The Studio At Target

Tara, or Taralynn… whatever her name is, as another reviewer described, was THE RUDEST person I have ever met in customer service HANDS DOWN. I can’t even describe in words the anger I had toward this little girl working here. Unprofessional is an understatement. I have no idea how this woman has a job. Not only does she have no idea what she’s doing, she also doesn’t care. We went the day after Thanksgiving. 4 adults, 1 teenager and one baby. First, she ignored us for at least ten minutes when we arrived because she was on a personal telephone call. She couldn’t think of poses, yet she works as a photographer at a photo studio? We ended up thinking of our own poses while she stood there with a disgusted look on her face. When asked if she had something that made noise to help get my 3 month old nephew to smile her response was, «Uh Ya, everything is buried under all that stuff over there so… no.» I could literally go on and on about how rude she was. My mind is still blown. And this is coming from someone who has worked in customer service. As we were leaving, a man and his little son walked in asking about their appointment and her response to him was, «uh, you called and canceled your appointment. Why are you here?» Are you kidding me?! I will be calling the manager to follow up on this. FAIR WARNING: if you get a tattooed, pierced, little brat named Tara as your photographer, you’re going to have a bad time. Shame on you!!!

Britney took excellent pictures of my daughter. I’ve used just about every studio and her pictures matched the quality of the portraits I’ve had taken at even Picture People.
However it was difficult to receive them. I showed up on the day they were promised and the photographer was in a session. I waited 15 min. And my baby started fussing so I decided to try again later. The following day I stopped in again and AGAIN the photographer was in a session. The door was open so I peered in and she was just setting up props and had not started actually taking pictures yet. I asked nicely if she could just quickly grab my photos and she rudely told me she was in a session and cannot help me until she was done. I asked how long I would have to wait and she shrugged and said she couldn’t help me. I pleaded that my baby was with my husband in the car and crying so I was pressed on time. I told her I simply could not make it back to that area again for a few days and she shut the door in my face! I’ve had photographers step out at JC Penneys to help a customer briefly and I didn’t mind at all. They at least have a service bell AND HELP THEIR CUSTOMERS!
I will not return to this studio. It is just too hard to get the photos I’ve paid for and already waited a week for. Really, it takes one minute to hand me an envelope. Her refusal is simply unacceptable.

There is a woman named Tara that works here who is the absolute rudest. Here is my experience.
I took my 6 year old daughter to a sitting on 11÷23÷13 that was booked several weeks in advance. Upon arrival promptly at 4:40pm, Studio employee Tara was EXTREMELY rude to me. As I walked up her back was turned to me and I stated we were there to check in and she barked «ONLY IF YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT!» I told her that we did have an appointment. She saw that I was holding a change of dress for my daughter and she barked again, «DURING HOLIDAY SEASON WE ONLY ALLOW ONE OUTFIT!» I explained that we have been having my daughter’s portraits made there since she was born and always do 2 outfits and that was the reason I booked the last appointment of the day. She then barked «WHEN WE CALLED TO CONFIRM THE APPT WE TOLD YOU ONE OUTFIT!» I explained that I didn’t receive a confirmation call, I received an email because I booked online. I showed her the email and that it did not state one outfit. She said she would make a «one time exception» and «DON’T EXPECT WE WILL EVER ALLOW 2 OUTFITS DURING THE HOLIDAYS NEXT TIME.» I told her there probably would not be a next time because of the way she was treating me in front of the other customers and she was embarrassing me and upsetting my daughter.
Next, I was asked if I wanted the holiday background and I said no, I wanted the silver background with the bubbles on it that is on the postcard mailer that I received, and I showed it to her. She barked again, «MA’AM THAT BACKGROUND IS DAMAGED AND UNUSABLE AND YOU HAVE TO PICK SOMETHING ELSE.» I asked if I could see it to determine if it was damaged in an area that would be covered up by where my daughter was standing and I was denied. I said, «OK, maybe we will try the white background» and Tara barked again, «IF YOU USE THE WHITE BACKGROUND YOUR KID HAS TO TAKE OFF HER SHOES WE DO NOT ALLOW KIDS TO STAND ON THE WHITE BACKGROUND WITH THEIR SHOES ON.» She shot a nasty look to my child as she referred to her. At that time I asked to speak to a manager. I was denied and told the manager was at another location. I then told her I would call the other locations myself and locate the manager. Tara then called the manager, Nikki. I spoke to Nikki and explained that Tara had been very abrasive and rude to me since the moment we arrived. Nikki assured me that she would have a chat with Tara, but once I passed the phone back to Tara I could hear Nikki laughing over the phone and Tara whispering. Obviously, I have no faith in the fact that there would be any repercussions from this experience so that is why I have chosen to escalate it to your corporate office. I did proceed with the photo shoot with another photographer, but the energy of the studio was very tense, my daughter was visibly upset and the photographer was not on her A game because she was noticeably nervous from my encounter with Tara. As you can see in the portraits, the extra backdrops are showing in the corner of almost every shot. I had to settle for a background that I did not want and the photos are not consistent with the quality of photos of my daughter that I have had taken at Target over the past 6 years. I only purchased a few shots because they were so poorly taken.

