Thurston Studios

I did get the 'video clip' from the last newsletter to download, but it took about 10 minutes. It was about a 30 second clip. Quality looked pretty good, but....?

I also emailed them about the Schedule being the wrong day. Also, once you log-in to the site everything on Internet Explorer is labeled 2009, i.e. IE Tab, anything printed says 2009. Irritating!

I also got the reply that my email would be forwarded to the right person.
 
Given Pachrian's experience, and being at least little familiar with government contracting, I have to wonder how Thurston's access was gained? Was there a RFP published and competition held? I'm guessing that its through the Alumni Association and that normal (legal) federal procurement requirements were not followed.

Does anyone have any info?
 
Thanks for the heads up about the quality, Pachrian. I wasn't going to order portraits because both my husband and older son are photographers, and I figured I'd like anything they took better anyway. (I can't wait to get pics of both of my boys in uniform together!) Both of my sons are great at video editing, one worked for a TV station during HS and both did two paid internships with a professional videographer. If I bought the videos, and they weren't excellent, my Plebe would be upset. Also, I've gotten two emails with links to video clips, but neither of them would open so I couldn't see the quality.

I did note just now that there are some new tweets posted today. Check those out if you have been looking for new pics with no luch for the past week or so.
 
I received an email from Th*r*t*ns stating that for every person you refer to and signs up for Th*r*t*ns you get a $15 credit added to your account. I'll be honest I don't know if I can completely endorse or recommend them (at least not based on my experiences to date).

I wonder if Naval Academy Alumni Association, who is endorsing the company, is aware of some of the complaints that people have voiced above.
 
They have seen the complaints every year. We did get a couple of good ones from them but had to look really hard to find them. Bought two with our MID out of hundreds on the site and used up the initial fee. Best bet is to wait and buy the formal USNA picture (Sword and All). You can get the Naval Academy frame at the MID store and the Formal piucture is the one you will keep.:thumb:
 
AF, last year the official pic did not include a sword, at least ours didn't. Still great shots though :)

I really hate to be so negative about fellow photographers, and I'm sorry if I came across as harsh. Honestly, I couldn't believe that anyone could be so unprofessional and that's why I kept going for more, I guess. Benefit of the doubt, and all that.

Seeing them on FB now, I think they are feeling the crunch of the "competition".
 
Regarding the formal picture noted above, I don't know anything about this. Does the Academy take such a pic and is it available for purchase? What time of year do they do this and what are the prices like?
 
Video on Thornton

I signed up for Thornton and so far have purchased 3 pictures but the price wasn't applied to the first payment because I bought them one at a time. You have to buy something that costs more than the initial price or it is not deducted from the sign up fee.

No new photos have been posted for a while except under company or platoon - although, even there, nothing has been posted at all this week.

Also, I haven't been able to download DVDs. Can anyone tell me how I can download video clips?
 
jomass said:
Regarding the formal picture noted above, I don't know anything about this. Does the Academy take such a pic and is it available for purchase? What time of year do they do this and what are the prices like?
Click to expand...

Herff Jones will take photos during fall semester. They will be used for the yearbook. Your mid will get a postcard with order information.
 
Thanks for all the info everyone!

Mumsyto3, obviously I haven't ordered it yet, but the Gouge is described on the website and there are sample pages that you can view. It is booklet with the schedules for your plebe's company during the summer. You can choose photos (10 or 12, can't remember which) to be placed on the cover and inside. They also include photos of your plebes company and platoon that they choose. It is just stapled together, and I doubt it is printed on photo paper, so the quality won't be stellar, but I figured it was a cheap way to get several pics and some other information. Plus, it only costs $24. It is "free" if you order the 3-DVD package. (I put "free" in quotes because those DVDs are so exorbitantly expensive that they had better include a lot more than just a free Gouge!)
 
MomoftheMagik, remember when your child was in 3rd grade and had to create a travel brochure (that's what mine did, but it's just an example)...that's what the gouge is like. Don't expect more :wink:
 
MomoftheMagik, remember when your child was in 3rd grade and had to create a travel brochure (that's what mine did, but it's just an example)...that's what the gouge is like. Don't expect more
Click to expand...

Haha...yeah, that's about what I expected, but it will still be a way to get some of those pictures that I like with breaking the bank. Also, I won't be too disappointed because I won't have any expectations!
 
