2009 - 2010 Reviews

We're looking for a professional photographer to take some pictures of our kids. Most of the photographers I've seen take pictures that look like the kids aren't really in their own element, or the photos are too forced in some way. We want a professional eye for detail and quality, but also photos that really capture the essence of who they are. I hope this makes sense! Any recommendations would be appreciated. picky mom

She's super fun and spunky not mention a very talented photographer. She'll do photo books, prints, framing, digital images, etc. Her prices are also very reasonable. www.reenieimages.com 510-339-0449 We're happy to be used as a reference. Jennifer

The first, Amy Perl. She will come to your home or go to a different location. She has a studio now too I think. We did, at least 6 different shoots with her either as a family or for individual children. She shoots in film or digital and her film images are truly wonderful. She is great at capturing the children in their own element. She is a master with framing with the film too - not that she has to retouch things digitally later. http://www.amyperl.com/

Katherine Emery is also fantastic. I think she usually shoots digital but can do film as well. Her framing and use of light is fantastic. She is very technically sound, but I think most of all, she really relates to the children and helps them relax. She is just awesome with all kinds of kids, even those with special needs. I've worked with her, three or more times for photo shoots, http://www.katherineemery.com/

And the third, is Ruth Woodruff. Again, technically great photographer, also really good with timing to capture some wonderful, natural expressions. I just worked with her once at a store event at Ruby's Garden! Fantastic. (Ruby's is an awesome kids store for anyone who hasn't checked it out yet.) My girls were a little tired, and I made the mistake of stopping someplace else on the way there (buzzkill) and scheduling too close to lunch so they were hungry. But she was super helpful and got some really amazing shots. http://www.ruthwoodruff.com/

I haven't been dissatisfied with any of them in any way shape or form, just wanted to mix things up a bit, so not all the childhood photos look 'the same.'

Both Ruth and Amy do store events at local children's stores in Oakland & Piedmont where you can pay a small fee, and try them out.

Babies and children change so fast when they are little. I think I had them photographed about 4 times in their first year, then yearly after that. We try to do an annual family one. If you can't make time stop, at least you can have great pictures. ;-)

Good luck to you. I don't think it'd be possible to be disappointed with any of these three. AJ Nicoll

Jen Howell is also awesome! She is such a lovely and talented women. She shoots newborns, infants, children, maternity, dogs and weddings. She lives a little far away in Lodi but is happy to travel. Also if she can get enough people to fill a day she will do a day of mini-shoots in the area. Her mini-shoots are only $75 for the session and are so worth it. She shot two of my friend's weddings, my maternity photos and we also plan to hire her for our wedding this fall. http://newvintagephotographybyjen.com

I highly recommend both of these wonderful women!! Have fun! Jessica

I am looking for a photographer recommendation. I am interested in someone who can capture my kids in motion outdoors. Cheers!

Re: Mall portrait studio offering CD?
Why not try a more personal approach for portraits? I would like to recommend Caroline Ikeji for your photographic needs. I have seen many examples of her work with children of all ages, and she has a real knack for capturing the moment, which is very important with young kids. She is very sweet and patient and draws out even the shyest of children. What I really like about her is her sense of location. When appropriate for the subject, she seeks out the most interesting and often quirky location, and it really helps to add depth to the subject. This is great for her work with teens and recently engaged couples. Her pictures of children (and pets, by the way) are incredibly cute and natural without being in the least bit saccharine. You can check out her work at http://caroekgphotography.wordpress.com or email her at ca.ikeji@gmail.com Her rates are incredibly reasonable. Corinne

I am looking for someone to take portraits of my 5 month old daughter in Berkeley. I have been to the major department stores but they are just too expensive and very impersonal. Any suggestions? looking for portraits

2007 - 2008 Reviews

I am looking for a studio/photographer to have my 2 year olds picture taken. When searching the archives it seems the photographers listed were all at least $200- before getting any pictures! Does anyone have any recommendations for a studio/individual who does children's photography for under $100? Does not have to be fancy, but would prefer to avoid chains such as Picture People, Sears, etc. Snap Happy Mommy