All I needed was a simple headshot to use online so I thought Target might be an easy solution. I wasn’t expecting much and yet I was disappointed. The staff was very unprofessional in their communication with me (greeting, lack of updates, etc.), and one of them gave me attitude when I asked how much longer it would be after waiting more than 30 minutes past my appointment time. This was after sitting alone in their very small area without any updates, etc. except the lukewarm greeting when I arrived, and also after having listened to the sales person on the phone discussing her sales goals and the store’s sales status with her supervisor at a different location. At this point I felt I was not dealing with professional people, and I didn’t want them taking my headshot. So, I left even though I’d invested about 40 minutes waiting. I went to the Picture People at Galleria, which was slightly more expensive but the difference in professionalism was night and day (they were very friendly and professional, and on time). I love Target in general but I would never consider using their photo studio again.

My family and I have not had photos done in 5 years and were on a budget. We checked the reviews and decided to try out target for the first time. We were pleasantly surprised and had a fantastic time! Mark Wayne made us feel comfortable and understood our vision. We loved the final product and will be going here for our next family shoot. I highly suggest that those who know what they want and are able to communicate this while going with the flow do the same :)

Lynn is amazing. 20 minutes and a large selection of photos to choose from.
My family went in to get a portrait taken and we were laughing the whole time. Sometimes studio shots can be cheesy and awkward, but Lynn picked ones that suited us well. We loved the attention to details. She is also a smooth talker. Not in a bad way, she just made my day when she called me the baby of the family. Flattery and great photos will get you everywhere. I am excited to see the final product. If they ever run a Groupon, snatch it up because it is well worth the money.

Remember the good old days when you could go to the mall and have pictures taken with your friends and get the pictures within the hour? Well, each time my cousins and I are reunited (a rarity) this is what we do — wear matching clothes, take pictures and cherish the memories. Unfortunately, since it’s been about 6 years since the last time we did it, we just now were informed that those wonderful photo places are almost extinct. What to do now? We’re still on a budget and don’t want to spend too much money, but want some good pictures of us. After a little research, I found out that Target does photos for reasonable prices, so we set up an appointment (which you can do online or via telephone) and we were ready to go two days later.
During the photoshoot, we had an absolute BLAST. Our photographer, Lynn, was spectacular and she got some really great shots that you can check out by copy & pasting the link below. To get the best photos, you have to have fun with it, and that was something she definitely did with us.
After you take the photos, she’ll sit with you and go through them, making adjustments and creating cards/​borders/​etc with you. Be sure to print out the coupons they have online so you can save a little. There was no sitting fee, but since we couldn’t decide on a package or on just a few poses, we ended up spending a little more than we anticipated, but it’s definitely well worth it.
Overall, it was TONS of fun. I recommend it for anyone out there trying to get their Christmas photos done soon! :] The processing time takes about a week, so the time is NOW! Goooo! && ask for Lynn, she’s the BEST! :D BTW, it’s located behind the electronics section. It can be tricky to find right away. ;]