A lot of my friends seem to think ProEx is expensive for portraits here because they charge a sitting fee, but I've not found that to be the case. You get the proofs, and when you order 5 or more sheets, you get the negatives too. I've found the per sheet price cheaper than JC Penney or Sears or WalMart, but with ProEx, you order exactly what you want. You don't have a pile of extra pictures sitting around. I took my son to WalMart once because a friend wanted her picture taken with my son, and she got the $5 package, but I kept seeing other people ordering $150 worth of pictures. The ones at ProEx are better quality, and you'd pay less for getting the same thing. If the packages fit what you want, then great, but they don't work for me, so it works out to be a lot cheaper to do the ProEx thing.
The photographers are also very receptive to offering suggestions for poses, and you can request a specific photographer. They have a lot of backgrounds and props to choose from, though since I've been going there for 4 years, I do wish they'd get a few new ones. You can also bring in your own props.
You get the proofs back in an hour and a half, and when you order (you have 60 days to order) you get the portraits back in three days.
As far as photo developing, they offer one hour and next day. They have a Platinum card you pay a small amount of money for that gets you discounts on sittings and film development. I've always been impressed with the quality there, and it's the same price with my Platinum card as Target's only ProEx has the lab in the store, so you get them faster! You can choose 3x5 or 3x6, matte or glossy. And you can order things like mouse pads, coffee mugs, shirts, and other things like that. They also have three machines for you to bring in CDs or cards from your camera to have the pictures printed, or you can upload them online and have them ready at the store. They offer a drive-through which is very convenient when you only need to drop off or pick up pictures.
The store also has film, disposable cameras, camera batteries, magazines, photo albums and frames. Most of the staff is fairly knowledgeable--there are only a couple people I've run into there that know less than I do (I consider myself more advanced than a snapshot taker but not semi-professional or anything) I can go in there and discuss color or exposure, and they do know what I'm talking about and can offer suggestions.
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