This is a revised review. I think it's only fair that I apologize to Expressions for my lack of persistence and patience when Expressions was working hard to deliver. I did receive the photos and could not be happier. Thank you JB, Thank you Expressions. read more

Staff was great, I really appreciated that they took the time to make sure my baby was smiling! Had to wait just a bit due to some internet issues, but otherwise a great experience! read more

Best Santa ever! Really good with kids and babies. Very nice. Having some technical difficulties, but other than that, terrific.

Chaz, Saf and Santa were amazing!!! Very jolly and accommodating and attentive. Thank you for the awesome experience!!! Aloha. Catherine

Santa and Mrs. Claus at Kamakana Ali'i are always great! Very friendly and the pictures turn out wonderful.

Jordan and Kalei were the absolute best!! We walked in with a fun idea and they were all for it, the execution was amazing! Shoutout to Kalei, she brought our idea to life and it was her FIRST time shooting pics. This team was professional, cared for our group, and I look forward to shoots with them in the future!!! Mahalo for making our Christmas extra special this year :) read more

Good photographer, guided poses nicely, gave great ideas for poses. Staff were friendly and informative.

Staff was amazing and fit us in as a walk in. Made the sessions easy and painless especially with kids lol. This is our go to for Santa pictures read more

I stopped by Expressions, on a Saturday, 12/30/23, at about 11:30a to pick up my two 8 1/2" by 11" Business Photo prints. Two weeks prior, during my scheduled appointment, I ordered the Business package. This was when I had the opportunity to take two poses and have two changes in attire. After taking my photos, I selected the 2 poses that I liked, and paid for the package. At that time, you will be given a thumb drive of your photos for you to keep. If you want prints you must go online and choose your shots that you will email to Expressions. They will call you when it is finished. Thus, today I went to pick up my two 8 1/2" x 11" prints that I ordered online. Emil P. who was working that day gave me exceptional customer service. He greeted me politely as he was helping the two customers in front of me. A few customers came in after me and he helped them as well. Emil gave me my 2 delightful photos and I was thoroughly satisfied with it. I was also impressed with Emil's knowledge, positive attitude, and ability to multitask, while helping his customers as well as me. I will definitely be back and recommend my friends to have their photos taken at Expressions. read more

Santa was great! Chaz was friendly! Pictures came out great. There was no line on Black Friday!!

Santa was soo enthusiastic and Chaz was very helpful and friendly!!! Very quick checkin in even on Black Friday!!

Santa was awesome! Entertaining, engaging, amusing, and photographers were kind, professional, and accommodating. This is your one stop for your holiday photos​. read more

We took Santa photos at the Ka Makana Alii location and the staff was fabulous!! They were so helpful and fun! We highly recommend taking Santa photos at this location! read more

Matt was da best! He was very open to ideas and was very respectful with what poses we wanted. Pretty much total control. Been coming here for years. Best spot Garranz! read more

Everyone was so friendly and patient with my son! We got a great photo of my son running away from Santa

Everything went great for our first santa picture cards. Absolutely loved it and my child was very interested and kept contact with both the photographer and santa! Great experience! read more

Wonderful experience from start to finish. Santa was warm, engaging, and incredibly patient with the little ones. The staff was organized, extremely helpful, amazing and the final photos were high quality. Highly recommend for families Great service!! Extremely smooth process. read more

