Mackney Photography Reviews 181

TrustScore 5 out of 5

4.8

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great with our toddler, lots of patience and seemed to be very well experienced in working with young children. Loved the day and it was made to feel like a very special experience for our little fami... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great experience and very friendly members of staff. Amazing photographer who had great energy and loved to listen to ideas my son had for photos. Comfty studio and great presentation of the photos.... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Helped make us feel relaxed and made it an enjoyable experience. This was reflected in the quality of the pictures

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Our photoshoot experience was amazing. The photographer was great with our little one, entertaining him to get the best shots & very patient with him when he was a little fed up & wanted to feed. The... See more

Company replied

Company details

  1. Portrait Studio
  2. Photographer
  3. Photography Service
  4. Photography Studio

Written by the company

Welcome to the world of Mackney Photography! We are a passionate family business, who together with our amazing team, we specialise in capturing the essence of life through our lens. If you're looking to freeze those precious moments in time, then you've come to the right place! Our award-winning portrait studio has been providing smiles to families all over Derby for the past 10 years. From babies to pets, we have photographed them all! Our photography studio in Darley Abbey is the perfect haven for you and your loved ones to feel comfortable and at ease. Over the years we have loved being part of our customers happy memories and capturing these precious times with warmth and a familiar welcome. We would love to take you on a journey to create the most beautiful portraits at Mackney Photography and therefore see why our customers return time after time... Love Wendy and Simon Mackney


Contact info

4.8

Excellent

TrustScore 5 out of 5

181 reviews

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely one THE best experiences of…

Absolutely one THE best experiences of my life!
My family and I were treated like royalty, in such beautiful settings for the photographs being taken.
The whole experience from start to finish was like stepping into a film set and I can honestly say it was nothing like I ever expected a photo shoot to be.
I recommend this experience to EVERYONE!
Professional, friendly and FANTASTIC!!!

November 13, 2022
Unprompted review
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Reply from Mackney Photography

Thankyo so much for the lovely review, we're so glad we managed to give you the BEST experience :) Lots of love xxx

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

My grandchildren had a photo shoot at…

My grandchildren had a photo shoot at Mackey Photography and we went along with our daughter to the viewing appointment.
I would just like to say a huge thank you for capturing such beautiful images of them and memories to last forever.
Our frame is stunning and a real statement piece we can enjoy looking at everyday. xx

November 15, 2022
Unprompted review
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Reply from Mackney Photography

Thankyou so much for the honest review, xx

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing, uncompromising and overpriced

Whilst the family shoot experience was good, the service at selection of photos was poor. Had a family photo voucher but weren't allowed to use the voucher for any photo other than one with all members of the family on. Not even 'allowed' to use the voucher for one picture of dad and son which we liked. None of the family shots were particularly well composed or liked, one even had one of the subjects with their eyes closed. Lots of pictures of the baby were super and we would have bought several more, but we were put off by the uncompromising approach. We were not looking to purchase just the discounted photograph, as well as this one, we purchased another 2 at full price photographs but we would have purchased more. Customer service we thought was not great. Wound advise using a different studio

December 4, 2022
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Reply from Mackney Photography

Hi Yvonne, thank you for your review. We truly appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with us, even though the family shoot was gifted to your son and you only attended the viewing appointment.

It seems that, although there are some wonderful family portraits in his gallery, including those priceless shots of your grandson, we have unfortunately failed to leave you feeling totally satisfied with the overall family experience your son and family received.

We know, a family portrait should capture more than just individual smiles and expressions - it should depict the strong bond and connection shared between all members of the family. For this very reason our complimentary gift item is specifically designed to help bring all three of them out together in one beautiful frame, which when he booked in was discussed already.

Though it seems the framed photo of your son's family isn't for you, we understand how valuable it can be and thank you for at least taking home one of the prints of your grandson. Thank you for giving us your feedback—we are always looking for ways to improve, though again as you weren't at the photo shoot or received any of our calls or email communications - it's unfair to leave a review about the whole experience having only attended your son's viewing appointment.

Thankfully, the majority of our other reviews share the view that our prices reflect the quality of their full experience, x

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Family photo session

We recently had a family photo session, which I had received as a gift for my ‘big’ birthday. From the moment we met our photographer (Lola), the session was absolutely wonderful. Beth was brilliant during the session, assisting Lola and capturing the attention of our youngest granddaughter, who is only 3 years old, and the whole experience was an absolute joy!!
It was so difficult deciding which photos to purchase, as they were all fantastic. I collected the order yesterday and we’re absolutely delighted with the final product. You certainly get quality and, although there may be cheaper photographers out there, I find it hard to believe that they would be as good.
Thank you for a memorable, special and enjoyable experience.

April 16, 2022
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Going back to Mackney again

We've recently been back to Mackney for our little girls photo shoot, and we managed to incorporate some family shots and some shots of both my kids together, we got so much done, Lola was fantastic again!

