Mallory Portraits — Local services in Portsmouth

EDIT: I had a long conversation with Molly on their team. I feel like she genuinely wanted the feed back I had to give for their company to grow from. We were also able to come to an agreeable resolution to where I much better about the situation.

Sorry in advance for a long review, have to give context. I had been scrolling through Instagram and saw an ad for Mallory Portraits stating to submit a chance to win an "animalia giveaway session" to get portraits done of your senior pets for a senior animal project they were doing. The ad mentioned a free portrait credit. So on a whim I submitted because of course I love my senior dog as much as any owner yet I actively would never seek to spend money on a portrait when I take tons of smartphone pictures all the time. Admittedly I was super excited when I got the call to let me know I had won the giveaway. I was a little apprehensive when setting the appointment I had to 1: take time off work due to the sessions only being during business hours during the week and 2: put a $300 deposit to reserve the session and for in case my dog made a mess in studio. I only went through with the deposit because I was told it was 100% refundable as long as I showed up and my dog didn't make a mess. I will admit that the actual photo taking session was a lot of fun and the woman who was taking the photos was awesome! Where the experience begins going south for me was after the photos being taken, I was asked to wait in the green room while a previous client was with the studio sales manager going over their photos. I ended up walking my dog for about 15 minutes, then waited in the green room for close to an hour on top of that. No big deal usually. But after finally being brought in to view the photos and seeing how amazing he looked, the sales manager then mentioned the portrait packages they offer, and as a true salesperson she started with top down selling and started with the most expensive package which was something over ten thousand dollars. This immediately spiked my anxiety and I asked her that I thought this was a giveaway and there was some sort of portrait credit I would be receiving? She mentioned that I would be receiving a credit for a portrait cost of $1000, to which I asked what that would cover. She brought up all of the sizes projected on the wall to actual size and showed me the tiniest portrait they offer, which was barely big enough to see from 5 feet away, her words not mine, and then the sales pitches started. I ended up getting talked into going with a 20"x10" which came with 2 8"10" companion photos, which itself ended up costing me over $1000 on top of the $1000 credit and the $300 deposit added in there. At this point my anxiety toward finances immediately started to give me an inward panic attack, to the point where I almost let the sales person select a photo I was not interested in as the main photo but for an 8x10 and I had to go back and and ask if I could choose the right one. It wasn't until after I had left the studio and got in my car that I realized that the sales person didn't even show me the option for the hand painted styling they offered that I saw in the green room I liked and I had been too anxious to even think to ask about it. I will give the sales person credit in that she did throw in the frame for free when I started to really panic about the costs adding up, but how much of that was being nice and helpful and how much of it was to get the sale I'll never know. So flash forward to this past week and I received the portrait and after opening it, truthfully all I could feel was a massive amount of buyers remorse. Had I simply been told before my session that the portrait credit would only cover the cost of a small portrait going into the situation I would have had the correct expectations and potentially would have politely declined the offer since it also required me to miss work. However to me it felt like classic sales, to get people in the door offer them something free and then push the sale when they are...

We took our 2 daughters to Mallory for the fairytale 'contest' we won off of facebook. I had to put $150 down as a holding fee for the apt which I was told we get back or to be applied for pictures. I assumed we would get 1 free image and I could maybe get a few more. How silly I was to think pictures were less than $150. Anyway, its not a contest if everyone gets an apt and its not a 'free' portrait if I cant have the $150 back. The studio was relaxing and professional. My girls came dressed up with butterflies in their hair and styled. Very excited. Everyone was really nice, professional and friendly. After the shoot we sat in their viewing room... which basically where they explain how extraordinary the prices are and the packages. The photos are quite beautiful but I can do a $5 overlay of fairy lights on a picture at home... but since I am woman and sentimental we picked our free photo.. and even though they say they wont hold the images after you leave they were sweet enough to let me have a couple days. I then got 2 more digital copies. I was told it would be about 2 months for the portrait in the mail and I would get the digital copies right away. I reached out about 6 weeks ago wondering what the status was and this is where I believe Mallory portraits falls short. I know they are busy but every one has a hard time with following through or they just blame a different lady in another 'department' - They did resolve my issue (Today) quickly when I started to get a little wound up. The images are gorgeous but I wont be doing this again for $550. They are walking a bit of a think line with their transparency and communication. When they do give you attention they are wonderful. If you accept that your paying a high price and the turn around time takes a while - I would absolutely recommend. I would ask Mallory portraits to be a little more up front. It can get sticky if people don't quite understand and feel like they are roped into something. I can see why there are a lot of mixed reviews

