Sterling Portraits, LLC

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Photographs were great. But, I gave two stars because the sales pressure was so extreme. And when I told Sterling that I only had a certain amount of money to spend, he told me that's what credit cards are for. I'm sure there are other photographers that have the same quality without the extreme sales pressure.

My family had a really fun experience getting our portraits taken. Sterling and Linda were very thoughtful about how to best capture our family dynamic and personalities. It was very helpful that they are able to photoshop our dog- from a photo where she was positioned right, into one where the family all looked great, so we could get "all members of our family" into the portrait. Some of their packages can be very expensive (and are ultra-fabulous), but they worked with me to be able to get some really nice portraits on even my budget. My family has good memories of the experience and great photos.

I consulted with Sterling and Linda about taking portraits of me to use on social networking sites, as well as creating a portrait of me for my dad's 75th birthday, as he said that's what he really wanted. As long as we were doing these portraits, we also decided to take some portraits of my three cats. I am thrilled with everything that we did together; they are not only the best pictures ever taken of me, but they are also the first pictures of me that I wasn't embarrassed by! (Doesn't everyone hate how they look in photos?)



The portrait I chose for my dad has wowed all my friends I've shown it to, and I can't wait to give it to him this weekend. I know he will love it.



The portraits of my cats are works of art, in my mind -- treasures that I will keep forever. When Sterling showed them to me, it was as if I were seeing my cats for the very first time -- they have never looked so beautiful. And every time I look at these portraits, I find something new about my cats that I've never noticed before. I plan to hang them somewhere in my home where I can see and enjoy them every day.



I am so pleased with everything we did ... it was worth it.

exactly as the other ONE stars put it.. the high pressure sales tactics are insane. My family has been photographed twice, both from auctions. The first time was wonderful and quite frankly we had more money to spend. The second time was crazy.. he must have just needed the money more! The more we said no, the nastier Sterling got. I wrote a letter to both he and Linda at the end discussing my discontent. Of course I never heard back. The portrait is not that terrific either. Coloring is off a bit. I was so upset after the second photo experience , it actually took away from the nice feeling of the first time. Those first pictures were far superior, albeit very expensive.... The "quirkiness" is an act.. he is very manipulative and controlling. It's very uncomfortable and I would not recommend that the auction committees go this route at all.

My husband and I joined Sterling Hoffman and Linda Aufenkamp for an hour long photo session, with great trepidation. I hate being photographed and my husband just thought the whole thing was stupid. However, after about 5 minutes into the session, I could see he was having a ball. In fact, we didn't know this before, but our dogs are big fat hams! Sterling and Linda are so good at making you feel at ease and making you laugh with their antics to get the dogs into the pictures that it is remarkable. They even made me laugh, and I am usually so camera shy that I never even smile. Bill and I really relaxed and enjoyed the entire hour...it seemed like a few minutes. We were actually sorry that it ended!

My family and I first found out about Sterling Portraits through a charity auction, and we couldn't have had a happier outcome. We had previously purchased several family portrait packages through charity auctions, but had never really pursued them for one reason or another. One reason is that one of our children is severely autistic, so we had almost never been able to have a group portrait taken, and certainly never had a group portrait of the whole family that we could be happy with. Since two members of the family are amateur photographers, we had a very healthy respect for the challenges of doing family photography, and the special challenges of trying to photograph a family member that didn't want to be photographed.



Sterling and his team were sensitive, responsive, efficient, yet artistic. Everything Sterling did was done with the greatest care. He scouted out not just our house, for the photoshoot, but also the spots in our house where we planned to put the photos, so that Sterling could could suggest the best formats and arrangements. Sterling and Linda were careful to explain all our different options, and show us different possibilities. We never felt any pressure from Sterling or Linda. The only pressure we felt was from ourselves, because we liked almost everything they showed us.



Despite the fact that it happened that our autistic son was very unhappy the day we were able to gather the family for the shoot, Sterling and his assistants worked diligently -- and successfully -- to get the best shots they could.



The results were beautiful and moving. Sterling captured us individually, and as a family, as we had never been able to see ourselves before. We were so impressed that we've purchased gift packages for future use.