What I thought was fantastic as a returning customer is they gave us the same photographer so our photos had the same style. They went above and beyond to source the same frame they did last time as it's no longer a frame they normally do now.

The communication was fantastic, reminders of appointments an email of what kind of props to bring/clothing ideas etc.

I have to add Wendy was superb at the viewing and helped me to narrow down the photos really well. It was a fantastic experience and came out within budget haha 🤣 just!!!

Thank you so so much again! I would definitely recommend them!

April 8, 2022
Unprompted review
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

LOVELY WONDERFUL portraits place

LOVELY WONDERFUL portraits place, can't enthuse enough about this company :) You certainly get what you pay for, amazing gorgeous portraits of your baby....if that's what your looking for! We won a free baby shoot a couple of months ago and Mackney have been nothing but informative about what was going to happen during our session. We have never had a professional portrait before (we've had the odd couple from usual Alton Towers, Madame Tussards and Max spielman...so no that doesn't count) so wasn't quite sure what to expect. From the lovely Lucy who booked in to the fantastic Lottie who did our photoshoot, nothing was too much trouble. They guided us into what to wear, what to bring to really ease us into the whole experience. Then came the viewing, we weren't sure what we were looking for products wise, but we knew from looking round the studio we wanted something on the wall - there was no hard sell, but we already knew that (and what we wanted as everything is on the website) Now if your looking for "digital" this company isn't right for you - they specialise in "finished products" and are so proud of it that I have to say, it certainly got us looking into it too :). They're so passionate during the viewing and knew their stuff when it came down to putting together a montage and finishing it off, that I wonder why other customers wouldn't want to buy anything especially when they're coming for free??? The mind boggles. Anyway fast forward 10 weeks (they do say allow 10-12 weeks for arrival of their products) and WOW WOW WOW is all we've got to say. We've certainly got what we paid for and so much more, our montage is more amazing then when we remembered and will take pride of place in our lounge. Thankyou Mackney, we will certainly be back and recommending you to all our friends and family, Dawn and family xxxx

March 15, 2022
Unprompted review
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Reply from Mackney Photography

Thankyou so much for your lovely review Dawn, it was a real pleasure to have you all into our studio and create some amazing portraits for you all, xxx

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

AMAZING portraits

AMAZING portraits! This place from start to finish has my upmost thanks for the most outstanding photography experience my children have ever had. These guys are a in a league of their own and they work they create is outstanding. 5 Starts - you won't be disappointed if you chose this as your forever studio :). I'll be back for sure!

November 15, 2021
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Newborn photoshoot experience

I had a brilliant time with the studios newborn photoshoot experience, my little one was a little bit older than the usual age therefore a little bit more tricky to work with as she decided to stay awake for the entire shoot! However the shots we managed both awake and when she finally slept were incredible. The staff are so friendly and make you feel at home straight away, having never done anything like this before I was happy to be led by Lucy one of the amazing photographers, she was so patience and worked so well with my little one. I will cherish the photos and the experience forever, thank you so much. 100% worth the cost of the photo shoot & prints, the viewing experience was just stunning.

October 6, 2021
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Superhero Photo Shoot

This was our third visit to Mackney and our boys had a fantastic time during the shoot. The photographer was so enthusiastic and patient and we were finished after 90 minutes.

The viewing was brilliant and pricing structures very clear. The prices may be considered to be on the higher side but I feel they are fair for the quality of the finished product. It truly is a timeless piece of art and once up on the wall it won't ever come down!

Can't wait for the finished prints to arrive - thanks again Wendy and the Mackney team!

August 4, 2021
Unprompted review
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

We had a fantastic experience

We had a fantastic experience, our children had a wonderful time dressing up for the photo shoot. The staff are very helpful and we're very happy with our pictures. I would definitely recommend Mackney Photography.

July 30, 2021
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Superhero experience

We came in to try the Superhero experience (under the Pop brand I think it is) with our boys. I'd already done some research into what it would be like and what it would involve and was a little bit concerned that the boys would be bored and fed up by the end of it.

Looking at the example shoots that they've done, you can't help but wonder also if these are the ones for display only and that we'd get half hearted efforts that look like nothing on their facebook page.

In the end I couldn't have been more wrong. The boys really enjoyed playing with the props and their superhero poses. The photographers kept them engaged throughout.

After a few weeks, when we returned to view the pictures, they were as good as any on their facebook page (I'm sure all parents might say that but it seemed very true in this case)! We probably spent more in the end than we were intending to but that's because we couldn't decide which of the many lovely pictures were the best!

Thank you the memories that you've produced for us!

July 30, 2021
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Great experience and pictures

We have used Mackney photography over the course of several years to document our family photo's and keep coming back due to the the A+ service and fantastic images that they produce!

Both my boys have had their baby photo's with Mackney and the team were incredibly patient with them. The resulting photos have been hung up on our walls for many years.

More recently we have tried their superhero package which the boys (now grown) loved. They were dressed in various outfits and had props to play with. We were then invited back to view the resultant images and I have to say, we were blown away by the editing.