Alright, folks, buckle up because I have a snapshot of an experience to share! We recently had a senior photoshoot for my son at Expressions Studios and let me tell you....the experience was a bit of a rollercoaster. Kai, our photographer? Absolute legend. Super chill, super cool and genuinely fantastic behind the camera. If taking epic photos were a sport, Kai would have gold medals lined up on the wall. He made my son feel comfortable, confident and.....dare I say it.....photogenic! But here's where the lens gets a little blurry. The studio's pricing? Yikes. I paid $100 (plus tax) for the session and that was with a discount. Normally, you'd be looking at $200 just to step foot in front of the camera. And.... what do you get for that? A good time, sure. Memories? Definitely. Photos? Not a single one. That's right! Not even a courtesy wallet sized pic of my son's "I'm too cool for school" pose. Nope. The photos are extra and when I saw the prices, I had to do a double take (and then a triple take because surely that was a typo, right?). Spoiler alert: It wasn't. We're talking $38 for ONE sheet photo. Packages? Oh, they've got them! But the cheapest one that makes any lick of sense? A jaw dropping $400. For one pose. One. Pose. I'm no mathematician, but I'm pretty sure that's the kind of price that makes your wallet cry. Look, I'm all for supporting photographers and the art of capturing memories. But at these rates? I might as well hire a personal paparazzi for the day. Would I recommend Kai as a photographer? In a heartbeat. Seriously, Kai is the reason this review isn't just a screaming emoji. Would I recommend the studio? Not unless you're in the market for spending your vacation fund on a single family portrait. I really hope Expressions Studios reconsiders their pricing. With such talented photographers like Kai on their team, it would be amazing to see more accessible options for families who want to capture special moments without breaking the bank. 2 stars because Kai, was great! read more

Bad service and overpriced. My daughter's school photos were taken in July and I never got the photos so I had to call to inquire. They said it may be at the school and did I check with the school office. Told them the order form said to pick up at the shop. After checking they found her photos almost 4 months after taking. They said someone forgot to call to pick up. read more

I brought my son here last year for his senior pics and had no problems. Everything went well from taking his pics to pick up. This year I had to bring my daughter in for senior pics. Her pictures came out great, no problems with that either. The only problem I have was that it took longer than expected (about 5-6 weeks). But that's not what irritated me. I got a call, text and email saying to come in and pick up the pictures. When I got there, she handed me the pictures then said "We don't have any folders so you'll have to come back and pick them up. We'll give you a call later" uhm... why didn't you say that on the phone or email? I don't want to drive back. If she had let me know, I wouldn't even pick up the pics and just waited for everything one time. I think they should of had everything ready for pick ups. How on earth did you run out of picture folders knowing that it's a package deal? Don't offer it if you're not going to have enough. It's been 2 weeks and I still did not get a call re: picture folders. I could buy some, but I won't because it's supposed to come with the pictures. read more

Conveniently located inside Pearlridge downtown on the corner right outside of the old Sears, 2nd floor. Employees are on the "younger" side and the 2 times I went, which was for the shoot and to pick up the pictures, were un-welcoming/un-inviting/not helpful/clueless. They kind of just stood there waiting for you to ask the questions and when you do it's a blank stare back. I paid $150 just to hold the spot? I'm assuming, because I ended up having to pay more money for the actual picture package. The money didn't even go towards the package price. The photographer that did the photos seemed mediocre. Poses were standard. Not sure if he even checked what he got before calling it a wrap because a lot of the shots taken ended up being "okay" as I was not impressed with any of them. Not interactive and no tips or suggestions. No fixing of hair and clothing. Session felt very rushed. Selection of packages were slim and not appealing to customer. Besides the upfront money, pricing for the actual package was decent compared to other professional photographers with private businesses. Turnaround time was good, about 3-4 days. Most likely will not return. read more

Very nice staff both when making and changing resv and also the photographer. Well done sports photos make your kids look cool. Not cheap though. I was surprised at the prices. Oh well...your kids only little once. Four stars really because of the price, but I just gave them 5 stars because they were so pleasant to deal with. read more

Expressions Portraits Design has grown so much over the years. I remember their old location where H & T Burger is now in a smaller area. Now, they're located close to Sears in an urban setting look. It's very modern, spacious, and very inviting. If you're passing by, you may be able to get a glimpse of photo session. But don't worry, if you're being photographed, people can't see you just the photographer. We came here early this morning before the mall was open for my minor's portrait session. We were very pleased with the session as well as the staff who were professional and helpful. They're also very organized and high tech. They ask you to sign-in, take your photo, display your photo in one of their screen to select, purchase, and pick up in a week. The whole process took about an hour. They also have makeup/hair artist if you want that service. You can also rent their photo booth for parties. read more

Expressions - Event Photography Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

