This is a sponsored post about preserving our holiday memories with Portrait Innovations.  

I was never a person who liked getting pictures taken for anything really until my son was born and then a monster was born. I love getting pictures taken for holidays and special occasions. There is just something awesome about having professional pictures to showcase all of the big events in our lives. While I do get pictures with the whole family I am really getting the pictures taken for my son. I want to be able to cherish the memories of him years from now. This year we were able to get holiday pictures thanks to Portrait Innovations. I am thankful to say that I had a great experience with this in studio experience.

Before this shoot at Portrait Innovations we had never gotten pictures taken in a big chain studio. I will admit openly that I was really nervous about it because I remember some really boring shoots as a child at a few different chain studios. Portrait Innovations was so much different than those experiences. They make the whole shoot personal and want to get your personality into the pictures. It isn’t completely about the poses and perfect smiles. The women running the studio that I went to were fun and engaging.

The Portrait Innovations Experience

This company wants your photoshoot to be fun and they want you to love the pictures that are taken and that is why I say that it is an experience. When you schedule an appointment with them they makes sure to send you a courtesy call days before your appointment to discuss what the appointment will entail. They offer outfit changes and want you to know about the backgrounds that will be utilized. During this conversation they also learn about what you are seeking from the photoshoot so that they can also be prepared in advance to give you the best experience possible.

Portrait Innovations is a spacious studio with two different studio rooms. Right now they have one room set up for Holiday pictures and pictures with a rug on the floor (Your location may have different props than my location.) and the other room is set up with the extra large backdrops that give you an even colored background.

The Portrait Innovations Photoshoot

The actual photoshoot was amazing. We were focusing on Holiday themed pictures so we started our shoot with the holiday backdrop, but you can start the shoot with whatever backdrop you choose. The women will tailor your experience to you. It isn’t a one fits all experience. (This also means you can and they encourage you to bring your own props to help personalize your experience; however we did not bring any props with us.)

During prop changes and backdrop changes my toddler son was able to run off and play with the LEGO table. I was very thankful for the quiet studio and the fact that we were the only ones there 90% of the time. This meant that we got personal attention and I didn’t have to worry about my son bothering some stranger with his crazy toddler antics. One other thing I loved about this shoot was the fact that we were not pressed for time. When you get pictures taken by individual photographers they give you a small window of time where you have to fit in 10-20 pictures and you feel stressed trying to get kids to behave. At Portrait Innovations I never felt like that. We were told to let our son be himself and if he ran off we were allowed to let him get a little energy out before we continued with the photoshoot.

I feel like I could talk about the shoot forever, but we took 25 different pictures on three different backdrops in approximately 1 1/2 hours. I would have to say that is an amazing feat with a 21 month old little boy in tow.

Selecting The Perfect Pictures

Once we finished the photoshoot I will admit I was both excited and dreading the selection process. I knew that I was going to have approximately 25 pictures to choose from and in the end I would only be walking away with 6 pictures printed for family and friends this holiday season. The first few cuts were easy for me to select because we had duplicates of pictures (close ups and full body shots of the same poses) that made it easy to cut so that I wasn’t printing too similar of pictures, but the reality set in very fast.

Once I had cut out the duplicate photos I started to struggle. Reality was these women took such amazing photos that I wasn’t finding any pictures that I wasn’t completely in love with. I did manage to cut down the pictures that would be printed and my family has all so far agreed that I picked great pictures to have printed.

A standard session like this always will end with the selection process. You will start with the full set of images and select your favorite picture of three for each pose and this is what gets you the 25 different pictures to pick from. These will include a few black and white images as well as at least one sepia image to pick from. They will start with the biggest package where you get a ton of extras. As you cut out pictures your package will change and you can tailor it to be the perfect package for you and your family.

This means you can get all the bells and whistles, some, or just the prints of a few pictures. It makes it possible for the shoot to be priced for people of all backgrounds. As someone who comes from a low income family I can say that some of the packages and special sessions are most definitely within my price range.

Many of the packages that Portrait Innovations offers are priced at the rate I was paying individual photographers for and I am getting prints and special effects images that day. I just loved being able to walk away with my pictures and not have to wait a week to just get digital images in my email.

Portrait Innovations Special Offers

Portrait Innovations seems to always have some sort of special going on that will help you save a little extra money or just be able to get some extra special holiday themed pictures. Currently they have a Holiday Portrait Special going on where you can get a pretty amazing package.

The Holiday Portrait Special will get you one image printed and in digital format. In this package you get 42 prints, a canvas or a mug and an ornament. In addition to that you also get a CD with your image on it with copyright release so that you can print the image at a later date if you so choose.