Buster’s Old Time Photos

The settings are nice but the place lacks professionalism. I’ve waited for so long to go back to Galveston to take old time photos and my whole experience was… not worth the time and money… The photographer was rushing through. «Smile, no smile-perfect…great». I should have asked to look at the photos during the shoot. Lighting was not set. Shadows would fall on my face. My eyes were closed in some pics. Little details that would ruin the photo… abundant. One would think that you walk into a professional studio and would be in the experts hands of a person who cares about the way you look in the photos because you are spending some serious money. I did all the settings including the wedding props. That is 5 altogether… The only one I liked was the Victorian. And I told them that.
The only way you could get the photos is to spend another $ 200 to get them on a cd. So for the 5 that turned out good (out of 140) I spent $ 200… I should have hired a professional photographer and did it on my own terms. Such a waste… Would not recommend at all.

This was a great experience. We had a groupon, so my husband and I went in on a Friday afternoon. We were the only ones there, so we got taken back right away to pick a scene and put on clothes. The photographer knew exactly what to do and made it fun! We came out with a great picture.

Me and my gf visited this place yesterday evening. It took us almost 2 hours for the entire gig, and we did not end up liking any of the couples photos… which only comprised 15% of the total photos taken. The female employee (forgot her name) was very nice and helpful, she spent the majority of the time with us. The manager «buddy» was a complete self absorbed ass, culminating in him belittling the female employee for asking if we would still be charged for playing dress up even though we had no interest in buying any of the photos, and also not providing technical help to her when she was having computer trouble. We will probably get some more photos like this done in the future, but definitely not at this place. We paid our 20dollar dress up fee and left.

I’ve tried to take an old time photo at this location on two separate occasions, and left disappointed and photo-​less each time. The employees are so rude and inflexible. They insist on the shoot taking over an hour, and don’t like groups. Both times we begged for them to try and hurry — we only had 30 minutes and were willing to forego being dressed professionally and any post production edits. The lady at the front desk said «Absolutely NOT». All we wanted was to have fun and make a memory. It’s like they don’t even want to make money?! Go to the other old time photo shop down the street (didn’t know they existed until I tried to write this review — it’s literally a block away).

Mean photographer lady… ruined my experience of old time photos. Came with my bestie and she seemed pretty frustrated from the beginning of our session. Wont be back.

We visited here October of 2015 and were lucky enough to work with Austin. He was very funny and kind, and took the time to interact with my little girl instead of ignoring her or talking over her the way many others would.
We chose a Victorian set, and were very pleased with our costumes and the setting. Austin was very thorough with our poses, taking more shots and using more poses than we had expected, so we had some difficult choices to make when it came time to purchase our photos. In the end, we chose two shots and had them hand-​colored and framed. We spent more than we had anticipated, but only because we were so impressed.
The only complaint I have is that another employee, I believe his name was Buddy, walked right into the middle of our set and rearranged some things, including the hat I was wearing. I was so shocked that I didn’t say anything, although I wish I would have. Austin was doing a wonderful job and did not need help. I’m sure Buddy meant well, but now I have two pictures on my wall and my hat is cocked a different way in each shot. I think the picture that Austin arranged looks much better.
Due to the attention to detail and the number of shots taken, checkout can take awhile. We were surprised to find we’d been at the studio for a couple of hours, but it was worth it. We will definitely get more pictures here next time we’re in Galveston — I have my eye on the pirate setting — but I will absolutely speak up if someone interferes with the set.

HORRIBLE! This is a VERY POORLY-​RUN business. It’s a 1^st-​come, 1^st-​served operation with 2 chairs in the waiting area, no instruction, no greeting from the employees, or organization whatsoever. We tried 3 times in one day to get service, waiting at least 20 min each time on a very hot, humid day that was dragging us down. The fact that we couldn’t make an appointment or put our names on a waitlist was ridiculous. We had a Groupon to use and decided to eat the cost of the Groupon deal and leave for good. We live 2 hours away and it wasn’t worth any more of our time and aggravation to deal with the ineptness of this business and its employees. Maybe the other «old time photo» place a block away is better. Next time we may check them out; we were too drained from the heat and the experience with Buster’s to bother this time.

