Venture Photography - to buy voucher or not??

Doozergirl

izzybusy23 wrote: »

Oh and PS; 3 people liked my other post, so its not only me who thinks this!

You too are particularly proud to be part of something then; it's not right to generalise and pigeon hole people as being part of a herd, and then point out how a group of others agree with you. It's hypocrisy

There are 60 million of us and only a small number of furniture shops!

littlerat

Try a local photographer instead - one whose work you like. It'll probably be cheaper, you should be able to find a more personal one, and you'll also be supporting someone small instead of a big business.

That said, to a point you will get what you pay for - if someone offers an hour and 10 prints for £10, they're probably not going to do such a good job! I'd say around £30-£50 sitting fee is about right for most pros.

Frosti

I'd never heard of this company, so had a look at their website. Hmm, they use a white background and over-expose. Sorry but I'm not impressed. I'd support a local independent photographer instead, just tell them what you want.

izzybusy23

Doozergirl wrote: »

There are 60 million of us and only a small number of furniture shops!

That may be so.. but it doesn't mean everyone has to have identical houses and Venture photographs! Individuality has been lost in today's society because not following the herd is seen as 'not normal' and the fear of being sneered at. Friends of mine who post pics on facebook all have one wall wallpapered as per trend, brown sofa's, oak furniture and if not venture photographs then good lookalikes.

Sorry, it is herd mentality and snobbery at its worst!

Doozergirl

izzybusy23 wrote: »

That may be so.. but it doesn't mean everyone has to have identical houses and Venture photographs! Individuality has been lost in today's society because not following the herd is seen as 'not normal' and the fear of being sneered at. Friends of mine who post pics on facebook all have one wall wallpapered as per trend, brown sofa's, oak furniture and if not venture photographs then good lookalikes.

Sorry, it is herd mentality and snobbery at its worst!

I don't mean to be rude, but I am genuinely interested because you feel so strongly about it. Don't you think you sound snobby by talking about your 'friends' and how their houses all look the same?

I know what brand of 'normal' you speak about but I don't see how people trying to fit in with each other qualifies as snobbery at it's worst?

I would genuinely like to know what your lounge looks like because I'm interested in design; I'd like to think that I can can express my personality but I won't pretend that I'm special or that I can produce something entirely unique. Even people who profess not to conform, do conform to something - just not what it is that they think they should conform to.

Genuine questions, no rudeness intended - does your lounge genuinely look like no-one elses? What do you have that makes you different?

clairehi

If you will be happy with just the one 10 x 8 photo and are prepared to withstand the hard sell then go for it.

if on the other hand you are prepared to spend a bit more and want more pix then I would find a local photographer as this will be better value overall. they have all cottoned onto the "Venture style" and its not hard to reproduce.

we had some pix done at Venture years ago, they are good ... but if you want anything over and above the special offer, then they will absolutely scalp you.

longhotbath

We have used venture 3 times - the first time was 9 years ago and amazing - great time and great photos.It was a small studio that had just gone into the franchise, and had the original photographers, and their professionalism was great.

second time - great photos, but the framed photos had problems with dust trapped behind the glass. The first time they showed our photos to us - we had a very large triple done, there was someone elses dog in the middle photo, with my children in the other two spaces !!!!
We had a £1000 given to use on another shoot as it took them 9 months to get dustfree framed photos.

The last ones were shot 'artfully' - tops of heads chopped off! we were very limited as to which shot would fit each frame as a result of bits of subject missing. We went over the £1000 limit, and paid extra for 4 photos. After 10 months of wrong frames, dust again and again beneath the glass, and touching up not being done when identified on proofs, and being paid for, we tried to pull out of the last one. They wouldnt let us. We gave them a time limit to get it right, which they didnt, and we started legal prceedings as we hadnt got the goods that we had paid for in full.
They then refunded us for the last photo, and we use the money on a camera. We were criticised for not going for the high tec frameless perspex mounts - we wanted them to coordinate with our previous ones !

They are a franchise. They dont do their own framing, and it shows. There was no interest in our photos being perfect - which at £600 pre large photo, they should be - once we had paid the money, after a pressured hard sell, with alcohol.

Please go to a local studio, or college. My daughters ballet class has photos taken every year, and they are beautiful, and she does family portrait work too. You book an hour, get a 10x8 and a cd in the booking cost.

Venure is like going to selfidges for a banana - are they really any better than the ones at your local market/supermarket??

mrbrightside842

I've been to venture twice. The first time was a photo with my brother when we were teenagers, as a Xmas gift for our parents. I found it a little awkward, the photographer either wanted us to fight and play as if we were 5, or make us look like a couple :eek:! But most of the photos came out lovely and we chose 2 in the end. They cost around £700 for the two, but one is relatively small.

After having lovely photos, I went back again with my children. The experience was pretty poor and they didn't enjoy it, but I was still looking forward to seeing the photos. I was really disappointed with the photo's we were shown. The man was really rude to us, and was trying to get us to spend over £1000 on these acrylic blocks. Together, as an arty piece, they did look lovely. But looking at the individual photos, they were crap. I wanted a photo of the two of them together, which they only managed to get one of, and one of my daughters looked mardy on it. When I pointed out that's why I didn't like it, he told me 'yeah but that's her personality isn't it, she's the grumpy one and this shows her true personality.' I could have lamped him. In the end I picked one and said I just wanted the free one, as they weren't worth spending the extra. He told me that he wouldn't be able to sell me that one on it's own, as it was made to go with the 3 acrylic blocks, and on it's own it looked crap. He also said that 'quality control' would flag it up because it was so crap on it's own. I kept repeating that I wanted that one, on it's own, but he kept saying it wouldn't look right in my bedroom, it wouldn't suit my colours (!) etc. In the end I got it, but felt really peed off about the whole situation. A couple of weeks later my friend went and they messed her around a lot and ended up losing her photos, before they finally closed down.

There are a few people local to us now, who do similar photos. Their photos look lovely, and they're a fraction of the price. Plus, whilst £20 is good for a 10x8 photo, no one really wants a small photo, they all envisage a lovely big picture and venture like to show you how it will look huge, and then when they show you how big your 10x8 looks in comparison, it looks measly. So chances are you'll upgrade to a bigger photo, and that's when they sting you with the price!