How often do you get professional photos done of your babies? [Archive]

ce_Kathleen

07-09-2005, 06:40 AM

Well for the first year, (which is almost over :( ) we got Alex's pics taken at newborn, 2 month, 4 month, 6 month, 9 month and we are going to do 1 year. After this year I think we are just going to do a family picture at Christmas and then a pic of just him for his birthday until he starts school then we will have to see if we want the school pics or what.

BooeyJ2

07-09-2005, 07:37 AM

We are planning to do 3, 6, 9 and 1 year (so every 3 months) for the first year, then probably just once a year after that except maybe 1 or 2 shoots in between (maybe for Fathers Day or for Christmas pics).

We take a ton of pics of her anyway....and sadly enough, most of them are better than the "professional" shots anyway (it helps that we have a nice new 7.1 megapixel digi cam ;)). I took her for her 3 month photos (also for a Fathers Day gift since it was around the same time) and although they weren't "bad"....they also weren't fantastic either.

Traciray

07-09-2005, 07:48 AM

Jacob is now 10 months old and we have done pro pics at; newborn, 1 month, 3 months, Christmas @ 4 months, 6 months and 9 months and three weeks. We are planning on doing one year shots close to his bithday.

onomatopoeia

07-09-2005, 07:50 AM

For the 1st year -

2 months, 4 months, and 8 months. We plan to do pics for 12 months.

I am an amateur photographer so some of my pics I felt were just as good as those at a studio :)

tray622

07-09-2005, 08:16 AM

We are a little freaky and do them every month. I dont buy enough to give to everyone all the time since that would get old (for them, not us!). I have a little wall collage with room for each month of the first year and then we buy ourselves a framed 8x10 usually but not always (we have 7 out of 10 hanging somewhere in our house).

Marisa

07-09-2005, 09:21 AM

We did 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months.

Then for Christmas we were given a membership to the JC Penney portrait club, so we went again at 12 months, 15 months, and I need to make an appointment for 18 months. :)

With the portrait club membership there's no sitting fees, and there's ALWAYS a coupon for JCP on their website if you don't have one in hand, so it winds up being fairly inexpensive, maybe $30 a pop for a full package of pictures for everyone.

So far I've been happy with JCP... moreso than Sears, at least (only went there once, it was not a great experience). Their portrait club is $40 for two years, so if you plan to have pictures done more than four times, it's worth it -- the sitting fee otherwise is $10 each time.

ButterflyJen

07-09-2005, 09:31 AM

We did 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and have an appointment for her one-year. We just went to Walmart for the 3,6,9 (were pretty good, actually!) - their packages were cheaper than the JCPenney or Sears ones (though you only get one pose for the $6.99 fee - if you want other poses, that costs more).

Juniper

07-09-2005, 12:06 PM

We went through a photography studio which is alot more expensive than JCPennys and Sears so we had them done at 3 months and then one year.

I am thinking about trying out some of the lower priced places like Pennys because my MIL took almost all of the proffesional pics from his one year, so lots of the Grandparents didn't get any.

Chylynn

07-09-2005, 12:39 PM

We are doing Newborn, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 8 months, 10 months and 12 months the first year through Kiddie Kandids. We have been very happy with our pictures. They really do a good job working with babies.

LeslieR

07-09-2005, 12:44 PM

Okay, this is about what I was thinking. Especially for the first year as they change and grow so fast!

Thanks for the replies!:)

usafwife

07-09-2005, 04:25 PM

I have more than a few of the JCP's coupons for pictures as well. We haven't really discussed it but I'd like to get some taken soon. Our little one will be 2 weeks old Tuesday. And then probably do them every 2 months until she gets to be a year old. They change so much during the first year and I'd like to be able to treasure all the changes. Plus we won't be hurting for pictures as we have 3 cameras (2 SLRs and a digital plus a video camera). We already have more than a few rolls of her now and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

littlebear

07-09-2005, 04:54 PM

Starting at 3 months, we've gone once per month which I plan to continue until he turns one year old. After that we'll probably do every three months or for holiday photos. We have the Smilesaver card at Sears so there are no sitting fees. It was $25 for 2 years so it's already paid for itself. We've had really good experiences at our Sears. I don't get huge packages everytime. I usually just pick out 1-2 poses and get an 8x10 because I'm keeping an album with all of his pro photos. I'll also get wallets every few months so that I can hand them out to family.

NicoleWisconsin

07-09-2005, 05:15 PM

We have gone at 3, 6, and 9 months and will go at 12 months and then probably every 6 months.

Just a word of advice, there are ALWAYS coupons for Sears/JC Penney's in magazines and online. On the coupons for Sears, it always says with no sitting fee. The only benefit to SmileSavers is no sitting fee, so IMO, it does not pay to join. We did and I wish we would not have.

kmmommy

07-09-2005, 05:39 PM

We took Kaeden at 1 month and at 6 months and will go back for 1 year. I do a lot of photography so I take about 50-100 pictures monthly and can finish them and print them like professional pictures.