See all

Had a couple of problems with them. The only good thing that came out was my photos. 1. Called to asked info about how everything works and booked for an afternoon shoot. The girl said my photo session would take 1 hour. Then I get a phone call 2 hours prior to my shoot that they needed to cancel because of some sort of schedule mix up. They said if I reschedule, they would wave the fee. I moved my schedule around just so I can have my family photos taken that day and I wasn't about to reschedule when we already agreed on a time. So instead, I rushed to get my daughter from school, get her ready before the traffic hit since I was coming from town. 2. My session was only 20 minutes long. They didn't even have the background that I wanted because boxes were blocking it and they didn't want to move it even though it wasn't busy and there were so many employees working. We settled for something that we weren't even happy with. 3. FYI: MAKE SURE TO CHECK YOUR RECEIPT! When you book an appointment, they take a $25 deposit which would be applied to your final purchase. When it was time to pay, my photographer said that my deposit was taken out of my total. An hour later, I looked at my receipt and saw that he didn't take the $25 out of my total. I went back and noticed that all the employees were just sitting around the computer, talking. Like seriously, I could have kept my original time session and not rush if I had known all they were going to do was just talk. When the associate looked at my receipt, she said I was correct and would leave a note for the manager since he wasn't around. When someone over charges your account, no matter the amount, you would expect them to refund you asap. That wasn't the case. I called the next day to do a follow up. The associate said he'll text the boss to let him know. So I'm thinking, ok he'll do it soon since he got the text. The next day still nothing. The following week, still nothing. IT TOOK OVER 2 WEEKS TO GET MY REFUND. I was finally able to get a hold of the manager and it seemed like he didn't even get the memo. He refunded it right away and it only took 5 minutes. read more

My daughter had her school photo taken and they chose a photo clearly not looking directly to the camera. Photographer must've not been experienced at all. I sent an email to see if we could do a retake which they responded, "what school" , I replied back and it's been 2 weeks & never got a response ... very poor customer service, I even left my phone number, they could of at least called me. read more

I came across Expressions on my way to Sears. The photo studio is located at Pearlridge Downtown on Level 2. Timing was perfect because I had just received my grad photos taken at the UH Manoa commencement ceremony by another photographer. I wasn't thrilled about the green screen and the background images used for my solo pic. It was kinda corny! So, I was curious to see what Expressions could offer after-the-fact. First impression, the studio was inviting and the gentleman who greeted me was friendly and answered all of my questions. I was content with the prints I saw hanging on their wall, so I booked an appointment for photos in my cap, gown, and diploma. The booking fee was $25 (non-refundable), which could be used towards the photo package. The appointment was about an hour total. A dressing room with a full length mirror was available. The photographer was patient and had a few poses in mind. But, I'd recommend that you come with some ideas of your own as well, especially the background color. He was flexible and patient, and made sure posture, smiles, clothing, etc. were all on point - even the "good side" was considered in every pose. I do remember that it was quite warm during the shoot, so keep that in mind if you decide to dress up in long sleeves. After the photo shoot, the photographer took approximately 10 minutes to prepare the proofs for immediate viewing. There were probably about 25 photos taken, if I remember correctly. In the end, I chose the Platinum Package, which came with 5 poses and 8 sheets (any size up to 8x10). Plus, an 11x14 and a 5 pose CD. Be ready to pay for the package at the end of the appointment. Bonus is, I checked-in with Yelp and received a discount. The final prints were ready for pick up within 2 weeks. I'm happy with how they turned out! Definitely a better option for the individual pose I took at UHM and I even had extra prints to send back home to my parents. A couple of things that would have earned them 5 stars. 1) I wish the digital photos were either placed on a thumb drive, sent via email, or available for download via their website. Does anyone use their CD rom drive these days? 2) The pull-down background screen in black is a little wrinkled. Either pull it down farther until a smooth screen is exposed, get it replaced altogether, or perform touch-ups to the image. read more

See all

If i could give half a star i would. So unprofessional. Had an appointment scheduled in advance and not only did they call to try and get me to reschedule but when we showed up to take the photos no one was there. according to these people, they were short staffed and over booked. they kept saying they were calling a manager but they were not answering. Such horrible scheduling and horrible customer service. it took them over half an hour for someone to actually acknowledge the appointment. once they came, we were asked if we had an appointment for today. to say that this is the worse experience ever is an understatement. i should have been compensated for these expensive photos that weren't even ready in time. read more