Pachrian said:
I feel I need to speak up and tell you all about our experience with Thornton, and it was extensive.

I loved looking for my Waldo, didn't even mind the stripes at all. As a photographer myself I totally understand their need to protect their work.

However, their work is unacceptable in my eyes. A complete rip-off. We bought 25 5x7 downloads, which were ok, nothing earthshattering, but ok. We also purchased the Plebe Summer DVDs. What a joke!! The companies and platoons were completely mislabled, they made excuses that it is sooo difficult to get this right... it is not! The content was repetitive, they showed the same clips several times.

Of course we fell for the portrait offer as well. Ended up purchasing 2 poses, one of which is completely out of focus. I had asked them if it was only the proof that looks iffy, if a 5x7 would come out sharp? I was re-assured that it would be perfect, Larry is a genius at post-processing. I know, I should have known better. No professional or even amateur would call what we received acceptable. Did I mention that the pics arrived in a regular manila envelope, with just a thin cardboard insert? Of course they were bent upon arrival. What professional photographer mails portraits in this manner?!?

Next: the interview. I can't remember all that happened, but it was re-scheduled on their end several times because they LOST the first one. In the end my Mid had enough of their nonsense and we gave up.

I don't know why, but we ended up going for the Sea Trials/ Herndon DVDs as well. We never learn, do we? Totally unprofessional and repetitive again. The change from one segment to the other can be done better by a Kindergardener, and, as I said, they showed the same segments twice. Pathetic editing! My Mids company was featured for maybe 5% of the time. We haven't bothered watching the Herndon DVD.

It is a real shame that these guys have open access to our Mids, our hearts and wallets. You can find better photographs from other free sources, you may not get anything from the O-Course or shooting range, but you won't feel like a su**er either. I know I do, and I probably left out half the things that bugged me about them this year.

Whew! Now I feel better :smile:
Click to expand...


I wish I had known about this site before Plebe Summer. I've spent a great bulk of the last 48 hours reading various threads; very informative and at times, entertaining. :thumb: This is the first time I've felt compelled to reply.

My experience was almost identical to yours, Pachian. I figured because I had so many negative experiences with them, mine could not have been an isolated case. Despite the "speed bumps" I encountered early on with email and telephone correspondence, my desire to have "anything and everything" relating to my Mid's Plebe Summer/Year outweighed my initial impression. The paper accompanying the DVDs requesting that we watch them ASAP to ensure we have the correct ones, because of an error they made a couple years ago, made me sick to my stomach.

I ordered all the DVD's and the Gouge Book, receiving them a couple weeks before Christmas break. The Gouge Book (or Pamphlet, as it should be called) was, I thought, a joke. No, seriously....I thought it was a joke. When I inquired about it, I was told it would be on hard stock paper; my resume paper is thicker than this. It was nice to see the different pictures of my plebe, until I realized they put one of the wrong pictures in it. At that point I was so tired of playing phone tag with them, I put the "book" back in the envelope and it's been there since.

We didn't have time to watch the DVD's until January, and my husband and I were, for lack of a better word, pissed. I took notes of each discrepancy (two pages full) to advise them, but she didn't care to hear about it. Once I gave her my name, she said she'll send out the right ones, and hung up. I was shocked at how elementary the videos were. I couldn't believe the USNA Alumni Association is endorsing a photography studio that manufactures products such as these. The sappy 80's music, the background noise and conversation, the constant stop-and-go of the audio, and the neverending clip repeat was unbelievable. It felt like a slap in the face from Thorton; we pay hundreds of dollars for these memories and instead we receive a revolving spool of video of the same kids doing the exact thing, over and over and over....not once, not twice, but sometimes several times. It was absolutely ridiculous. We also received the wrong DVD correlating to our Mid's Platoon, and finally received replacements a few weeks ago, but I have yet to watch it. During family gatherings over Christmas break, although I would have preferred to show a DVD from our Mid's experiences at the Academy, I instead showed his NAPS 2010 DVD. I'm sure they have been in business this long for good reasons, but the current DVD's are in dire need of a makeover.

I am willing to shell out the money for video memories of my Mid; it's an extreme disappointment, however, to trust what is said and written about this studio and receive horribly done DVD's disguised as "quality videography." I sincerely hope they improve for the upcoming years.