If you're satisfied with the photos you can take with a point-and-shoot and print out on home printer, then I would say Sterling Portraits is not for you. But if you want to see what can be revealed when you and your family are seen through an artist's eyes, then we have no doubt that you will be as awed by Sterling's work as we were.

Dr. Barry and Renee Gordon

Baltimore, MD

My mother, sister, and I had our photography session with Sterling and Linda yesterday. We will see the results tomorrow, but I have no doubt, based on our experience with the photo shoot, that we will be delighted. We were all impressed by Sterling's professionalism and attention to artistic details. In particular, Sterling figured out how to get the best responses from each of us, especially when he found that he had three women who are self-conscious in front of a camera. Sterling is an "artiste." Both my sister and mother said afterwards that it was fun and that they were impressed. None of us had been part of an actual photo shoot before. Sterling and Linda gave us a great experience.

I have collaborated with Sterling and Linda as their picture framer for the last seven or eight years. I have been a custom framer for over 40 years and have never done framing for a a more gifted photographer. The affection he has for his subjects shows up beautifully in his work. I have framed hundreds of his clients family portraits and often marveled at the light and life he captures in them. He insists that I use only the highest quality materials with archival properties to insure the protection and longevity of the photographs. This involves color-fast matting, acid free mounting and glass that has ultra-violet light filtration and anti-reflective chemistry. The pride he takes in his artistry has always impressed me. Candidly I have to acknowledge that he is quite pleased with his own skills. He is no shrinking violet. With a bit of encouragement he will tell you how his painstaking preparation paves the way for successful portrait sessions. I am pleased to have him and Linda as friends. I always look forward to his visits and seeing his latest work.

WOW!!!! We have had Sterling photograph our family twice in the past 3 years. Each time, the experience was excellent and the photographs - INCREDIBLE! Sterling is not inexpensive, but you really get what you pay for. He was upfront with us about the cost and never pressured us to purchase more than we were comfortable with. This past Christmas, he photographed all of our family, including 3 adult daughters and their husbands along with one 2 year old and a 6 month old. He got amazing shots of the kids which we totally did not expect! My husband and I don't splurge much on things like this, but both the experience and the final product were well worth the money. I really appreciated the selection process. He was able to zoom in on each face in our family portrait so that we could determine the best possible picture. Thanks Sterling for our wonderful pictures!

Great experience with Sterling and Linda. They were awesome with our two active boys. Our portraits are so beautiful. We are so appreicative of Sterling and Linda's time with our session...

On March 4, I had the distinct pleasure of being photographed by Sterling Hoffman of Sterling Portraits in Silver Spring, MD. I had not had a professional portrait taken in several years, and having surpassed the age of 50, was a bit apprehensive, yet I needed to update my profile image on my social networks both personal and professional. I met with both Sterling and Linda Aufenkamp (Sterling's long time partner). Both were so very helpful regarding clothing ideas and location options! We decided on some urban settings which would provide both some professional shots and some easygoing fun images. Well! The shoot was amazing and the resulting images are nothing short of beautiful ... I've received so many compliments on the image I use as my profile pic! My husband and children were very impressed and we've now decided to schedule a family session ... Thank you so much, Sterling and Linda!

Don't bother. The same thing happened to me. I bid on a family portrait at a charity auction that GMU held in September. I initially had trouble contacting Sterling Portraits by phone. Later on they claimed that they had put in a new phone system which was not working - for over 3 weeks. I was then told that I would need to set time aside to visit the gallery prior to setting up a time and date for the portraits. The time there would be about 3 hrs. I decided to wait until my daughter was home from college on Thanksgiving break and she would accompany me there. Once I got there - Linda (Sterling's partner) told us to look around the studio which by the way is in the front rooms of their home. She spoke to us for over 1 1/2 hrs about how great Sterling is with photography but we would have to wait for his return to hear the real story. Well, we waited for quite a while until Sterling arrived. At that point it was hard sell. This would be the only time we could get a 20% discount on any additional services. They offered custom framing for the 5 by 7 black and white portrait from a local framer. The cost to frame would be over $500 but with the discount it came to alittle over $400. When I mentioned that I thought that was alot for framing a small black and white photo they reacted like I had two heads. They showed me some of their "Coffee Table Books" and claimed that most customers purchase them on the second visit. Depending on the number of photos in the book the price can range from $9000 to over $18000. Then I was told that Sterling likes to take individual pictures of the children to get a feel of how then photogragh and how move their heads etc. etc. This would be helpful I was told when he takes the family photo. That charge was $150 per child totaling $300. Of course, on the day that I viewed the photos, if I did not purchase any of the individual pictures of my children then I would be refunded the $300. Also, he recommended the I sign up for a background photographer which cost an additional $300. If I did not purchase any of the background pictures than I would be refunded the $300. Now I'm up to $1035 on my AMEX which by the way he was not happy with. He preferred Visa or Mastercard.