Very fun experience donning costumes of long ago western hookers, holding bags of fake munny, empty bottles of liquor, toting lassos, holding rifles and other small firearms. What’s not to love about wearing 20’s style chokers, fishnet stockings, boas and feathers??? Totally made my birthday pics come alive! I purchased 2 poses I felt comfortable with. The staff is there to help, they are young so need you to be curt and to the point. Spent a total of about 2 hours posing and picturemaking. Final cost with groupon was about $ 60. But have 2 8×10 photos to be framed with something of my choosing from Aaron brothers. Good memories.

Had a great time. Huge array of costumes to pick from and a lot of back drops. Ammon did a great job with fitting us and getting the right picture. Good salesman too on the upgrades with the various choices. Definite recommend

Customer service is AWFUL! !!! the emo short hair looking girl who clearly doesnt want to be there is so so so unprofessional and incredibly rude. She was nearly yelling at my kids of which i stoped her and almost totally totally killed what would have been a memorable experience for our family. Got to the point where i was like lets get this #&$over with. Her lack of experience behind the lense showed she had no direcion for the shoot and when she did she was agraviated that all four of us 2 lil kids could not sot through it long enough at some point i said listen just shoot and we will pose how we want. It took every ounce in me not to go off on her but iam. a mommy first. worst experience dont go!!! Btw CLOTHES SMELLS!!!

A fairly fun thing to do on the Strand in Galveston. You get to dress up like a cowboy, pirate, gangster, flapper, Victorian-​era person, or steampunk (we went with steampunk).
The photographers get you dressed up pretty fast, and the results aren’t bad. I didn’t pay (someone else did) but it didn’t seem outrageous. Checking out seemed to take a lot of time, not sure why.
If you need a break from the sun and want some goofy photos, this will work. It helps if you are into this sort of thing.

We had a Groupon and that pic was free, but of course they pull you in with the extra shots. Photographer was very friendly. That’s her job. But she did tell us if you try and scan your photos at home there would be watermarks. Scanned and printed on regular paper, no watermarks. Don’t know if it would be different on photo paper.
Anyway, I totally expected to spend more than I wanted so not surprised. Overall, happy with pics and frame and mattes.

Let me start by saying I am unable to review their pictures or ability to do their job because I never got that far. I wasn’t able to because the staff at this place was so incredibly rude and dismissive it almost defies description. We walked in and one lady was helping a group of 4 and she very carefully avoided eye contact. She finished, they left still she did not greet us, did not say, «I’ll be right with you»…no acknowledgement whatsoever. Part of our group (my daughters, aged 14 and 22) walked to look at their settings, and another employee came out of the back area, waving her hands and yelling at them, «get behind the podium!» I walked over there to see what the fuss was about and she yelled at me too. If they aren’t going to greet people or have a sign saying what to do, then they shouldn’t yell at people trying to figure it out. My husband pulled me out of there before I could really tell them what I thought (or worse). We then went 10 yards down the street to Galveston Old Time Photos, had a wonderful experience, got great pictures, and spent considerably less money.
ONE STAR IS TOO MANY!
P. S. Let me also say that there IS NOT A PODIUM in that place!

From the moment we entered we were treated terribly. We didn’t even say a word and the photographer and others were laughing at us. It was really odd. My wife talked me out of confronting them she just wanted to leave. Guess not getting arrested for assault was the best part of this experience.

This photo studio has a great layout of scenes… BUT, the photos turned out to be less than good. They were blurry, and our feet were chopped off on the poker table… Any adjustments to the photo, well, they want to charge you an extra $ 5. The manager was arrogant. The lady that took the photos was very nice, and engaged in our scenes, our outfit set up, and helping us pick photos. But when we weren’t «crazy» about most of the photos, the manager stepped in and pretty much tried to seal the deal. but because the photos were blurry, and cut off at our feet, I wasn’t about to buy those. They sell you a cd… with all the photos so that you can print them however you want… be careful. look at your photos with a good eye. I wasn’t about to buy bad photos.
If they had used a cable release to take the shots that would of cut down on the blur, and they overshade the corners to my taste, and that can be removed. They did remove that for me.
If you are using a Groupon, they won’t honor 2 people with a groupon if you walk in together. so take my advise. walk in separately if you just want your photo.
I have tried to contact Branson tourism about this, with no much luck. Unilocal will be my voice on this.
They were not busy at all. just me and my daughter. They were just sitting at their desk.waiting.like wolves to devour.
IF I go back, it won’t be the Branson Landing Location. The manager there is condescending and arrogant. The lady was VERY nice, but needs to learn to take better photos by watching her composition.
I am not a professional photographer, but I do take photos for pleasure, and so watch out for those poses. So many she asked me to raise my chin, and all that did was accent my double chin.
They used a Groupon to get us in the door. They failed to produce what I consider to be good Old Time Photos… With about 11 other places in town, read up on some of the reviews.
Busters has won lots of contest for good shots… so I know they are capable of taking them… at least some one is there. just not our gal. But it goes without saying, she was the nice person there. not the manager.

