Montclair Photo

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Jake Stewart - State Farm Agentvia Google

2 months ago

I went in here a few days ago with my daughter, who was developing and getting scans from a disposable camera. The staff was incredibly helpful, engaging, and patient. The conversation turned into nostalgia for old film cameras, and a worker there pulled out a vintage Polaroid. As I was telling my daughter (who grew up in the digital age) how it worked, the worker asked if we wanted a photo together. Fun souvenir! The staff didn’t know this, but my daughter and I were having a final lunch date before she went back to college. The photo created and preserved a memory for us. We walked out and I said “For the rest of my life I’ll remember that gesture and come back here.” To the woman with the fun green glasses, thank you! I appreciate you.

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Mariia Sonvia Google

5 months ago

Quick service. I didn’t expect to get help so quickly and with such a big smile. The team works fast and recommends the best printing options and walk you through all the details.

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Rita Mvia Google

5 months ago

'Montclair Photo' is an understated name of a place that does so many great things with photos! We've been going there for 25 years and have always had the best service, the best photos, photo projects, Christmas Cards, special events, and all of our family photo memories. Recently, our son got married, and we had to gather old photos of him, his bride, and their families from past and present generations. Taking a picture of the pictures, or scanning them, is not ideal, and cropping out unwanted backgrounds and restoring old ones that are damaged or faded is a monumental task. Paul and his expert team of photo geniuses not only restored our photos, but made them like new! Paul also helped me select the correct sizes and frames that would fit the photos, ensuring that all the subjects and parts we wanted to see were perfectly placed. Even though he and his staff are extremely busy with photo development, special projects, digital work, transferring photos and video, and converting images to digital, among other tasks, Paul made an extra effort. He worked past his workday to ensure we had the pictures by the wedding. Alison was a huge help, too, and is so knowledgeable. The staff were helpful and patient, explaining many of the processes required to complete our project. I had to visit the shop on many days for various reasons, such as to add more photos I had found, and each time they were welcoming and happy to help with anything we needed. It was a great relief, as I had tried to edit them myself using my own photo editing applications. I'm just an amateur and had a lot of other wedding preparations to attend to, and could never have done them well, anyway! Such an incredible result. The guests love the framed photos and were so impressed, they're still talking about them. Many people asked us later if they could have copies of some of them, so I went back to Montclair Photo to get more prints after the wedding. The frames Paul showed me from the store were exquisite, and came in sizes and colors that are impossible to find in the usual frame stores. I was shocked by some of the negative reviews. Yes, they are very busy and sometimes short-staffed. That's because they do the best work in the Bay Area. The community that Montclair Photo serves can be demanding, to the point that the store has to post signs asking customers to be patient, as employees are doing the best they can with the volume of business. And yes, people may find the prices higher than those at other photo places, such as CVS or Shutterfly. That's because Paul and his team are top-notch specialists and Believe me, 'You get what you pay for' - the BEST! The bride and groom created a program for the wedding and had 150 of them printed at another store, but they were awful. At the last minute, they brought them to Paul, who adjusted the original and printed all of them, and they were perfect in every way, just in the nick of time. They were so worried and then so thrilled that he could help them out. These projects, if not done well, would have put a damper on all the planning, though they weren't the main elements for a wedding. However, if you've ever given a wedding, you know you want everything to be as perfect as it can be. We are grateful that Montclair Photo understood this and did an excellent job, and they made the time in their schedules to finish it before the wedding. We've loved Montclair Photo for 25 years, developing our 'film', but as I said before, they do so much more. I recommend them to anyone working on special projects, as well as those who need to print photos. (That printing is also done in 1 day and can all be done online, including payment, so you just walk in and pick them up!) Thank you, Paul, and all the staff at Montclair Photo! We'll be back soon.

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Jeremy Tullyvia Google

8 months ago

We needed a large format print made on short notice for a funeral service. They delivered a great print and were very kind to expedite the print, too! Will happily return in the future.

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Adam Van der Veervia Google

about 2 years ago

I feel incredibly lucky to live close to one of the few brick and mortar photo shops in the bay. Truly a gem. I get all of my developing done here. Sometimes I have one shot left on a roll of film so I take a picture of the front of the place.