviewed and the glare corrected. Go ahead and try the place if you want, just be prepared to remove your glasses, and make sure you don't get rushed like I did. read more

After going to and being happy with jcp portraits, we went and got my daughters 1st bday pictures done by the recommendation of many friends. Seeing all of the pictures on the walls I was excited to see what pictures we were going to get. Well, let's just say the excitement faded fast. The studio is wide open, with kids playing in the lobby and people walking back and forth. My daughter kept walking out to play with the kids. My daughter barely smiled and shes normally very smiley. Then we sat down to look at our pictures and were only offered the highest package there is. My husband wasn't opposed as both of us just wanted to leave and were very annoyed with the whole experience. The package included "your choice of 3 items...calendar, 2 small books or a large book." We picked 3 calendars and when the order was received it was 1 of each listed. I looked back at the receipt and that's how she put it in. She wasn't even listening to her customer! The only part I liked was getting the pictures that day but honestly we would have gotten better pictures for a cheaper price at jcp. We won't be back! read more