# Over 2000 Portrait Studios at Sears and Walmart closed at one time. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 7, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085 "2013-04-07T17:49:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/21 "2013-04-07T23:26:49Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > What in the fuckadoodle is a “digital negative?” Is that jerkanese for “image file?” A high-res file and permission to make your own prints. Analogous to a negative, hence the name. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/22 "2013-04-07T23:29:09Z")
Adobe released a dng file format that competes with tif. They are both raw, uncompressed image formats. I guess thats what people are referring too as a “digital negative”? > **[Digital Negative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Negative)** > > Digital Negative (DNG) is a patented, open, lossless raw image format developed by Adobe and used for digital photography. Adobe's license allows use without cost on the condition that the licensee prominently displays text saying it is licensed from Adobe in source and documentation, and that the license may be revoked if the licensee brings any patent action against Adobe or its affiliates related to the reading or writing of files that comply with the DNG Specification. It was launched on DN... These days just about any photographer would have to provide digital images as well as prints. Saves the hassle of scanning the photos yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/23 "2013-04-08T00:15:29Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > . . . . Saves the hassle of scanning the photos yourself. Maybe so, but I’ve heard that some some photographers copy-protect the images so that most scanners won’t copy them. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/24 "2013-04-08T00:34:39Z")
I am an amateur photographer. I have always had a hard time photographing children and/or pets. Paying for a professional to do that makes SOME sense, but not in the price range quoted above. My children will just have to make do with my semi-adequate pictures of their adorable offspring. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/25 "2013-04-08T01:16:47Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Prices are lower than that in NYC, which I had presumed to be the most expensive locale. > > And is that for 15 minutes of your time? Such as you would get at Wal\*mart for $50? I suggest it is not. Oh, no, no. It’s not at all the typical grin and look at the camera type of cheesy portraiture you got from those places. But I thought you were saying that in general private photographers are not that expensive. I personally don’t think $200-$300 for a session is particularly expensive, but when people are used to Sears and those types of photo studios, it does seem pretty expensive. You’re getting different types of products, of course. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/26 "2013-04-08T01:24:29Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > What in the fuckadoodle is a “digital negative?” Is that jerkanese for “image file?” Not really “jerkanese,” and, actually, “digital negative” is not the term I should have used, as I do not release raw files to my clients (or, I should say, very, very rarely do I release them.) The phrase “files and print release” is probably a better way of putting it these days, but the phrase “digital negative” came into use during the transition from film to digital, and, in my experience, I used it because clients still weren’t used to digital and asked about access to “negatives,” not realizing that concept didn’t really work with digital. Photographers don’t refer to files as “digital negatives” among themselves. I’ve only used that term with consumers, although I should probably phase it out. I was curious to see what I call it on my website (I forgot) and I use the term “reproduction rights to your images,” not “digital negative.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/27 "2013-04-08T01:32:59Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Adobe released a dng file format that competes with tif. They are both raw, uncompressed image formats. This is not quite right. A TIFF isn’t really a “raw” file. Also TIFF, in my experience, is most often compressed, using LZW compression, but it is lossless compression. It is possible to have a lossy tiff, though, but that’s rare (a JPEG in a TIFF wrapper.) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/28 "2013-04-08T01:40:36Z")
We go to JC Penny’s. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/29 "2013-04-08T02:05:01Z")
The only time I had any portraits done, I went to Target. They did a wonderful job. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/30 "2013-04-08T08:46:28Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It’s in Sears and Walmart’s interest to make this happen. People usually shop once they are in the store. The portrait studio draws customers in to take the photos and they come back for prints. Not necessarily. First off, they have no lack of customers. They don’t need a gimmick to get them in the store. Second, if the potential profit from the square footage taken up by the studio would be increased by filling it with sellable goods, instead of a hardly used studio, then it isn’t in their interest at all. I’m willing to bet that shelves and shelves of goods put in that space would make more money than the studio has been lately. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/31 "2013-04-08T13:20:59Z")
I’m shocked that this sort of thing is still around myself. It really does seem like a vestige of ye olden days. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/32 "2013-04-08T16:00:44Z")
There’s no doubt that home digital cameras hurt the Portrait studios. Parents can take photos of their kids whenever they want. Portrait studios survived the Polaroid camera. My parents took several albums of those pictures on our vacations in the 70’s. They still weren’t a substitute for professional family portraits every few years. I even had a portrait done in my Boy Scout uniform and merit badge sash. \ I guess young parents are happy with their pictures from digital cameras. Throw a few USB drives in a drawer and hope the photos are still good twenty-five years from now. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/33 "2013-04-08T16:26:40Z")
> [@Doctor\_Who](#): > > [Picture People is a competitor.](http://www.picturepeople.com/) Yeah, and checking for my state (Michigan), see that there’s one in Kentwood (Huh? Where the heck is that? _Google_) Oh, it’s near Grand Rapids, a 4-hour drive away. I don’t think they’ll be getting any of my business anytime soon. But seriously, my son got a portrait picture taken at his school. For family photos, we just take our own pictures. I don’t think I’ve gone to a portrait studio since I was a young child. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/34 "2013-04-08T16:46:33Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > The so-called professional portrait style at Sears & Wal-Mart was always forced and cheesy. I say good riddance. > > Private photographers are not expensive, actually, and as for where kiddos can go for their forced, cheesy portraiture, maybe you’ve heard of “school photos”? And if you only use portrait studios, how will you get to meet the guy wearing aviator sunglasses and driving a rusty panel van who’ll ask your teenage daughter if she’d be interested in some “side modeling”? ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/35 "2013-04-09T22:48:46Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > This is just screwed up. Where the heck are parents going to get professional portraits done at a reasonable price? A photographer will charge a lot more and you get stiffed for every darn print that you need. > > A picture taken with your phone isn’t the same as a portrait. Studios have professional lighting and backdrops. I’ll have grandkids in a few years and I want nice portraits of them. > > This just sucks. ☹ I always thought these studios at Sears and Walmart were franchises. Not one company that could go under. It always sucks when someone gets laid off, and hopefully some of those folks will have retained a client list of regulars that they can build their own business out of. I would say that I see hope for the future. With almost an entire generation, whose entire portfolio will consist of bar photos drinking yaegermister and bathroom duck shots, there will be fertile ground to be plowed in the next few years. The market will set the price, between the mommygrapher and hobby guy with the big camera and the remaining studios. Your results as a customer will obviously vary. Declan ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085/36 "2013-04-09T22:53:15Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I treasure the photo portraits of my daughters as they grew up. Having them helps my wife and I cope now that they are grown and gone. > > Memories are so precious. A moment in a childs life only happens once. We had portraits done every year at Sears. A few are hanging on the hallway walls. You can’t put a price on memories…and yet here we are… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-2000-portrait-studios-at-sears-and-walmart-closed-at-one-time/655085.md?page=1)