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Venture Photography

Had a session last week after 'winning' the session plus a 7 x 5 framed picture.

'won' a session with Studio 64 2 years ago and they started off wanting £1500 for 11 pictures on a cd and we ended up paying £300 for them.

Has anyone got a good deal out of Venture, bit scared as someone has told me they don't do cd's at all and that each print is £100 - £1500 per print !!

Any advice appreciated.
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Comments

  • faye6174
    faye6174 Posts: 127 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Probably not what you want to hear, but no special deals i'm afraid. They may have relaxed their rules due to recession now though??!!

    We did the same thing, adamant that we would take our 'free' print and run, but be prepared, they can make the most un photogenic person (me) look half decent and the artwork is incredible. We ended up spending £1800! ( intrest free deal) I wouldn't say it was money well spent as it is a couple of pictures at the end of the day but we like them and they get comments from everyone who sees them.

    So, my advice is to go with a VERY strong resolve, if you do not want to spend that kind of money (ours were cheap compared to some btw) They do keep them on file for a while, so you can think about it.

    HTH
  • riggerz
    riggerz Posts: 249 Forumite
    I know someone who spent over £3000 on pictures with venture:eek: I decided there and then never to go for a free session with them:rotfl:
    :dance: Thanks to everybody in the crafting threads who inspired me to start my own business!!
  • Lottebear
    Lottebear Posts: 794 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    It is very expensive, they have to cover the costs of a "free" session.
  • bubblegumcola
    bubblegumcola Posts: 1,100 Forumite
    I too got one of these free sessions for the family. I thought it was overpriced and they tried hard to flog us lots of photos. I felt you couldn't see the photos properly when you went back to view them as they were on a screen. They also have an unfair contract, which states they can use your images for promotional use. I told them there was no way they were using my children's images for an advert and scored it out. According to trading standards the contract is unfair and you should not be made to sign it.

    There are plenty of independent photography businesses out there, get one through word of mouth. I'd never use Venture again.
  • nikflo
    nikflo Posts: 504 Forumite
    i won a "free" portrait but i decided not to go once i heard i had to pay £20 to cover costs!!! seemed a bit of a rip off to me.

    might be worth phoning your local boots and seeing if they pixie photos coming to them soon? i think you only pay £5 for a photo???

    but i doubt as it would be in a store you would get any thing fancy.

    hth.
  • IWantToBeFree_2
    IWantToBeFree_2 Posts: 1,831 Forumite
    If you are anywhere near Yorkshire, why not try:

    http://www.picture-proud.co.uk/

    You pay £160 and get to take away ALL your photos on a disk with full copywrite.

    They do canvas's, frames etc and are far far far cheaper than the likes of Venture.

    I had a pre wedding shoot there on Saturday and they are FAB!
  • longhotbath
    longhotbath Posts: 708 Forumite
    Hi - we have had 3 sittings with venture over 9 years - the last one as compensation for their appaling customer services with the second set of photos. The last 2 sittings took 9 months!! to get all our photos. The photos are great, but small flecks of dust under the glass - at £600 per photo, they should be absolutely perfect!!

    They are a franchise and little technical knowledge is needed. Often, the photos are SHOT with tops of head missed off as it makes them look 'more artistic'.

    I would really recommend that you use a local independant photographer. Buy a cd, and get full copywrite.

    Venture is incredibly hard sell - one tip - dont have the champagne whilst looking at the slide show. (Im sure we chose a couple of extra photos that way!!)
  • Caroline73_2
    Caroline73_2 Posts: 2,654 Forumite
    Venture didn't give us the hard sell at all. I was very impressed. We only bought two 7x5 pictures.

    We went to a local photgrapher more recently and got 8 8x10 pics for £150.
  • My best friend went along with her husband and children to a 'free' sitting with Venture. They were so close to signing up for almost £2000 worth but failed the credit check thankfully, because 6 months later Venture wrote to them offering them the cd with the whole collection on, for £50!!

    Make of that what you will!

    Victoria x
  • Happydaze
    Happydaze Posts: 116 Forumite
    Had a similar experience , we were waiting to be taken for our sitting however when my husband realised the price of the framed photos on display he walked straight out the shop! I tried, as politely as I could, that we weren't in a position to afford their prices.
    Absolute con! You're much better with a local photographer that has been reccommended.
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