Does anyone know of a talented local (berkeley) photographer who takes great candid shots of babies/toddlers, who has a decent price for the photo shoot AND includes delivery of negatives, or CD, in price for shoot? What I'm looking for is someonewho is willing to take some great pictures, and then I want to be able to print whatever I want to at a good price, not the $10/4 x 6 a lot of local photographers are charging. Lots of recent posts (from May) in newsletter on baby photographers, but none seem to offer this service. Want to be thrify in photo department

Can anyone recommend a good children's photographer who could do candid, photojournalistic shots of children at play? kim

her name is Sarah Tuttle-Singer, and she can be reached at saralehsarai[at]gmail.com. she's available weekends and afternoons for photo shoots, and is happy to share a portfolio of her work if you're interested. oh, and perhaps most important: she is great with kids, very patient and loving! tiffarhae

Hi, So, my son's 1st birthday is coming up and I would like to have someone take professional photographs of him. I live in Berkeley and am new to the bay area. Something close by would be ideal. Thanks! Keri

2005 - 2006 Reviews

I am looking for recommendations for a photographer who takes baby and children's photos in San Francisco. I looked on the website and most of the photographers listed are in the East Bay. Anyone have recommendations for an SF photographer or someone who will travel without a large fee? Thanks New Mom

Gorgeous Minimalist Children's Portraiture...
Karle Fried is marvelously talented. I recently hired her to take portraits of my boys. They are spectacular. I am an agent for commercial photography, so I have extremely high standards. Karle's work is absolutely breathtaking. Distinctly expressive of the children she shoots, her style is sad and beautiful... bringing up the range of emotions our children fill our lives with. I cannot reccommend her strongly enough. She can be contacted through her website www.karlefried.com.
Rebecca

I have reviewed the archives and I'm looking for a recommendation for a reasonably priced photographer that has a package for both maternity shots and follow up baby shots. Any help/recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks! Stephanie

I am trying to take a holiday photo of my twin boys( they'll be 2 in Jan.). It is so hard to not only get them to stay in one place, but to both look in the same direction! We cannot afford to do it professionally, but I am wondering if anyone out there has any ideas or tips on taking a photo of 2 very active toddlers! Also, if you know of any places that have a festive holiday background, I'd love to hear about them. Thanks! karie

Another time I was trying to take a pic of a 2 year old boy and his mother. He would not look at me. So I said...''Hey, there's an elephant!'' He looked up. I snapped the pic. Then I said ''Sorry, I must of been mistaken.'' Good Luck! Cecilia

Hi. I'm looking for a recommendation for a professional photographer who is good at taking pictures of children. I have an eight year old and a seven month old, so I'd like someone who can work well with both babies and school-age children. Thanks. Sharon

Does anyone know of a really good baby photographer? Thanks!

She's been our official ''family photographer,'' for the last 2.5 years, starting with our son and just recently with our new daughter (plus my giant pregnant belly before she was born). She's consistently captured the spirit of our kids/family with photos that we'd never have gotten snapping away on our own.

She gets the most amazing shots and brings a ton of creativity to the output: albums, announcements, large prints, and wallet snippets. Plus, because she's so great with the kids and really enjoys what she does, it makes it all a very fun experience with incredible results that are really as much art as they are memories.

We just sent out birth announcements that she did for us and have been receiving calls/emails about the photos/creative. How often does that happen?