Expressions - everything is open and they still had no one at 10:33am - Event Photography Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

Flew in from the Big Island with two 5 year olds specifically for Santa pictures. Based on pictures online and recommendations from friends who took their children for photos last year, we opted to do the photos at Kahala Mall. We booked in November and subsequently made out plans to go for the day. Keeping the Christmas magic alive was so important to us that we were willing to do this off island and provide an experience for our girls, especially after these past couple of years of masked Santas and limited photo options on the Big Island. Photo staff was friendly and photos were done in a timely manner but Santa was not at all as pictured on the booking site. Understandably there is variation in the men who do this job but such an iconic figure has key components/features that make him believable to children. Our girls were looking forward to this experience but when we got there both were confused and asked who that man was and where Santa was. They asked why he looked like that and we had to quickly explain that he was a "helper" despite staff referring to him as Santa. My daughter even asked why his beard was black and why he was dressed like that. He was not even friendly. We were especially disappointed that we flew in just for this and this was the experience we had. Had we known it would be like this, we would not have done these photos here. I contacted Expressions immediately and the response was that if we were still on island we could do retakes at another location which would have beeb acceptable had we still been there. However, we had already returned home and would not be able to go back to Oahu for that. I subsequently sent 3 more emails to which I have not received a single response. Extremely disappointing. Terrible customer service. read more

Had a appointment for my daughters senior pictures , let's start by saying she was very nervous , tristen greeted us right away and took us early for our appointment , to our surprise he was also the one taking the photos , tristen is very professional !! As my daughter would say the bomb he made her feel so comfortable that we was all laughing at the end ! Outstanding thanks again tristen !! read more

Expressions - Signing the wall - Event Photography Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

See all

We took our daughter here for girls day a few months ago, then our son for boys days. They did such a good job with my daughters hair and makeup, and also the pictures came out nice too. I would highly recommend this place. We will definitely be back. read more

See all

They were extremely patient when working with my son. He was crying and they worked their magic is getting him to crack a little smile. So very grateful for all their hard work! read more

Expressions - Masako Formal Kimono dressing - Event Photography Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

I bought a living social deal for $75, valued at $194. We shot 2 outfits for a total of 30 min and were encouraged to bring our own props and things to personalize our photos. At the end of our session we were told we could choose 3 poses and create any 6 sheets with it (8 wallets, 2 5x7, 4 3x5, or 1 8x10). I was initially a bit annoyed because we had booked our appointment for 7:00, and my family (2 adults and 2 children, age 6 and 1.5) was even there 10 min beforehand to get settled in so we could start on time. We weren't given attention until 7:20 because the worker was still with another customer, and even then we didn't start shooting until 7:30 due to the photographer having to prepare the studio area for us. Side note: I'm 7 months pregnant so my better half kept reminding me to relax and be patient. After I put on my good behavior I was able to enjoy our time there and see all the good things. Big plus: The AC in there feels great. Which is nice for the kids because if you're wearing some photograph-worthy clothes then you're already uncomfortable, am I right?! Second big plus: They have a wide variety of props. We didn't use any but it was nice that there were blocks and books for my kids to use at they waited for Mommy and Daddy to take couples photos. Next plus: Our photographer Shelby was the BOMB.COM. She patiently guided us as we posed for each position, giving us directions like tilt your head, move one step to your left, scoot in more, take a step backward, etc. All these little cues helped us look natural and relaxed in our photos. She also really took her time getting a good shot. My daughter the 1.5 year old is a grumpy little thing but we were still able to get photos of her smiling. Shelby, you deserve a raise. Making my daughter laugh is no easy feat. Shelby's expertise became even more apparent as we looked through our photos at the end of our session. We ended up liking about 10 out of about 15 shots. Every picture was so beautiful, her skills made it hard for us to choose. Shelby did mention to us that if we wanted more than what was offered to us via the Living Social discount, that we could use the money we already spent toward a different package that the studio offered. I think she pointed to the Seasonal Package. The details were listed on a banner hanging near the doorway of the studio. Basically it was the same deal as living social, but it came with all photos on a CD with a copyright release. I've purchased CDs about four times in the past and I've NEVER had those photos printed. So we declined, but it was nice to know that this option was available to us. We had our session today and were told that pick up for the 6 sheets would take no more than 10 days. Like I said we started at 7:30, but we didn't leave until just before 9pm when the mall began to close up. Judging the whole experience from start to finish, I can honestly say we (all four of us) were very satisfied with how everything went. A little customer service goes a long way. Thank you Shelby for all of your help tonight. And thank you for mentioning the newborn photo shoot. If we do decide to come back we'll book our session with you. read more

