I decided to bring my 1 year old grandson in for photos as a surprise for my daughter for Christmas. I made an appt for 12:30 and arrived at 12:15. We waited until 12:28 before anyone addressed us. The studio was crowded as can be expected before the holidays and they had 3 people working. They need more. We started after our start time which was frustrating when making an appt ahead of time Our photographer was brand new and it showed. She was nice but she was SO SLOW to take the photos that she missed my grandson smiling numerous times. She did not have any creative ideas and she did not pay attention to detail. I had to stand behind her and try to make my grandson smile, fix his collar, and fix the seam in the rug he was sitting on. There was no suggestion for props or poses. There were several times when my grandson would do something cute or smile and she would be so delayed in taking a photo that she missed the moment. Santa Clause was there and came in to take a photo with my grandson and at one point he even said, "take the photo". It was a very frustrating experience. We then had to wait for 25 min to view the photos. When we did get to see them, we were very underwhelmed. They had taken 10 photos that we could view. Many were not centered, many had parts of the backdrop cut off, they were just not great. The manager who was helping us recognized this and offered to have us come back later in the day to have her take his photos but as anyone knows with a 1 year old, it is hard to plan around naps and this was not going to work. The manager did waive the 14.99 sitting fee, thankfully. But all told, we spent an hour and a half and paid 65.00 for 3 prints and a frame of photos that are just meh. Super disappointing experience. read more

My 4-year-old daughter had a birthday photo appointment scheduled for Thursday, July 31st. I took time away from my studies and caring for my other children (one of whom is currently sick) to bring her, traveling over an hour to the studio. My husband also left work early to watch our other kids, resulting in lost income. We arrived at the studio at 6:03 PM for a 6:00 PM appointment. From the moment we arrived, the staff member Tuesday (who I later learned is the studio manager) had an unprofessional and rude attitude. I asked for a rubber band to fix my daughter's dress and was told no. While trying to find one in my purse, Tuesday rushed me about a coupon and insisted we "get going." I also brought in damaged prints from a previous session, and instead of assisting, she dismissively told me to contact customer service. Tuesday then asked for my information, which should already have been on file. When I told her I brought a background for my daughter's second outfit, she kept misunderstanding and insisting on knowing what my second background was--despite me repeating that I brought it and it was for her second look. Eventually, Tuesday said we were too late and canceled the session, falsely claiming I was 10 minutes late (it was only 3). She refused to proceed with the session and asked me to leave. I later saw a $25 cancellation fee on my bank account. I did not cancel--Tuesday refused to take my daughter's pictures. This was extremely upsetting, especially for my young daughter. I demand a full refund of the $25. That is money our family depends on. Tuesday's behavior was completely unacceptable, and I hope this complaint is taken seriously. My daughter and I deserve an apology. I will not be returning to your studio. read more

We went in for family photos and the studio was running behind schedule. Apparently there was a technical issue with the camera earlier. We had to wait about an hour. Carrie S was our photographer and she communicated the delay all along the way. She thanked us for being patient. When it was finally our turn, she was friendly, kept the kids engaged and welcomed our pose requests. Although I'm sure she was stressed with the delays, she did not portray that to us. She thanked us with a couple free prints. Carrie is phenomenal at her job, and she gets 5 stars from us! read more

Had an on location photographer cancel at the last moment for once in a life time family pictures and we ended up at JCpenny's photography studio. We got an amazing photographer, way better then the photographer that canceled on us. The JC Penny photographer made a point in learning everyone's name and using them. That made all of us, including the kids, feel comfortable and relaxed. She was skilled in getting very natural looks from us and getting great shots. She did formal, casual and fun character pictures that really captured everyone's personalities. She even got our non-smiler to give a true happy smile in one picture. 1st photographer that is not family to do that. What JC Penny photography studio has in comparison: -digital pictures, can I just sing the praises of finally getting all the digital pictures to share with family without having to pay life and limb to get a few. - Prices are very reasonable, the total was 25% less than other photographers and that includes the digital pictures! -Specials are very good, with the seasonal special it was 50% less then the other photographer for more prints and DIGITAL PRINTS!!!! I will be finding out the name of our JC Penny photographer and she will be doing all of our pictures from now on. read more

Love this studio! We had our first family photos after having our daughter yesterday. Andrea did a great job of getting multiple poses, while keeping my whole family happy and interested. Andrea also did a great job of handling the flow of people coming and calling while working with us. There was even a lady who called and was told to please wait at least half an hour before leaving because she was starting our sitting, with a newborn mind you. This woman showed up rude and impatient anyway. I told her to just get the ladies pictures so she could leave. That lady refused to cooperate and made rude demeaning comments to the photographer the whole time she was there and left complaining that she was going to file a complaint. I was surprised since it wasn't her appointment time and she was rudely interrupting my appointment. Luckily none of the interruptions threw off our photographer or the quality of our pictures. Despite that woman's behavior, since you can't control other people, I will most definitely have more pictures done there, hopefully with Andrea! Also just get the membership, it saves you hundreds of dollars per sitting! read more

JCPenney Portrait Studio - Love these pictures! She even made the sleeping baby work out. - Event Photography Near Me - Olympia, Washington

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Stephanie did such a wonderful job capturing our son's newborn pictures! She was also very patient with our newborn baby and made sure we had ample amount of time in case he got fussy, needed to be changed or fed. She did such an amazing job with him and the pictures turned out gorgeous! Thanks Stephanie! read more