Would happily recommend the experience on the day as well as the end product that we received. Many thanks to Mackney Photography for crafting such an experience.

July 30, 2021
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Amazing portraits and fantastic experience

We are returning customers to Mackney. These guys are the best! From the warm welcomes, awesome studio and friendly photographers - shout out to Lola and Lucy! The choice of props and backdrops are second to none, but also makes it’s hard to choose! We were fully informed all the way through the process and despite the challenges of the last year, it’s been really lovely to finally take home our latest portraits and they hang proudly on our walls.

July 30, 2021
Unprompted review
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Family memories to treasure!

Our two boys Andrew & Finley had a great experience being Superheroes and when we went to view the results. The photos were so utterly brilliant they even brought a tear to my eyes!

The album quality is second to none and we now have a beautiful set of memories captured in a album which we can review again and again as our children grow up!

Well done to the team at POP, even bringing a grown man like me to tears!

October 2, 2019
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Wow what an amazing experience

Wow what an amazing experience. My son has autism so i had a lot of apprehensions about our photo shoot. Lotti was absolutely amazing with him and worked around my son and his needs. Also nothing we requested was too much trouble and we were listened to when putting our ideas forward to get the best out of our son. The viewing sitting was also fantastic. We did not feel pushed to buy anything and found the lady to be helpful when trying to spend the least but get the maximum images. Also we did not find this company to be expensive. Would recommend this company to everyone .

September 26, 2019
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Shocking experience!

My ex-partner 'won' a competition on Facebook, but in actual fact it is a sharp-practice approach to getting you to a Sales pitch.

In our case, it was a package that our children could attend a Marvel photo-shoot, bringing in to play the emotional desire of a parent to please their child. The value of the prize is a notional £149, albeit this is a key fob and mug with your child's face on it.

They claim to fully inform you, but the initial booking did not according to my ex-partner. Instead, they rely on links in separate e-mail communication that you need to follow to get a true impression of what they offer.

After taking our children to a photo-shoot, we were informed that we had to return to review the pictures. It was at this point that we were told the packages started at just over £400. I now understand there are other options, but the cheapest I could see on a website review a few minutes ago was a 5x4 print for £55.

Regardless, they get you to attend and therefore be invested on a financial level (you have to pay a deposit and then attend) and an emotional level (it involved our kids and their desire to have 'super hero photos) to get you to attend a sales pitch. Even then you apparently have to return a third time to pick-up your purchases. I have no idea if there is a further sales pitch then.

When I complained on behalf of my ex, the response was nothing short of appalling.

My ex was insulted, and when the owner called me back her attitude was even worse! She demanded I listened to her and refused to allow me to speak before constantly talking over me. I terminated the call in the end as it was getting ridiculous and a clear waste of time.

My advice is to avoid this firm at all costs because there are lots of professional photographers that are far more reasonable, and if you dare to complain you are treated disgracefully.

September 26, 2019
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Reply from Mackney Photography

Thank you Clive for a most untruthful review, as we already discussed - we will not be bullied and we are happy to respond to your claims with the truth. We often invite customers to our award winning studio on a complimentary basis, so they can see what we do and the majority of the time, our customers go on to make a purchase - we're a business and no different to many other studios who have the same approach.

The experience is free, it's not a sharp-practice approach to "hear" our sales pitch (we're not a time share company). We do ask all customers for a £35 refundable deposit - this secures a 1 hour photoshoot slot, a digital editor to work on the imagery (this takes a further 3 hours) then a 1 hour slot to view the images, where the deposit is returned - providing the customer hasn't cancelled (or given us 72 hours notice). The value of this experience is £149 - which is great value considering our customers receive a personalised shoot and bespoke product created especially for them, without expecting any further profit.

The "what happens" in our studio and a guide to our products are all well documented on our website and Facebook page - you only have to read the hundreds of reviews we have on Google and Facebook to see why we're a legitimate family business, we let our imagery do the talking.

Just in case you didn't read or look through the multiple emails we sent, we do like to speak to our customers on the phone - this being your ex-wife. We informed her that there would be 3 x visits to our Derby studio - considering she was travelling from Birmingham - and she did inform us that it was ok. We fully informed her over the phone about the experience, and that as a business we would be creating some gorgeous imagery - so be prepared.

I would like to point out that at no point, did we "speak" to your ex in regards to a complaint - maybe she was afraid of your own demeanor, and we would never insult her either. You personally called the studio to "complain" about an experience which you hadn't booked or fully researched, and became verbally aggressive when our staff member tried to explain the experience. We are a family run business, and we will not tolerate any level of abuse or bullying.

My own advice is that if you had been the initial person to book in, you would have had a completely different experience (and probably not booked in, due to your own admission the distance you had to travel). We are the ONLY professional photography studio that produces this kind of award winning art work and unfortunately you'll never see the fabulous images we had created of your children.

We are very happy to deal with valid complaints, but will not be bullied into submission by ex-husbands of customers, who do not want to complete the complimentary experience that we offered to her.

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