Venture Photography

Becles

Saw a stand for Venture photography and ended up buying a £25 voucher. This would give us an hour of studio time and a 7x5" print, plus the chance of buying other pictures. When I asked for a price list, the man didn't have one but said the prices were reasonable and wouldn't tell me any figures. He kept telling me how relaxed and fun the whole experience was and how we'd get some great pictures from it.

A few days later the studio rang and we booked an appointment. Turned up promptly, only to be told the previous people had turned up very late and we'd have to wait for them to finish. While we were waiting, the people after us turned up and got quiet angry when they were told there was to be a delay and demanded their appointment started on time.

When it was our turn to go into the studio, the whole thing was incredibly rushed. It was just "do this" *snap* "do that" *snap*. It certainly wasn't relaxed and fun and felt more like the photographer wanted to get it over with as quick as possible. He only spent about 20 minutes taking pictures instead of the promised hour as he claimed he had enough footage. I felt it was really unfair that our time had been cut short and was rushed when it wasn't our fault the previous people were late or the next people were angry but the photographer didn't really listen.

Afterwards we were given a price list and left for home. When we looked at the booklet at home, I nearly fell off the chair! The cheapest 11x9" frame with large mount and photo cost £245 and prices went up to £2K for bigger/fancier frames. Even a USB pen with 10 pictures on cost £600.

Went back for the viewing session and explained we were not made aware of the prices and couldn't afford it. The man seemed huffy and showed us a slideshow of pictures to pick our 7x5" print that the voucher covered. However, he was just flashing the pics up on screen and saying "yes or no" and giving us a split second to decide. I can't decide if I like a group picture in that short time! It takes me a good minute or so to look at all the facial expressions etc., to decide if I like it or not. Ended up just saying yes to one which seemed ok in the split second we had to look at it.

Had to wait 10 weeks but finally got the picture back and it's pants. They've managed to chop the tops off my husbands and my daughters heads! When I pointed that out, the lady said "oh it would have been like that when you viewed it." She didn't seem bothered at all that I wasn't happy with it.

I'm really disappointed and feel it's been a complete waste of £25.

deanos

Ive heard very bad reports about these guys, my friends wife bought a mounted picture and it was something like £800 !

remembered_nights

We used a local photographer for our family pic - I think we paid £80 in total for 5 prints and about an hours posing. Best of all, he put the pictures on his laptop, handed us the laptop and said 'have a look, delete any you don't like and choose the ones you do' - and left us to it.

deanos

Best deal we had was from Olan Mills who have now gone bust, 30"x15" Wood Framed Montage, 3 10"x8" Prints and Photo-Shoot copyright free CD of the shoot for £135

trumpton

To anyone thinking of spending £300 on a photo session, I would say get yourself a digital SLR instead. They take fantastic pictures, and can be set so that even a novice can take a good pic. They take far, far better photos than compact digital cameras - there is no comparison in image quality.

You will get 100's of pics on a cheap SD card - there are bound to be a few decent ones. The images are yours to keep, enlarge, copy free for relatives, etc. Best of all, casual photos taken on holiday or in the back garden are so much nicer than posed studio portraits.

Lifeisbutadream

deanos wrote: »

Ive heard very bad reports about these guys, my friends wife bought a mounted picture and it was something like £800 !

What bad reports have you heard?

Becles

trumpton wrote: »

To anyone thinking of spending £300 on a photo session, I would say get yourself a digital SLR instead. They take fantastic pictures, and can be set so that even a novice can take a good pic. They take far, far better photos than compact digital cameras - there is no comparison in image quality.

Husband did buy one of those a couple of months ago (after the Venture shoot).

My daughters favourite dress is bright pink, and she has blonde hair and very blue eyes. My husband has captured some gorgeous pics of her with his new camera.

We noticed in the Venture photograph that the colours are not as good as the SLR camera we have. My daughters dress looks very drab instead of vibrant pink, her hair looks like bottle blonde and her eyes look lilac

deanos

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

What bad reports have you heard?

Very hard sell and very expensive

Lifeisbutadream

deanos wrote: »

Very hard sell and very expensive

Very expensive is not really a 'bad report' - as they are quite open about the prices.

We recently bought some and were not gievn a hard sell - we just bought what we wanted.

deanos

They are not open with the prices until after the shoot, read the other post on here about them

Lifeisbutadream

deanos wrote: »

They are not open with the prices until after the shoot, read the other post on here about them

I must have had a different experience then.

They made it quite clear what I would get for my £95 voucher and they certainly didnt make me buy something I didnt want to.