Venture Photography - to buy voucher or not??

AlwaysWorking

I'm making a Christmas hamper for my mum and filling it with things like new pjs, expensive bath products, chocolates, a chick flick etc. She has always wanted a professional photograph of the 'children' (we're lates 20s/early 30s now!) and I've seen a Venture voucher advertised. The person says they got it when they bought their car and it is worth £215. It enititles you to a black framed 10 x 8 inch photo. My mum would really love a photo...but is this worth purchasing (£20). I know we'll get the hard sell, but my mum is very capable of saying no and we'll go with her to help choose the photo.

Many thanks for reading!

Bloomin_Freezing2

Are they still going? I know of some which closed down.

Although a few years ago we had a family shoot, got a free voucher from a stand in a supermarket. Anyway, we had it done, all good fun, and ended up spending more than we intended. Lovely pics to treasure though.

You will find that these days it's the 'norm' to have professional photos done with all white/colour backgrounds so look around for offers.

In answer to your question though, (finally) yes a 10x8 photo is worth twenty pounds in my eyes.

sooz

Can you ask a local photographer to do a shoot for your instead?

I've done venture before, but always ended up buying atleast one more than the free picture. As they are nice. And you can't get a cd, or copies, everything has to be framed by them. So you end up getting the cheapest frame in a colour you like, as the cost of a bigger frame or mount is extortionate. And you can't reframe it easily, as their sizings are odd, I've never found an off the shelf frame to fit.

If you found a local photographer, they will almost certainly sell you the full cd. Then you can have as many copies as your want, & frame the ones you want, how you want.

snugglepet20

Hmmm I would go somewhere else, i.e a local photographer with reasonable rates. They are prohibitively expensive (thousands of pounds) and why waste time having photos taken you cannot afford, especially if you really like them?

Becles

I bought a voucher from a stand that promised an hour with the photographer then a free 10x8 photo.

We arrived in good time for our appointment with the photographer, but were told the previous people had arrived extremely late for their appointment so there would be a wait. After 40 minutes, then next people turned up and were told they would have to wait. They were not very happy about this.

We finally got into the studio about 50 mins after our appointment time. The whole thing was incredibly rushed and we only got 20 minutes with the photographer, and no photographs with props, thowing children in the air and that kind of thing as the man at the shopping centre stand had explained.

After we left the studio, another man said they'd cut our time short as the next people were making a huge fuss and getting angry. Maybe I should have got angry then!

We were given a price list and my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the prices. There was no way we could afford to pay for any of the pictures.

Went back for the viewing and we were taking into a small room with a man. We'd already said we were just looking for the free print, so the whole thing was rushed again. He flicked through the pics on a screen adding a "humerous" commentary, so me and my husband couldn't speak to each other and he was so irritating. We only saw each pic for a few seconds. It takes me a good few minutes to decide if I like a picture or not as I need to study everyone's faces in it and look at the composition.

Ended up picking a picture but still wasn't sure about it as we hadn't had long enough to look at it.

When it came back, it's not a very nice picture. The top of my husbands head is chopped off, and one of my sons isn't smiling. We all had bright coloured clothes on, but the picture is over exposed and our clothing looks washed out.

Overall I was bitterly disappointed with it and wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

raq

Becles wrote: »

I bought a voucher from a stand that promised an hour with the photographer then a free 10x8 photo.

We arrived in good time for our appointment with the photographer, but were told the previous people had arrived extremely late for their appointment so there would be a wait. After 40 minutes, then next people turned up and were told they would have to wait. They were not very happy about this.

We finally got into the studio about 50 mins after our appointment time. The whole thing was incredibly rushed and we only got 20 minutes with the photographer, and no photographs with props, thowing children in the air and that kind of thing as the man at the shopping centre stand had explained.

After we left the studio, another man said they'd cut our time short as the next people were making a huge fuss and getting angry. Maybe I should have got angry then!

We were given a price list and my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the prices. There was no way we could afford to pay for any of the pictures.

Went back for the viewing and we were taking into a small room with a man. We'd already said we were just looking for the free print, so the whole thing was rushed again. He flicked through the pics on a screen adding a "humerous" commentary, so me and my husband couldn't speak to each other and he was so irritating. We only saw each pic for a few seconds. It takes me a good few minutes to decide if I like a picture or not as I need to study everyone's faces in it and look at the composition.

Ended up picking a picture but still wasn't sure about it as we hadn't had long enough to look at it.

When it came back, it's not a very nice picture. The top of my husbands head is chopped off, and one of my sons isn't smiling. We all had bright coloured clothes on, but the picture is over exposed and our clothing looks washed out.

Overall I was bitterly disappointed with it and wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

Don't get me wrong they are stunning. My sister in law just had one of her, my brother and the baby and it was £750.00 for 3. No chance I thought. My hair dresser who also purchased 6 last year , totalling to £1,200.00 ( they offered her a loan to pay for them ) , great photos, but saddely the marriage has broken down and are in the middle of a divorce.

We had one done of the kids 2 1/2 years ago from mothercare and to be honest it is stunning. No kids in the air and messing with toys just a good old kids photo. Also I told them I only wanted one photo when I was there and not to bother trying to sell the rest to me. Well happy with the outcome.

purplepardalis

One of my colleagues came back from a visit to Venture photography £1500 lighter! He had photos of his dog taken believe or not....

City_Girl_2

We had a Venture picture done 4 years ago as my parents wanted a "family" picture. It was great fun and a lovely picture, although VERY expensive...... there does seem to be a lot of white backdrop alternative around at the moment.

CITY

LauraN_3

My experience with venture has been fantastic, we had ours done in Edinburgh and the photographer was great, the consultant was great and the end result was beautiful. Don't get me wrong the prices aren't great, really really expensive but I like what you get at the end. It would be nicer if they were cheaper though.

It is a good deal though if you pay the £20-£35 for the photo shoot and 10"x8" free photo. I would definately take up that offer if you can get it

Souk08

We had a Venture pic done for Mum and Dad last year and it was lovely. Great experience...but my Mum told me she would take the price to her grave!

annajo

Just a thought, have you tried ringing round a few colleges to see if they have any students that are doing photography courses?