Alrighty....my venting is done. Have a good evening all. :cool:
 
Pacida90, THANK YOU for saving me the headache of dealing with such a horrible company next year. On the enlisted side at Great Lakes; I quote "The Navy Exchange Photographic Services at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes offers each graduating recruit the opportunity to purchase division and individual photographs, a division Cruise Book, which highlights the Recruits’ Boot Camp experiences from Night of Arrival to Graduation Day and a videotape of the Recruit Pass-In-Review Ceremony."


So, the obvious question I have is Why doesn't the Navy Exchange offer a similar service for the Academy? With numerous complaints every year, Why does USNA continue to hire these than stellar contractors? My initial thoughts are the Good Ol' Boy network is alive an well. Besides, if they used the Navy Exchange most profits earned by the exchange services, after paying operating expenses, are used to support community activities aimed at improving morale among service members and their families. I don't think Thornton Studios has the service member in mind, just their profit margin.
 
Last edited:
Much of the "rant" rings "true," sorry to say. Anyone w/ any familiarity of the reality of what Thornton purports to do and thus sell, can sympathize with both the time commitment and the complexity of getting it right. It does make one wonder how much kick-back USNA benefits from in turning the proverbial cheek to this business relationship. There must be very few photographic entities therein Naptown willing to pursue this contract and/or the word on the street is "don't bother," recognizing that for whatever reasons, Thornton has a lock on this one.

Someone who knows someone on the BoV ought to put out the word about this one. In the entire scheme of things, it's not life-changing, but for Plebe parents, it can be pretty darned important. And pretty darned expensive. And pretty questionable in value. At least for parents and their Plebes. It would be interesting gleaning some of the realities of this contract and its consequences, intended and otherwise.

But one thing is sure ... the line is long and annually refreshed by those feeling they've been taken for a rather expensive Thornton ride.

Still ... it can be cheap relief, reassurance, and entertainment, searching for one's dixie-cupped dude in the sea of sweaty sailors surviving summer#1!:thumb::eek::rolleyes::cool:
 
Last edited:
Very well stated WP:thumb: I have often wished there was a competitive 3 or 4 year contract awarded for this "service" with a dignified annual " access fee" awarded to a Brigade of Midshipmen's R&R fund.... I'd guess Thornton might get it's act in high gear and offer a much improved product !
Perhaps the Midstore could hire a team of young photographers ( college kids on Summer Break ??? ) and provide a better product......and ALL those profits would be returned to the Brigade of Midshipmen !!!
 
Last edited:
We signed up for Thornton and paid for the minimal amount of photo downloads. Never bought any prints. Never bought the DVDs, as numerous people on this forum and others questioned their value.

I must say we did enjoy checking the Thornton website every few days to see if there were any more pictures of our "Waldo." He certainly seemed to be doing a lot of tug-of-war. On the other hand, the two local volunteers that post photos (I can't remember the names and/or location) are great.
 
We never did sign up for anything with Thornton last year, and I think we made the right choice. Everyday I had a ton of free photos to browse thru between wonderful local families and the USNA Plebe summer face book site. I have a huge file of just plebe summer and was able to upload these files to shutterfly to make my own books at very low cost.
 
We were disappointed with the videos as well...quality aside (which was far worse than my teenagers can do with taking video and editing), I saw my kid a total of one time in two vids...one of his company and one of the D&B. I thought that, given the fact that I was only getting vids of small groups I knew he was in, I might actually see him in action. Not so. I know it would be pretty impossible for Thornton to make sure they get lots of footage of each kid. Just want to warn parents, don't buy any vids with the hope of seeing your kid. You may get lucky, but don't count on it, and the amount you spend for the video isn't worth the gamble. Only buy them if you are incredibly curious as to what goes on during the summer. I knew enough from the pics and the schedule I saw over the summer.

Thornton did have several complaints about the very expensive and low-quality calendar last summer. They listened and sent a MUCH improved version that was almost worth the cost.
 
But one thing is sure ... the line is long and annually refreshed by those feeling they've been taken for a rather expensive Thornton ride. Still ... it can be cheap relief said:
They're not getting a dime from me. Better to use the money for the Mid Account than pay for questionable quality. After reading this forum, Thornton is not providing any real value to the Navy, the Midshipmen, or their parents. Caveat emptor!

Incidentally, I sent an e-mail to USNA Alumni Association inquiring about the number of complaints against Thornton on this board and asked what could we do to switch to the Navy Exchange Photography system. I'll post their reply if I get it.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top