What a fabulous time! I had purchased their group on deal a few months back and had nearly forgotten about it. The location is great really puts you in the mood for a «Old Time Photo» with the brick roads and walkways. Inside was great we didn’t wait long to get started.
There were two ladies in there tonight and one seemed to really know her stuff and the other was a little aloof. We ended up with a great picture for the $ 9.00 Groupon order. I was expecting to have them try and up sale us but they just kinda spit out the prices and kept on going. Fabulous. With the CD costing over $ 100 we weren’t biting and she knew it.
I will most definitely come back down here especially now that I know they have a loyalty card.

The experience of taking the pictures was quite nice and we had a lot of fun. They took a lot of time getting the costumes together and also setting up the shots. Very friendly staff and nice sets.
On the other hand: we had very specific poses in mind and even though we got those (and those were the ones we bought), we had to go through a lot of shots that we knew we didn’t want. I guess it was to make sure there would be at least a few nice ones in case our ideas didn’t work out. It was fun posing, but unnecessary.
The shots came out great, but then the upsale started and that really put us off. Everything cost extra and by the time you were done you would have spent a lot more money than expected. It was quite annoying: colored picture? Extra! Even though it was one mouse click to run a predefined filter over the picture. Want a frame? Want a screen? That really put us off and made the whole experience less enjoyable.
We would have wanted a digital version but you can only get the *whole* shoot and that would have been $ 300.
So: the pictures were great, taking them was fun, but the upsale was really bad. I wish they had been more transparent about the costs from the get-​go.

This place is very cool. I did not know what to expect since I have never been there. Got a deal on Groupon so decided to do it. I thought I would be in a hole in the wall type of establishment, but to my suprise, the place is decent on the outside and ev better on the inside! There are four scenes/​themes, each separated in each room/​section. The props are very cool and looked authentic. Our photographer said it was handmade by the owner. Wow, must have spent a lot of time doind it cause they looked good! I spent prob more than 2 hours in this joint and the staff there were great! I didn’t feel rushed and felt like they were there to help. There is a room that had a long rack of outfits and I think three dressing rooms. I was impressed with what they had since the outfits were of good material and not flimsy. Some of them looked really expensive too. They have hats, hair accessories, feather boas, you name it and it was all organized! So first you pick the scene (s), and then you go to the dressing area. There is a staff there to pick out your clothes. They kinda just pick for you but if you see something you rather wear, tell them. I guess they know what fits you and all that but I’d like to have a choice you know? I actually did see one I liked and said I want that one. Once you dress up, I think the dressing room is yours till you’re done with the shoot. I didn’t see anyone in mine but who knows. All our stuff was in there and nothing was missing. Our photographer’s name is Michael. I don’t know how many Michael’s are there but he has glasses and light hair. He’s very nice and was very patient with us. He also was not pushy at all when it comes to selling the pictures. He just showed us the pics, we picked out the ones we like, and then he just tells you the prices for the photos and that’s it. He didn’t say anything or pushed. It was so refreshing! He did such a good job with our poses, that of course, I had to buy more than the one picture that came with my Groupon. Yes, you will end up paying for a few pics at least, but they are worth it ! Don’t hesitate, just go and you’ll have a great time as well has have great pictures for memories! All my friends and family love it!

They had a sign in their window announcing a special for about $ 10. I am sure that gets most people in the door However, by the time you take your pictures and get some prints you will end up paying $ 100-​$ 200, depending upon if you want the picture cd. My best friend and I were taking photos, and had lots of fun and the pictures came out great. However, I would suggest they run a more accurate special dependent upon what most people order aka a photo package deal. I also wish they just let us pic a few photos to pay and put on the photo cd instead of having to buy them all if we wanted a few. They also make the gents change in the back in front of a huge window, which isn’t very private so heads up if that is something that would bother you. Overall, if you have the cash and want some nice photos then I would check them out.