Brystan Studios, Aliso Viejo

Please BE WARNED!!! Although the photo shoot experience was wonderful and left me feeling as if I wanted to purchase more photos the experience afterwards was awful!!! When I came back to view my photos with the owner of the shop it became very clear that because I wasn’t planning to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars that day (which was clearly being pressed) she quickly became very dismissive and downright rude, not even allowing me to fully view my photos and make an informed discussion on what photos I wanted to purchase. I was so shocked and went from wanting to purchase more photos to not even wanting to support this company. My husband who was with me was appalled and wanted to leave immediately. I chose one additional photo to purchase and voiced my disappointment with the woman at the front desk who then told me there must have been some misunderstanding because it was expected and a requirement that with my groupon purchase I was to spend an additional $750 on photos. I pulled up my emails and pointed out this was never said nor voiced, I then asked for a refund and said I would just take the one photo I had already purchased with my Groupon voucher and left. Later that day I pulled up an email from the company that had earlier stated I would be able to purchase additional photos al a cart for $125, I called the company back and the owner answered, I explained to her why I was so upset and told her (and sent a copy of the email) that had stated the al a cart option, the owner did admit that she had been upset that I wasn’t purchasing more photos and that she was loosing money with her Groupon customers, I shared with her that although I understood this she should be looking at how to retain her Groupon customers rather than push them away when she doesn’t get the outcome she would like, she apologized and offered to send me the additional photo that I had wanted without charging me, I accepted her apology and waited for my two photos. When the photos arrived in my email I realized she did not even send me the photo that I had picked out and wanted, when I msged the company back to tell them of this error they made no attempt to apologize and told me this was on the purchase agreement when I had left the studio, I told them that although this may be true I had been so upset when I had left that I hadn’t even noticed the owner had claimed the wrong photo, by this point I was so upset that I told them I didn’t even want the print I had paid for and did not want to waste anymore of my time with a company who CLEALRY only cares about the money they make and NOT about the service they provide and what their clients think and feel about them.

I had booked this photoshoot as a gift to myself for my birthday. They were able to schedule me on my bday at 1pm and the lady who I scheduled with was super friendly and made me very excited to do the shoot. I got a confirmation call 2 days before the shoot and the day before got a call from a guy saying they booked an event and are calling to cancel! First of all when you have a client you don't book over them or find someone else to fill in for you, you should never cancel. Very unprofessional and not reliable.

Extraordinary! I felt like a movie star and my pictures were so beautiful! What is wonderful is that they look like me! Im not wearing some false mask that makes it so that people wouldn't recognize me! Everyone of my best attributes were pushed forward and I will be so happy to look at and remember these well into my advanced years.

Very nice studio and the staff was great but I felt rushed and pressure to buy their packages