“If I could rate lower than 1 star I would.
After seeing their stand at a baby fair, my friend entered a contest where you could win some free either maternity or newborn photoshoots, all you had to do was pay a £35 fully refundable deposit. After winning this competition (as I imagine every single entrant did) she paid the £35 deposit under the assumption that this was fully refundable.
After some time she looked at the prices, and saw that included in the photoshoots was 1 digital photo for free (watermarked) and if you wanted to buy any more it would cost hundreds of pounds for just digital copies. She saw this and looked to get a refund, as she obviously could not afford this. They said that there was absolutely no chance of getting this refund, as the photoshoots need to be completed for the deposit to be refunded.
Unfortunately, later on her pregnancy was unsuccessful. This was a tragic time, and through the grief she thought to let them know that she would not be able to attend due to her miscarriage and would like to get the money refunded. They played dumb and said that she had never paid a deposit or made an account, forcing her to go through the emails herself to provide proof, which was in fact with the same email and location she had told them in the first place. A week afterwards she has been getting daily calls from them, which is just awful. She has no room to grieve.
This is by far the worst company I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with, and while it may not be an outright scam it is incredibly shady and should be avoided at all costs.”
“We ‘win’ four photoshoots with a free picture from each one as we attended a baby show in London and supposedly correctly guessed the baby dolls weight. However, my friend who I was with guest completely differently to me and also got a message saying she had a photo shoot because she guessed right. So clearly, it’s a way of getting customers in the door. The newborn photo shoot itself was a really good experience and good memories were made, The maternity issue I had first wasn’t as good and sadly you could tell by the end pictures that the photographer didn’t have as much experience as the owner did and so the pictures weren’t very good. Sadly, baby studios don’t do their own editing meaning that whatever image the photographer has in their mind that they are trying to capture is not communicated with the editing team that all the photos are quite generic. Sadly, the family picture from when I was pregnant wasn’t nice at all it had a massive dark shadow in the background that hadn’t been edited out and generally was quite sloppy and messy with my partner hidden behind our Child. This was actually the best of the bunch and obviously since I can’t go back in time and do it again, we ended up having to take it as it is. In all honesty I found the man who owns the company very very pushy with sales and was questioning us could afford to pay each month and also questioning each of us separately about it in front of one another it was so awful. He also began the sales pitch by saying ‘ Those tissues there Mum in case you’re still hormonal and dad, they’re there for you for when you come to pay’ I found this so offensive. I had had a really hard first month with our baby battling what I thought was postnatal depression so to have somebody mocking women for being hormonal after childbirth really angered me right from the off! When it came to having the prints posted to us Obvious, they tried to make profit postage which just seems crazy to me when they charge so much anyway! Sadly, you don’t even get a digital copy of any prints that you do purchase! So there’s not really much you can do with just one print anyway. I really don’t think this is the place to go if you’re looking for a newborn photographer or family pictures at all! We have gone to a different photographer now and she is absolutely on another level compared to this place!”
“Wow.. I don’t even know where to start. We have so far had 2 photoshoots from our Bump to Baby package (Bump and Newborn) and it’s been amazing so far. The girls (Jaz & Kayleigh) doing the photo shoot at Kersey Mill, Ipswich were fab, we felt so comfortable for each shoot and they were so patient having our cheeky French Bulldog there too. We have just been in to view our photos with Brendan and they are more than we could have ever dreamed of. Making a personalised video at the start showcasing the pictures is a beautiful touch! We purchased the VIB package and that meant we got to take home the digital prints the same day and can order the prints and blocks when we’ve decided which pictures we would like on them. A magical experience from start to finish and we are looking forward to the next two photo shoots! Thank you to the whole team, you’re amazing at what you do 🤩♥️xx”
“Be very aware when “winning” a photoshoot on a competition they are doing.
I guessed the weight of a bear correctly at a baby show in which I won a “free” photoshoot worth £199. I claimed this prize within 24 hours like it said to on the email. I had to put a £35 deposit to secure this. A few days later I was called to arrange a date for the little sitters photoshoot.
A few weeks later I received the booklet with the prices and I could not believe my eyes in how expensive the photos cost. You can go on an all inclusive holiday for a week in Spain with the price they charge for 5 digital photos.
I understand we have complimentary 7x5 photo but I’d feel like I’m wasting the photographers hard work and time only having this.
As I am on maternity leave there is no way I could afford the price of a few photos therefore I cancelled the photoshoot. I have therefore now lost my deposit money. If I was made aware of the prices beforehand there would be no way I would book a photoshoot.”
“The biggest con going ! Apparently well known for it too so wish we done our research before wasting our time!
I have emailed at least 3/4 times querying what we were promised and have been totally ignored each time. I have no other choice but to share so someone else don’t get conned. I would totally avoid using this company! Especially if you’ve won this as a competition or you see them advertise a deal. We won this competition at the baby show in Olympia, we were told that we got the maternity, newborn and 6 month package. We were told to put down a deposit to hold our space which was refundable once we attended and that on the day we would get a complimentary photo of our choice on a 7 day turn around sent to us. We went to this shoot on Wednesday in the Ipswich centre and was told there that we won’t get your maternity pictures until the newborn shoot. Firstly, why the hell does anyone want to wait that long for the maternity pictures and who would even be interested in the maternity pictures when they have a bundle of pictures of their newborn?! Already that has put a dampner on our experience. Once the session was over we sat in reception expecting to see the pictures. We were given a brochure of all of the extortionate packages we could choose from, both my partner and I was taken back since we were told there would an exclusive on the day offer of £99 for 10 of our pictures plus the complimentary picture on a 7 day turn around! We’re now seeing a brochure with the most extortionate prices we’ve seen for a baby shoot. We come home a little deflated, upset and very confused with what it is we’ve actually won here. Since we were also told to email the studio if we had any queries. I emailed 3 times in the end and had no response. I would totally avoid this studio! Policy of having to wait for both sessions to take place should put you off in itself let alone the brochure or prices they offer. I mean for digital files only it’s disgusting, let alone when you’re told you’ve won this as a price and there is no prize other than a complimentary picture of each session. Really?!. They offer “competitions” to reel you in and then shove a load of unrealistic prices in your face. To put things in to perspective. I have since been in touch with another studio who responded immediately. Helpful and full of information so I know where I stand before I booked them. She’s also much cheaper and you’re able to get your maternity pictures in the normal standard time frame! Please do your research.”
“Amazing! Loved our photoshoot for our kids, they make you feel so welcome and have so much patience with the children which made everything so much more comfortable! We will not be using any other photography studios in the future”
“The communication from day 1 was excellent. Both Nika and Abby kept us informed of what happens at each stage of the shoot. We were all made to feel comfortable during the shoots and nothing was off limit. Everyone was incredibly patient with our 2 year old too. We’ve just viewed our maternity and newborn photos and they are all amazing I found it hard to choose.”
“The photography sessions are amazing, we felt really at home and involved at every stage. The staff are really friendly and amazing at what they do. The viewing sessions are very intimate and specialised and we cannot recommend them enough. The prices are higher than I expected at first, but honestly for the quality you get and the attention to detail at shoots and photo editing its definately worth it.”
“Nika has been amazing to capture our family moments with our baby boy and I would 100% recommend her to anyone who is thinking of booking a baby photoshoot! We were made to feel so comfortable and had so much fun.”
“Everyone at BabyArt Manchester has been brilliant through all 3 shoots. Abi was amazing with our little girl through the sitters and cake smash shoots, even when she got upset Abi still managed to get beautiful pictures of her!”
