Trenton Bahr Fine Portraiture

Unilocal is a great tool for finding information on hard to evaluate services like this one. This is to warn the unwary. Trenton Bahr is a very old fashioned photography business. The portraits are posed — he will not do anything untraditional. You and your family will POSE and look AT THE CAMERA — nothing with a more candid unposed feel to it. We didn’t want anything crazy, just something less stiff, but no. The studio setting is great with real backdrops. He is good with getting the shots in terms of lighting, but does not try to make the pictures more «real» life like modern photographers. It is a time consuming process to actually get the sitting done as it is by appointment only and you can only make the appointments by doing a phone chase with the staff. Then after that, you can only view the pictures by appointment, another chase. Big surprise at that time — the prints are hugely expensive ($ 250 for a single 8×10) and no option for any digital files. They make you feel so grubby that you don’t want to spend gobs of money on a picture for the wall when digital files that you can post on social media or use in a Christmas card is also something you are interested in. Then it’s weeks or months before the photos are ready. And you get that old fashioned soft focus look in obviously retouched photos. In this day and age to have someone use the old tactics of bait and switch and never tell you that digital files will not be available and then make you wait soooooo long. It all makes the actual quality of the work of the photographer and the nice setting seem like a small consolation. There are so many great photographers that want to make modern portraits and routinely give you the digital files. Trenton Bahr is a business from a bygone age. Unless that’s what you want and you have money to burn, stay away!

So many things wrong with Trenton, his ethics, and business. I’ll sum up the experience with… AFTER we had taken our pictures and were reviewing them with him (a couple weeks after taking the pictures) he informed us at that time that he had a $ 250 charge for a Saturday sitting, which was never discussed or mentioned prior to this and he wanted us to pay that at that time. When I told him that this extra surprise cost had not been disclosed at any point up to this point, his print prices suddenly doubled. His 8X10 photos went from $ 125 to $ 250 at that point, and his 4×6 went up to $ 150 each, and his other picture sizes all went up almost double for each size. For $ 500, we ended up getting the setting and ONE photo printed.
He is quite loony and not all there, I believe. His conversations were quite a bit crazy and out there. We received a gift certificate for his business, and if it wasn’t for that, I would never have gone to him. I discussed with his staff our date and time to take the pictures, he called me and I spoke to him about clothing to bring (he suggested 5 different outfits a piece), and we talked about the setting we wanted. Never once in all the discussions or meetings prior to picking out the photos we liked and were interested, was there any mention of a Saturday sitting fee which is why I told him I would not pay that. I asked him if the balance of the gift certificate could be used to send a couple of the digital prints to me, and he told me no. He was very strange and left us feeling quite uncomfortable with the entire process he has.
Avoid using him as your photographer at all costs. I’m not sure how he has a successful business, if it weren’t for his staff who were great to talk to and work with.

We had a poor experience with Bahr Fine Portraiture. We purchased the certificate at a charity event with the assumption the display was similar to what we would receive with the certificate. Unfortunately, that was not reality.
Wanting to set expectations from the beginning, especially after reading the Unilocal reviews, we discussed what the certificate would cover. What was discussed was not disclosed prior to the appointment in multiple conversations with staff or Mr. Bahr during our clothing consultation. The advertising at the charity event was descriptive and it feels like the charity angle is just a marketing tool for him to make loads of money as a 16×20 picture costs an additional $ 500 on top of the donation.
I agree with all previous reviews his work is amazing but way over priced for not getting access to any files.
We gave Trenton every opportunity for service recovery as our entire family and dogs were at his studio for pictures but he would not do anything about pricing or providing us with electronic files for Christmas cards.
We tried really hard to be understanding as he is a professional but he had no motivation to make us satisfied customers, only offered to donate a $ 100 check to the charity we purchased from. My wife and I were shocked by Trenton’s inexperience on how to deal with people trying fix a difficult situation. His first reaction was to just cancel the sitting. Very disappointed.

We also had a 500 $ gift certificate given to us by our in laws. We spent a lot of time before the shoot organizing wardrobe options and spent money on new outfits for the family. When we arrived the session was fine and his sets are neat. However, we have worked with several professional photographers and this experience was nothing unique. A week later we came back for the viewing of the photos. This took about another hour. Finally at the end of all of this, it came out that our 500 $ will buy us ONE 8×10. Apparently the paper they use is very nice. In the digital age it is common for photographers to give you several if not all digital pictures with a print release. They do not do this. The price of an 8×10 even at the high end print shops doesn’t even come close to Trentons price gouging prices. Buyer beware. You will waste hours of your time only to sit in a sales meeting where they show you all of your pictures first and hit you with the ridiculous prices after. I have been to high end art galleries that had better pricing than Trenton. In the end, it was our bad for not doing our research. Do t make the same mistake!

AWWWWFFFFFUUUULLLL! Don’t trust Trenton. He will tell you the average cost is between $ 300-​$ 700 for portraits. That is for 1 portrait. We had the $ 500 coupon, which is essentially worthless. Still cost us upwards of $ 1300 on top of the $ 500. You can do just as well in a more cost effective way somewhere else. So so bad. Took us months to get our pictures on top of the amount of $$ we spent. Choosing Trenton Barr was a poor decision. Not trying to be a jerk, but not wanting others to make the same mistake.