• Response to owner comment This is fair. I gave you 4 stars, I said your products were amazing and your staff was great. My kids had a great time. I am sorry if your staff spoke incorrectly but I was told and when I look, they aren't online, and they get 'discussed in the studio' when I asked - I was told it was non-refundable. I asked if I can get pictures with it she said yes and that was fine. But I was assuming it would pay for a photo but its not even be enough to buy 1. If she said we don't sell digital photos (which she sold me 2 so thanks) and we have packages we can discuss later I at least would have time to decide what I wanted to do instead of show up and be told I have to decide now and you wont save them. Which I was willing to still buy more, I just wasnt about to open a new credit card and/or charge THOUSANDS on a split moment decision based on pressure from the sales team, loving my photos and having to be out within the allotted time frame. "chose now or we delete them once you leave'. Again, I said thank you for working with me, I said your busy and its understandable. If you cant accept that this review was decent, your studio is nice and so is your work I would just recommend your a little more transparent and take ownership of fall throughs (we are all human) then that is your problem. Thank you for the pictures...

A nice little studio space (with an actual parking lot for the building!) with very friendly, professional, and capable staff.

My family was greeted at the door and welcomed into the small entryway area with two chairs, and soon shown into the waiting room (with a few chairs and a couch, a fake fireplace for ambience, some sample portraits on the walls, information on portrait packages and pricing, a few coffee table books, and some toys to keep the kids entertained) to finish getting ready and wait for the photographer to prepare the studio space. There is one very small changing room in this space (think the size of a department store fitting room), so public bathrooms in the hall are also available to get ready if needed. Extra hairspray and bobby pins are available if needed.

Our photographer, Caitlin, did a wonderful job making us feel comfortable, giving our two young kids a little freedom to explore, and explaining/demonstrating each pose and positioning. She set us up in about 7 poses total, and in our 20-25 minute session, we had 23 pictures (a couple of my husband and I, a few of our kids, and a bunch of the whole family) to look at when making our purchase decisions. Effort was made by the photographer and another staff member, in addition to us, to elicit the rare "natural toddler smile" from our kids. With their help, we had a good bunch of very nice shots to choose from.

From the photo session, we had about 15 minutes to wait before meeting with David to look through our shots and discuss our purchase options. He was very friendly and spent a few minutes chatting and getting to know us and our expectations and desires, and talking us through their process of retouching and finishing portraits before diving into our photos. He helped us narrow down our options to our top three shots, heard what kinds of products we were looking for (in our case, a family portrait to hang in the house as well as the opportunity to gift copies to relatives), and designed a package to fit our needs that we were very happy with - including a printed portrait with framing and two digital files.

If you are concerned about cost, call ahead to collect information on charges for prints and package options so you are not surprised on the spot. You are paying for beautifully artistic retouching and enhancement of your photos, and are charged accordingly. Our experience is that you are not necessarily limited exactly to the package options on their price list, if a slightly different set of options better fits your needs. This was all decided for us in our meeting with David after the photos were taken.

You will sign a form stating a 5 month waiting period from when your pictures are taken to when you can expect to receive your finished product(s), but we were informed that this is dependent on size and number of photos and in our case is likely to be closer to half that timeframe.

This studio specializes in formal portraits, though we chose a much more casual look for our family (jeans, sneakers, and coordinating tops) and are very pleased with the results. We became customers as winners of a portrait session giveaway on Facebook, and are very happy with our in-studio experience and are excited to see the finished products in a few...