About a month ago, Yahoo Local listing starting serving up Yelp reviews for businesses. This may or may not a good thing. If you have never had  or not have many reviews on Yahoo for your business, but a lot on Yelp, this is great, because now you have more reviews showing up when people search for you on Yahoo. But what happens when you have more reviews on Yahoo? I actually had more reviews on Yahoo of my photography business than Yelp. I did not like Yelp’s policy of arbitrarily hiding reviews so I have told people that and I always preferred seeing reviews on Yahoo Local. In years past, when Google+ did not exist, Google used to serve up Yahoo reviews, but things have changed since.

I have always had positive business reviews of my studio because I always make sure clients are completely thrilled and happy with what they got and experienced at my studio, that’s part of my “be thrilled or bust” guarantee. When people take the time to write me a review, I not only appreciate the feedback, I also save a copy of the review to keep on my computer, that’s a good thing because now I found no way to see the 21 reviews my clients have written for me on Yahoo listings and the reviews would have been lost if I had not saved them. I think Yahoo really did a disservice to their business listing customers, there should be a way to still see these reviews! So is the web forever? Not exactly.

For now, I am just going to repost some of them here, so at least the effort and feelings my clients have expressed are not lost. To all of you who have written reviews of your experience at my studio at Yahoo, Yelp or Google, THANK YOU! I enjoyed meeting you and photographing you and your family, and have fun!

DANA Created on 05/11/13

I had been wanting to do a family photo for quite a while but never took the time to get it together until I saw a Groupon for Positive Vista. I had never heard of Portia Shao, but then, I didn’t know any photographers so I just went for it. It ended up being a great choice for me! My daughter lives out of town and it was a little difficult to find a time when all four of us could be together to even take a picture. Portia was wonderful in helping with offering to work when she normally wouldn’t to accommodate my needs. The photo shoot was amazing, not only did she spend more time than I would have expected, it was a blast! We all were laughing and having a great time. Portia took probably hundreds of shots, in all different combinations of the four of us. I ended up with exactly what I originally wanted and more, I now have a beautiful collage of my two young adult children and the best picture of myself ever taken! Thank you Portia for capturing my family in time that we will all enjoy for many years into the future!

Theresa Created on 07/18/12 

Coming for overseas to do a photo shoot with my boyfriend, what i liked most about Portia was her efficiency and willingness to be creative and flexible with us! Also very professional and fast results. never left you lingering!

Jessica
 Posted on 06/01/12

I had a wonderful experience at Portia Shao’s studio. I originally went to get a few portraits of myself dressed in my military uniform for a Father’s Day gift. She was very accommodating and flexible. I ended up bringing my dog, Jazz, along and Portia even took a few shots of us together- which turned out to be some of the cutest shots I have of her. My dog was actually smiling! Portia made me feel completely at ease during the photo shoot and had many creative ideas. You can tell photography is not just a job to her, but also a passion.

Zoe Posted on 02/28/12


 
Wonderful experience! My daughter had been looking to do head shots, performing on stage as well as in front of a camera. I have never done anything like this before and Portia was able to walk us through the process. What a treat for both my daughter and myself. Portia knows exactly what she is doing and does it very well. The portraits were amazing and exactly what we were looking for. Now its up to my daughter to do the rest, but those photos sure won’t go unnoticed. Thank you Portia, it was very enjoyable and relaxing

jaynorry 10/31/2011 
I needed a photo of myself for a book I had written and was ready to publish. I found Portia Shao online, and was impressed with her comprehensive website and her perspective on her art. Then I met her, and I was even more impressed. She is awesome! I have never felt comfortable having pictures taken of me, and have seldom been happy with them. I was apprehensive about the session. Portia put me immediately at ease; I was amazed at how happy I was with the shots she took, and the work she did on them. She delivered like a true professional and a talented artist. I would recommend Positive Vista Photography and Art to anyone looking for the perfect photo or set of photos for any occasion.
Edna Vilozny 10/21/2011
I recently came to see Portia Shao at Positive Vista Photography and Art for a mother/son portrait with my little boy, Brody. I wanted a loving, intimate and somewhat candid-looking photo spread to display in my new apartment. Portia helped me achieve exactly what I wanted, and Brody and I had a great time during the shoot (3 year old boys don’t always love having their picture taken!). Portia helped me every step of the way, from deciding on poses, choosing the layout and what kind of frame setting I wanted. I love my portrait and will continue to use Positive Vista in the future.

ihollenberg 09/09/201 
I needed a head shot for a professional profile, and felt a little bit nervous because I think of myself as not photogenic. Portia’s photograph of me is better than I would have believed possible! It was fun working with her, and I would recommend her highly to any one, whether for a professional or a personal portrait.

Lisa 08/11/2011
Portia Shao is amazing! I recently had her take family portraits when my father, who is now 81, was visiting us from Florida. I have very few photos of my father and me together (one of us is always on the other end of the camera! :), so the resulting photos are very precious to me. They came out beautifully — even my children each wanted their own copy of the family picture (and that’s saying alot coming from teenagers!) — and I am thrilled! She also took professional head shots for me for both my website and my social media sites and I love the way they came out as well. As a financial professional, people want to get to know me and my work; having a professional image is very important, and Portia has definitely captured that in my photo. If you need to upgrade your professional image, Portia and Positive Vista should be the next appointment you put on your calendar!