We have the JCPenney membership. It's $40 for 2 years and you never pay the sitting fee, but you also get some other great benefits like 50% off a framed collage.

Here'sours (it's a 16x20 and I think we paid $75 + tax):
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5dd05b3127cce9086b67c947b00000016109AbM2bho5ai

tray622

07-09-2005, 07:06 PM

emschwar

07-09-2005, 08:13 PM

We did every month for the 1st year, now every 3 months for the 2nd (plus christmas). We have the sears membership, and we don't buy much (although they always sucker me in with too many cute shots!) and I usually only spend 10-20 each time.

kmmommy

07-09-2005, 08:37 PM

We have always used Picture People or Kiddie Kandids, but so many of you like Penneys... I will have to try them. I just dont know if I have the patience to wait for the pics! How long does it usually take?

I think it took about 2 weeks for them to come in. I love that they touch them up and have so many special ways you can order them Check out their website to see a lot of options.

lorbo

07-09-2005, 09:45 PM

i have to say with Brooke, i got pictures everytime i had a free coupon from the picture people. i'd say every 3 months plus one at 7 months(because an Olan Mills photographer begged to take her pic) and her 10 day old pic . James...well, i haven't been that on top of it. with his preemie status, i was limited by so much. he spent 5 weeks in 2 NICUs and was discharged with the warning that he wasn't to go anywhere until cold/flu season was over. he received the RSV vaccine and then ended up back in another NICU. so, thinking about it-he had his hospital picture at 5 weeks, an in home picture at 7-8 weeks old, then 4 months by himself and last month with his sister. i do believe that i'll have his pic done every 3 months if i can help it, starting with his 6 month, the halloween pic, christmas, 1 year, etc.

phart

07-10-2005, 11:01 AM

Aiden is 20 months and we've never had professional pictures done. And now there's pretty much no way he'd cooperate. I will say that we have plenty of good shots taken by us and we get wallets made to give to our parents.

Hedwig

07-10-2005, 08:31 PM

For the 1st child, the first year, we took her picture every 3 months. I t has steadily declined since then. I think I'd be lucky if I have 2 or 3 pictures of my 3 year old! I just found one of those JCPenney coupons (which, BTW I like way better than Sears!) and I thought, "It's about time to get some pictures done again!"

1_mommy

07-10-2005, 11:12 PM

we have taken dd;s picture every 3 months since 5 weeks old. and the 1st year was every single holiday too.
since her 1st b-day it has been her 12 mo, and then her 15 month which fell around christmas. we missed her 18 mo/easter pics. so we must get them done at 2 yrs. hopefully i can stay pretty consistant with ds when he comes in oct.

Brady

07-11-2005, 05:53 AM

My son is 4 months and I have yet to get them done, mostly just due to lack of time! It's one of those things I keep *meaning* to do... Between my father and I we have about 100 pictures of him a month, so they may not be "professional", but I certainly have my share of pictures at home to choose from! ;) If I can find some time this month, I may start to do it.

I will say I do regret not getting professional ones taken at either newborn or one month. I have a ton of amateur, but seeing professional shots at that age makes me envious and wish I had done it!!

katzmeow671

07-11-2005, 06:13 AM

BooeyJ2

07-11-2005, 08:56 AM

We got pics at Sears when Gracie was about 6 weeks old (it might have been more like 8 weeks). I plan to do another round when Kayla (her big sister) gets home from CA in August which will serve as her 6 month shots even though she'll only be 5 1/2 months. We'll probably wait and do another round at Christmas which will be 9 months and then of course the birthday ones in March. How much IS Picture People? I hear they are pricey but I've never tried them out for myself. I keep waiting to get a coupon from them but no luck yet. We might try Penney's for the August shots.

Hey Bets :)

Go to their website and sign up for "Smilestones" (it's free).....

http://www.picturepeople.com/clubs/smilestones_form.asp?sm=8_3

They will send you coupons :)

Also, another thing I signed up for is the "Portrait Club"...here is the info on that:

http://www.picturepeople.com/clubs/portrait_club.asp?sm=8_1

taraw

07-11-2005, 09:34 AM

I am in the minority here, I have only taken DD once to get pro pictures done and that was for her one year. I have taken digi pics of her each month all along and have been happy enough with the way they turned out.

twinnyme

07-11-2005, 09:48 AM

I also am in the minority - I have only done it once.... before she was three months old, because we had a coupon for Walmart and I just desperately needed to get out of the house! I'm sure as DD and my nephews get older, we'll try to do some more pro shots of them together, but for now, I rely on my daily photos that I take with my digital camera (I think I'm up to 1500+ photos in 6 months.... I know, crazy) and post to Yahoo. I've managed to frame quite a number of those. Plus, a friend of ours is a semi-professional photographer and she got GREAT photos of DD at her baptism (and I'm sure will take many photos of her in the future).

mama2a&g

07-11-2005, 11:01 AM

.....