JCPenney Portrait Studio - Event Photography Near Me - Olympia, Washington

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Zero stars!!!! If you have the time to walk around for an hour to two hours after your scheduled photos to only find out someone ahead of you was late to their appointment and they were taking pictures of a stuffed fox, I'd say there is a glitch in the system. read more

10/24/2020 came to JC Penny to have family photos done and let me start off by saying it was the worst experience I've ever had taking pictures. Every time I have had photos taking the photographer has an idea on poses the family should do for the photos. However this photographer pretty much instructed us to make up our own poses. It's like she didn't have a clue on what to do. Long story short find another studio for pictures. read more

Savannah and Shelbi took our holiday portraits and they were an absolute joy to have. They love what they do and are a fantastic team. I highly recommend getting your photos done with those two talented young women. Such great positive energy that made the session so fun and go by smooth considering our three sons find taking pictures quite agonizing. We will definitely return! read more

No stars!!!!!! Doesn't allow outfit changes on a Saturday but also doesn't notify you online, or until Friday night!!!! The joke of a manager mike is so rude and disgusting. He can't give corporates phone number to make a complaint because he is out of the studio but on the studio phone. Get real!!!!! read more

I've been going here for OVER 10 YEARS and loved them BUT ever since Andrea came in as Manager it has been DOWNRIGHT AWFUL!! Not to say to pictures are bad BUT now they are always running 30-50 minutes behind, and one of those times I was supposed to have been the first person seen! Andrea herself has been EXTREMELY rude to me on TWO occocasions AND those were my ONLY interactions with her. The first one was where my boys had their School pictures at the end of August. We were literally supposed to be the first ones seen YET were seen 20 minutes late. When we got there Andrea was listening to calls on Speaker real loud so we could hear everything ~this went on for at least 10 minutes, the lights were off, and not once did she look up to al least greet me or my boys. When she is done she turns on the lights, goes in the back to fix a few things and then comes up front and ask me what kind of background I want: ALL with NO apology or friendly greeting! The next time I come in is for our Family Pictures. The gentleman is newer AND running 50 min behind so we change in the other room while he's doing his thing. We still have to wait another 20minutes. Pictures are good enough just like before when Andrea took them~ NOT nearly on Mikes level at all. I don't receive the customary email for more to purchase until the day before to pick-up. Believe this is due to poor management unless they changed procedures. My 2nd interaction w/Andrea was over the phone. I called the day before around 2pm to see if my Christmas Cards were in. She asked me when they were due and I said tomorrow and she said "well that's when they will be in", I said "did you even check?", I've been coming to you guys for years AND I've never had it take 2weeks" and she asked again when they were due, so I stated "I just literally told you tomorrow". She put me on hold and I just knew by her attitude that she wasn't going to check and she was going to come back with "it's not here" and sure enough that's what I got. Now how does that make any sense when the very next day I can pop in anytime AND they are to have my Christmas Cards? AND I knew their mail had been delivered! So I decided to drop in that evening AND verify if they had my Christmas Cards. Turns out Andrea was the one I spoke to and she was running 40minutes behind. She had to call someone in because she couldn't handle it BUT it was only 1 set at a time & no double booking. So I asked the Lady who came in if she could locate my cards AND loe and behold~ they are right in there! Just to be clear only an hour had passed from the time I had called BUT either way their mail had come way earlier. The lady apologized for her Managers behavior to me and I told her she should apologies for herself. Andrea's clients were out of the Studio Room and she was reviewing the screen in there, I took that opportunity to tell her that I obviously my pictures were in and I don't appreciate her attitude or her laziness. I also informed her that I would be talking to her Manger: in which she said "I am the manager", I said "you obviously don't listen, I stated that I would be speaking with YOUR MANAGER". read more

I agree with Brandon S.! This was the first time we have done portraits with all three of us and we felt rushed. The poses were not well thought out. In reviewing our photos at the studio it was rushed and the girl was on the phone during it, then she switched off with the only other girl working not informing her where she was in the process with us. What we got were pictures that were not so good. The prints we did order looked muddy (think yellowish ting on a white background) and flat and overexposed and improperly lighted (harsh light from above bleaching out details, glare on my glasses that made it so you couldn't see my eyes, and worst of all out of focus. These things were not as obvious when being rushed through them on the video screen. The girl would not let us have time to look at them slower and would not hand us control of the mouse to click through them at our own pace. Now I could see maybe missing a little bit of out of focus, thinking it was just a soft focus or something, but this was not even close to that, and how does more then one person miss it? This should at least have been caught when they did the prints, or when she was handing them to us. I just took them home disgusted because now there is not enough time to do more photos to send to relatives before the Christmas holiday. read more

Now I understand many of the bad reviews I read online. In essence my negative review does not pertain to the technical skill of the photographer, who I thought was good all around at taking pictures. Everything else is a disaster. I went in with a Groupon and the whole experience was ruined by aggressively trying to upsell me. They were shooting prices and packages left and right. I felt like I was on an aggressive auto dealership. Basically, the Groupon was worthless because the sales pitch was that I should buy something different and forget the Groupon. Not enough space here to explain everything. After I finally gave in and agreed to buy something beyond the Groupon, they called me an hour later and said they made a mistake and I was supposed to pay 5 times more ($100 instead of $20). So, they made me go back in to get a refund ... but they didn't know how to operate the POS and ended up waiting. In the meanwhile, people were in line for their appointments. I don't typically complain, but I had to call for the store manager and point out her employees are in dire need of training. read more