She's done a neat job packaging her services--check it out: www.stratfordcandids.com Feel free to email me if you've got any questions. patty

I would like to recommend a friend who is a photographer of children & babies, families, weddings - Heather Whiting - she's VERY talented and just a great, nice person to work with! http://www.heathermwhiting.com/ -Allison

2003 - 2004 Reviews

I've checked the archives, but would be interested in some more recent recommendations. We're looking for a reasonably priced professional photographer to take photos of our baby (especially ones that have websites with sample photos and pricing information). We are not interested in going to department stores. Michelle

2002 & Earlier

I saw a photographer with a business called ''Moe's Blues'' or something like that at the world record breastfeeding event. I liked his work and want to pursue having him take some photos. I didn't get his card and would like to contact him. Does anyone have his number or email? Thanks! raffels

Can anyone recommend a good and reasonably priced baby photographer or photo studio that works with babies? This would be for my one year-old. I called one studio and was quoted something like $800.00 for the photo session and this didn't even include any prints. Is it possible to find cheaper without going to the department stores? Alisa

First year One baby: Modern Art Photographs (now in Orinda, before in Oakland). Great, very expensive photos.. But really good

Second year-One two year old: Sarber's in Montclair. Really good kid photographer, good photos, not too expensive

Third Year: Three Year Old and a six month old Sarber's in Montclair. Mediocre Photos, terrible customer service (we were promised delivery in time to mail pictures to East Coast, finally got them on Christmas Eve)

Fourth Year: Four Year Old, and 18 month old Photographer came to the house: Kind of expensive, not so great pictures. He was late, and we had the kids kind of dressed up, and they were cranky. The guy was nice, but he didn't take the pictures quickly enough so missed some of the cute shots, very frustrating.

Fifth and Sixth Year: Had them done at Expressly Portraits in the Bayfair Mall. One decent shot in each sitting. The second year, the guy got one of the very best pictures that have ever been taken of my older child (so good people who got it asked if we had ever thought of having him model). Avoid the cheesy props and do it against a plain background. Out of ten poses, there is really only one. Affordable, fast and decent. Absolutely get an appointment around Christmas... You'll still wait, just not as long. The kids at the counter are a little clueless, but I can usually be tolerant of that. Myriam

Can anyone recommend a good (excellent!) photographer to take pictures of my 1 year old son? I've gone to J.C. Penney, which is fine for the money you pay, but now I'm ready for a big step up and willing to pay more. Of course, I want someone who will take pictures and be able to put my son at ease. Thanks in advance Catherine

Almudena Ortiz is an wonderful photographer and very friendly and warm with children. Her Berkeley number is (510)526-0692

we just had some pictures of our 8.5 mo. old taken by a woman in San Francisco named Tami DeSellier (415) 668-5930. She specialized in babies. The pictures are SO AMAZING, that it was completely worth the money. I don't know what is considered expensive or top dollar, and she was somewhat pricey I think ($250 for an hour or so sitting, includes a copy of all proofs). She does color, but specializes in B/W. My daughter was being kind of fussy that day (of course!), but Tami was able to get her to smile and laugh, and you could never tell by the pictures that she was not in the best of moods. Anyway, I couldn't be more happy with them.

Dana Davis has taken some great (color) photos of the kids at the univ preschool. I felt that he really captured the charm of my son where other photographers hadn't. He's a dad, but beyond that, I think he simply is the type of person that kids can relax around. I don't know his number offhand, but his wife Maureen is a subscriber here and I'll bet she'd pass it along.

There's an Oakland woman named Lisa Hoffman who runs a small company called KidPix. She specializes in candid shots of children in their home settings. She shot a roll of our 13 month son at an outdoor party. Every single shot turned out well. She prefers to work in black and white, but I'm sure she would also shoot color. She also incorporates photos into greeting cards on her computer. Her number and email are: (510)261-2453, lisshoff AT aol.com.

photographer: try Meera Fox, tel. 521-0438

I would recommend Judy LePire at 510-548-0670. She has photographed fundraising events for us, but I have seen work she has done with the children of a friend of mine, as well as wedding photos. She charges the going rate for professional photographers, which is not inexpensive, but she is good.