Kristeen

07-11-2005, 11:56 AM

We did every month DS's first year. Yes, that's right, every single month, sometimes twice if we wanted a family shot too. I got the cheapo 3.99/sheet w/free 8x10 from JCPenney's and put them alltogether in a scrapbook. The thing is, he looks basically exactly the same from about 4-6 months and 8-12 months. The next baby we'll do nb, 3mo, 6mo, 9mo and 12mo so you can actually tell the difference!

BooeyJ2

07-11-2005, 02:32 PM

I forgot to add that so far we've only had "professional" shots done once (at PP) and they weren't that great (we only got "fake" smiles out of her...probably because there was too much to look at and it was a "weird" place). The best pictures we have of her were taken by ourselves...so yeah...."professional" isn't always better. Just get a nice camera and shoot away! :)

quest

07-11-2005, 07:21 PM

We've gone every 3 months so far, and DD is now 20 mos. We've tried Sears, Penneys (twice), Wal-Mart, Picture People (twice), and most recently Portrait Innovations, which just opened near us (we took the 21-month pics a month early). OMG, I love this place! They had a very large, open area to take the pics, lots of settings/props/backgrounds, a photographer who seemed to be a true professional as opposed to someone who only learned it for the job, an assistant who helped with the props, smiles, etc. so that the photographer could focus on snapping away, and they took close to 70 pictures. They pull them all up on a freakin' huge screen and you sit and go through them and pick the ones you like. This was our first visit and they let you pick the pose you want to use for the 9.95 package...we got TONS of pics. And the sheets are less than Picture People if you want additional poses. Oh, and our pictures were ready in I think 15 minutes. We'll definitely be going back there for our next pics at age 2, and then my plan is to just take yearly professional pics since we take gazillions on our own as well :).

emschwar

07-11-2005, 07:32 PM

There's one of those near my mom's house. Maybe we'll have to try it. Is there a sitting fee?

tracer

07-11-2005, 08:48 PM

We went every month up to 1 years old. Then went again at 18 months and will go again at 2, 3, etc. It was a lot of work and I am not sure if I will be bale to do it with #2. I HOPE to, but with 2 kids, I just don't know if all will work out. We used Sear's 2 times and their coupons are awesome. The other times we went to Picture People because we got the pics back right away and didn't have to wait 3 weeks when it was near time to get his next month shots taken. I would say keep a few coupons with the furthest exp date.

emschwar

08-01-2005, 06:03 PM

quest - thanks for the tip on Portrait Innovations! We went when we were at my mom's this past week. OMG, the place is great!!! Ours didn't have the 9.95 package, but we got 3 sheets each of 3 poses for $70 and a portrait composite and cd of all 60-some shots for free. I can't wait to go back there at thanksgiving for our christmas portraits!

Renrel

08-01-2005, 06:10 PM

What professional photos? I guess it is more than every 21 months. Let you know after we finally take the picture of the whole family we promised my mom as a mother's day present several months ago. :o

Pookie

08-01-2005, 06:53 PM

We're doing 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. The 3 month was a family photo.

Allegra

08-01-2005, 09:13 PM

well, considering I'm a professional photographer, she gets them "done" almost every day. But, as the old saying about the cobbler's children goes, I"ve only taken her to the studio once for her newborn pictures.

http://www.allegrasstudio.com/announcement.jpg

Allegra

suzfuzsunflower

08-18-2007, 04:19 PM

Curious to hear more. So far I've taken Benjamin to get pictures taken at 3 weeks, 2 months, and 3 months. Trying to decide if I should take him back at 4 months or wait until 6.

LeslieR

08-18-2007, 04:41 PM

We did 5 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, and 2 years. Also Christmas pics and an Easter pic with the bunny.

PinkMartini

08-18-2007, 05:13 PM

My DS is 10 months old and the only pro pics we've had done of him were at 6 months... I keep meaning to get him back in for pictures but somehow time slips by :o

Kanga

08-18-2007, 07:47 PM

1mo, 4mo, 6mo, 9mo, and 1 year. For dd2 we also did family portraits when she was 2 months so had some taken of just her because we were there anyways.

After a year we'll do 18 months, and 2 years then probalby yearly after that. We hope to do family portraits yearly but we'll see...the last time we did it I was so stressed out after coordinating outfits, trying to get the kids in a good mood, etc I swore I'd never do it again, lol.

gardenmommy

08-18-2007, 10:53 PM

Ok, question for those of you who took really young babies..what sort of pics did you end up with??

We took our DD at 6 months, 1 year and 2 years old. With #2 coming I think I'd like to do the same type of schedule but thought about maybe taking the new baby in really early for newborn shots...I'm just wondering how young is too young, and what sort of pics I can expect.

zhannushka

08-20-2007, 08:03 AM

DS is 7 months now and we've never taken him yet. I take pictures of him daily, so - we have tons of good pictures of him (I'm not a pro by any means, but some of my pics come out pretty good.) We do plan on taking him to a studio at 1 year old.