Expressions - We got a smile out of our daughter :) Thanks again Shelby!! - Event Photography Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

Very nice staff. Girls Day and Boys day photo shoots for my 7 year old twins went smoothly. For the Boys day they even had cute crafts for the kids to do. read more

Expressions - Getting pictures taken - Event Photography Near Me - Aiea, Hawaii

See all

Had my children's pics taken here for their senior year. You sit, smile, get your picture taken and you're done in less than 5 minutes. The cost for the pictures are OUTRAGEOUS. This is my main reason for doing this review. The cost to take, print, and employ the photographer does not equal anywhere near the package. The USB price is crazy and they won't even let you by your pictures without a package which cost hundreds of dollars. What?! Expressions, you are ripping everyone off. read more

Thank you so much to expressions and their entire operation. Upon calling them, they were able to help me with scheduling appointments for this threesome. When we arrived we were greeted with such a welcome, and the children were well taken care of. For this children's day or a boys day photo shoot the dressing was immaculate and authentic including props. The service was friendly and supportive from beginning to end!. The children especially enjoyed the Japanese language spoken and the knowledgeable Obachans that helped them. As a grandmother, it was enjoyable to watch them get their professional photos taken. Ja, mata ne? read more

My sister and her other half were promised "free photos" after taking their cultural pics the first time because the photographer assigned to them that day had told them it was "her first day" and she "doesnt know how to pose people"....girl.....thats not all, on top of putting a new hire on the spot like that, IT WAS JUST HER THERE likeeeee after that, im guessing word got around to whoever the hell is in charge over there and they were told that they could have a redo session and get their photos for free bc they didnt have a good experience the first time. tell me why they did their shoot recently and was told should they want their photos they need to pay $200 for it.....???? yall fcked up their photos the first time, later promised free photos/a free session, AND THEN proceed to tell them they have to pay for it?? btw....they were charged $300 for 5 photos..........5 PHOTOS!!!!! GOODBYE!!! i promise yall can get ur moneys worth with independent photographers on INSTA read more

Our son had his senior portraits done here per his school, we were rushed and not given many options for pictures. Most of the few pictures we got to choose from were from an underneath angle (my son is 5"11 and the photographer was shorter). They advertise that a USB can be purchased and we can have all of the rights to the pictures taken-we purchased USB but there wasn't too many photos on it. You are given the option to be an extra 1-2 outfits. read more

1 star and that's only because I gotta give them a star. My appointment is for 10am. They confirmed my appointment the day before. It is now 10:30am and still no photographer here to start our pictures. This is such bad customer service. No manager response when the team with Santa called. No phone call to me for them not being here. Finally a worker comes to us at 10:33am and asks if we have an appointment. We said yes she rolls her eyes upwards as If we were wrong this whole time. Updating: Currently 10:45am and still waiting to be helped. read more

Expressions Photo Studio is my go to place for ALL my family portraits. I've been a customer since 2014 when I moved to Hawaii. I've had my parents, my neices and nephews as well as my little family come at least 2-3 times a year for photos. One of the BEST offers that Expressions has that I have been taking advantage of is the Birthday Club. For just $100 you are given a free 8×10 for your child every year on their birthday. My boys started off with their newborn phots and are now 7 and 5. Love how they capture my boys, my family. read more

This place is so terrible! We had an appointment at 5pm when we got here the gate to the store was down and after the photographer let us in he went back to the previous customer making us wait to start. So far it's been 20 minutes of waiting. They really should have more than one person running the show here!!! read more