Darin Steinberg took some beautiful black & white photos of my children. I was impressed with how easygoing he was and how well he got along with my kids. He took his time and got some perfect shots. He suggested we go to the grassy area next to the Brazil Room, which turned out to be a great background. He was $350 for the sitting and $50 for each 8 x 10. He develops the black & white himself and also does color. He'll come to your house or go places like Tilden Park. His home number is (415) 821-5798. (He's also a framer so can even frame your photos.)

I just had my two young kids photographed at JC Penney at the Hilltop Mall. Although the four-year-old was uncooperative we did get one adequate shot out of the many poses. The young woman photographer tried very hard and was very good at getting the baby to smile. You get to choose the pose you want immediately on a video screen and in some packages can choose a variety of poses. The sitting charge is $6.75 per person and with a coupon each "sheet" of photos (e.g. nine wallets or two 5x7s etc) is $5. Without a coupon it's somewhat more, but still a good deal. I had a good experience at a different JC Penney photo studio two years ago so I think they have this kind of mass-produced photo down pat.

Thanks to those who gave me recommendations for portrait photographers. Unfortunately, your recommendations were out of my price range. I struck out on my own (e.g., opened the Yellow Pages) and found an inexpensive photography studio in Alameda called Raintree Studios (521-4900). I had a free consultation and met with Albert, the photographer. He showed me some excellent samples, and I set up an appointment for next week. His prices are: $35 sitting fee for just black and white, $55 if you want black and white and color photos, $43 for 8 x 10s. He understands that with an infant (8-month-old), we have to be flexible with time. If we don't get all the shots we want before the baby gets cranky, then I can return and finish the shoot later at no additional charge.

Re: Raintree Studios in Alameda

Just thought I would share our experience with Raintree. Last fall we decided to take a family portrait. The idea sounded simple enough until we got to picking the "style" of the picture... of course that is because the family group we were photographing consisted of 10 adults who all had different ideas of what would look good. Albert met with three of us in advance to give us recommendations about clothing and background as well as possible poses. He has a "good eye" and was very flexible. We were there for a couple hours on a Sunday evening. One thing I should point out is that the sitting fee of $55 for color photos was regardless of how many people were photographed so it came out to $11 per couple. Plus we took many shots of each couple as well as numerous group shots in a myriad of configurations! That part of the price seemed extremly reasonable. The price of ordering photos was pretty high compared to a place like Sears.... but they were much better in quality.

The only real problem that we had was that the group photo was intended as a Christmas present for my in-laws. We had our sitting the first week of November, and expected the proofs by Thanksgiving. We were under the impression that we would get the photos back in time to have them framed for Christmas. Well that didn't happen! However, on Christmas Eve Albert delivered the photos to my sister-in-law's door (she lives near the studio, so I dont' know that this is "standard".) To our surprise the larger photo (an 11x14 that was the actual gift) was already framed (of course we didn't have any input into what frame would be used, etc.) So the gift was ready to go, but it left me a little dissatisfied. Some of the pictures we had developed ended up a little "dark" and he was really good about having them redeveloped. Overall I would consider going back if I want a good portrait done and couldn't beat the price, but I would definitely start further ahead for the holidays!

I wrote awhile ago about baby portrait photographers. I just received my proofs back from Raintree Studios in Alameda (phone 521-4900) and wanted to give the many people who wrote me an update. Overall, I am pleased with the photos. My nine-month-old lasted for 45 minutes and four outfit changes, and Al the photographer was able to snap 21 black and white photos and 15 color (all for a $55 sitting fee). From these, I am going to order additional copies of eight prints, although I really liked 13 of them. When I shoot a roll of 24 photos, I figure I'm doing great if one turns out nice! So Al's ratio of good to so-so photos is way up there, in my opinion. Prices for enlargements are $36 for 5x7, $43 for 8x10, and $100 for 11x14, with prices decreasing the more duplicates you buy. One suggestion I'd make if you decide to use Raintree Studios: bring your own props. Al only has a few (a baseball, a rubber duck), so I'm glad I brought a few cherished toys.