First off let me start by saying the portraits were amazing. I went with my husband and 2 month old son and also with my sister and her two kids. My niece was 5 months old at the time. The pictures turned out beautiful. The part that was less than spectacular was when we went to review of the pictures that were taken. It was super frustrating because we were quoted several different prices from Mr. Bahr himself. He would give us one price then say he made a mistake and it was actually more expensive. He did this 3 different times during our meeting. Then I call back to see about upgrading my 5×7’s to 8×10’s. I received a voicemail (in which i still have) saying it was one price but we were charged more. I just feel as the owner you should be way more organized with your own package deals and prices. It’s super frustration when your told several times «I made a mistake, it’s actually…» We ended up buying a few portrait because they were beautiful just the over all experience wasn’t what we expected for how much we paid. Prices are definitely high, and we felt pressured to buy. Again there nice portrait just don’t like being feeling pressured. On the other hand Laura is wonderful.

My girlfriend «won» a $ 500 «prize» in a Charity auction. That prize was absorbed in the shoot fee which was $ 250 and the other $ 250 was absorbed by processing leaving zero prize. When we protested she was offered an 8×10 basic photo. They bait and switch and other used car sales tactics. «It’s art» is the sales pitch. Least expensive photo was $ 450. Photos were really nice but the experience sucked. Just ask upfront about the fee’s. They try to get into you wallet with emotion. Lame. You should not offer «prizes» that have no real value. When you protest that the price is very high they try to make you feel like your are neglecting your family by not buying the «art». Get over yourself. It’s a Digital Camera. A monkey can take a great picture with a Digital SLR. I was pissed when I left because of the hard sales tactics. Don’t use charity events as marketing tools. Lame. Read the reviews. They had my original review removes because it was «second hand» info. Not true. I was there… it was my experience too. Go somewhere else.

In Oct 2013 I went to Trenton Bahr for family photos. Trenton was very patient with our 1 year old baby. He made silly faces and used wacky toys. He captured some beautiful photos of my baby. We were not surprised to find the price to be really expensive. After all, this studio sits on acreage with real beautiful settings. Still we struggled a long time to balance price and print size. Trenton was very patient and didn’t give us any sales pressure. He offer to copy and paste until we got the perfect photo. The check came to be over $ 2000. He offer us a payment plan of 6 installments. We decided to bite the bullet and take the offer. After all, it is not easy to get all dressed up and spend the time to do this with a 1 year old. The lead time will be 6 – 8 weeks. He’ll try to get it done for us to show it off during Xmas. We left feeling like we spent a lot of money, but still happy and excited because the photos were stunningly beautiful.
The problem is Trenton promises one thing and his staff delivers another. It’s like there are no communication between them. Two weeks before Xmas I made a call to check on the prints. A staff member said because we are on a payment plan our photos will not be their first priority. They wouldn’t even start working on it until they received half the payments. Forget about showing it off for Xmas. I told them Trenton never mention any of these stipulations. They just ignored me.
It is now the end of Jan 2014. I called again. Now the staff said if I want it earlier I would have to pay the balance or give them a 2^nd credit card just in case I cancel the 1^st card. That’s silly I can cancel the 2^nd card too if I really want to stiff you. She is either discriminating against me or have experienced a lot of people skipping payments after delivery. By now I’m feeling really distraught. I have paid over $ 1200 with nothing to show for it 4 months later. I want to cancel my order, but they won’t allow it. The photos are beautiful and Trenton was fun to work with, but it wasn’t worth being treated like a deadbeat by his staff.

a couple of months ago I purchased a $ 500 portraiture session at a charity event that was selling the gift certificate for a flat $ 100. I went, with my children to have our family photo taken 2 weeks ago. I went in this morning to view and buy the photos. One 8×10 and 4 wallets was $ 700.00! Take about bait & switch and a rip off to say the least, I am so upset. (((THE SAME EXPERIENCE AS ANDREW T. BELOW IN THE COMMENT REVIEWS)))
I would like to point out I was insulted. He said, «You seemed like you are quality lady, yet you cant afford a long lasting family portrait that will more than pay for itself for over 30yrs of enjoyment?» «How do you afford to fix your car when it breaks down?»
he told me he doesnt give out price sheets or show them on his web page, just like doctors and dentist dont.

Trenton Bahr photography rocks! And yes, Trenton is a savvy businessman. He has put many years into creating his business, with tenacity and brilliance. But behind the successful businessman is also simply one of the most talented photographers you will meet and as others have described here, probably the friendliest and warmest personalities.
Trenton has provided our family portrait artwork since he started his business over 20 years ago. From before the time our children were born until now that we have a senior, Trenton has provided us with works of art that our friends and family still ooh and aah over. People who visit our home are drawn to them and always ask, «who does your family portraits»? It is always fun to tell them about Trenton.
We will continue to have Trenton Bahr as our family photographer for years to come. No reason to go anywhere else when you find the best!