We decided to take the pictures after Christmas when both my daughters would be home. After the session I would need to return to their studio within the next two weeks to view the photos on a big screen which takes about 4 hrs. I was told to make sure I ate something prior because of the length of time.

Well, I've had some unexpected expenses recently and I also was not looking forward to another hard sell so I e-mailed Sterling to please refund my money. I would simple take the purchase of the photo as a tax deduction. Well, that's when things got nasty. I was told that he would not refund my money. The photo shoot was only two weeks away and the background photographer had to rearrange his schedule for my convenience.

I plan on fighting this legally. This individual preys on charitable organizations to make his money.

While attending a charity auction we bid on and "won" a custom portrait from Sterling Portraits. We thought this was great because we were helping a good cause and getting a nice photo of our family in return. The item we won included a photo session and 1 portrait. We bid $300 and were the only bidders. After the auction we were contacted by Sterling and asked if we wanted to pay extra for a 'behind the scenes' photographer but we declined. We were happy to participate in the charity but we weren't prepared to spend more than our bid. Strangely, on the day of shooting, we were told that a 2nd photographer was coming anyway but that he was working for free "just for experience". No problem, we thought. The photo shoot went very well and we felt quite relaxed.



Next came misleading statements, blatantly false statements, tons of pressure and a very uncomfortable experience overall...



First, it took us months to get into Sterling's studio to select our photo because they insisted that both my wife and I must be present and that we could not bring our child. They also braced us for what was to be a 2-3 hours selection process. We thought this was especially strange because the photo session itself didn't take nearly that long and they didn't even take that many photos. Upon finally making it into the studio, it became crystal clear that Sterling's intentions were not motivated by charity. We were heavily pressured to purchase more photos, books, digital picture frames... you name it. Sterling started out asking us to consider a $15,000.000 package. $15k from just $300 at the auction!!! Keep in mind that none of this additional money would have gone to the charity from which we bid. Steadily that number declined as the realization began to set in that we were simply not interested in spending more money. Sterling's frustration also became more and more visible as he realized that he wouldn't be turning his "charity item" into a big profit on this day. He started telling us of how he had to pay for the 2nd photographer out of his own pocket ($300 he claimed) - the same photographer he told us was working for free on the day of our shoot. He went on and on about all the time he spent with us, all the experience he has and even all the money he's made from other people who bought charity items and decided to buy many more photos upon seeing them in the studio. Sterling actually told us that he had made $100,000.00 in the past 10 days!



This was a BAIT & SWITCH.... pure and simple!!!



So, here's the deal... Sterling Portraits goes around and offers charity auctions a basic photo package to auction off under the guise of being a charitable company. This couldn't be farther from the truth or the intent. This is nothing more than a way for Sterling Portraits to find people that they can ultimately up-sell and make thousands of dollars from. Had there been a true charitable intent on the part of Sterling Portraits A) we wouldn't have been pressured to spend more money B) any additional money that we did spend (or at the very least a percentage) should have gone to the charity and not as profit and C) Sterling wouldn't have become so upset with us for not buying additional portraits.



This went from being something that we were looking forward to and happy to participate in - to the most uncomfortable experience we have ever had with a photographer and it is really a shame that there are people out there who have the audacity to use charity events for their own personal gain.