Venture Photography - Daylight Robbery

SexyBetty · 13 May 2006 at 21:01

And mods, I feel this is better in GD, I want to make more people aware

As some of you know, me and Mr Betty recently did the "Venture Experience" for a valentines present, yes that was a while ago, and thats just one of our gripes... for those of you that dont know what I am talking about...

Venture

All I am really trying to say to anyone thinking about doing this, well dont. Just dont. The prices they charge are absolutly astronomical (nearly £900 for a 15 shot album) We managed to escape reasonably unscathed, altogether we spent about £150, and came away with two nice shots, although it still wasn’t exactly what we had asked for.

I had a gorge turquoise necklace on that I wanted them to capture the colour of, and to my dismay, it wasn’t done. It seems they were more interested in getting their hands on our cash, rather than listening to what we really wanted.

They said it would take 5 weeks for our portraits, it ended up taking over 8, with no telephone calls or letters to keep us informed.

I want to post one of the pics, but I darent for fear of the Copyright Monster

Bottom line is, we found out the hard way that Venture are total rip off merchants, dont anyone else fall for their charms

Malt_Vinegar · 13 May 2006 at 21:12

Why not just join an online model site and post you want pics to start a portfolio.

Voilia - Free pro images...

Thats how i started my modelling profile.

Not all the photographers are pro's but you will get great images and most will be willing to do a whole day doing what you want to do.

SexyBetty · 13 May 2006 at 21:14

Malt_Vinegar said:
Why not just join a net model site and post you want pics to start a portfolio...

Tbh, I had wanted to look into that, but had no idea where to start, some links would be great, email in trust, if thats ok of course

zain · 13 May 2006 at 21:14

This the company that harasses you in town? Some old woman with plenty of makeup n tight clothes

S to look at) advertising something for £25 and behind her are these huuuuuge pictures and its obvious its not them and when asked she said theyre around 1200 I think, lol. The £25 was for some crappy small pics, her key advertising was "it takes 1200 shots" or something.

SexyBetty · 13 May 2006 at 21:16

zain said:
...advertising something for £25 and behind her are these huuuuuge pictures...

Thats the one, I bought a £25 voucher worth £125, (£50 for the shoot, then £75 for a 7x5 shot) Seems like a bargain

SCM · 13 May 2006 at 21:34

Other option is to speak nicely to the photography section for people who have taken portrait shots etc before and see what they can do. As at least you know they will listen to you and do the best for you.

SCM

Snash · 13 May 2006 at 23:31

The whole Venture thing is a con. Mrs Snash got approached in a shopping centre one day asked for £20 for free studio shoot and one free photo. We turned up with the kids and got a spotty lass who used a digital camera 1000 times. We went back for the viewing with all the fancy music and one photo was decent the rest were carp and in line with the inexperience of the lass taking the photos. We bought one print at £40 and had a hard time demanding that all the remained were destroyed. Total con. Carp photographers.

Feek · 13 May 2006 at 23:33

Olan Mills are a lot better - Mrs. Feek had hers done there and I think that's where Piggy had a set done as well.

Not especially cheap, but they were good.

K.

punky_munky · 13 May 2006 at 23:40

My girlfriend went with her family and she got me a picture for as birthday present. I can't believe it cost £75 for one normal sized photograph. It's an OK picture but if I spent a whole day taking that many picture I think I'd come up with one through luck. I told her I thought it was a rip-off but appreciated it nonetheless...

So anyway, her and her sister get a voucher for some other thing which is the same and end up spending £300 on 12 near identical photos :rolleyes:

fools

SexyBetty · 13 May 2006 at 23:46

Dont get me wrong, we are happy(ish) with the photos, but I want to make people more aware of how expensive their photos are, I dont want anyone to fork out their hard earned dollar on something you can get for a fraction of the price

Bes · 14 May 2006 at 00:02

SexyBetty said:
And mods, I feel this is better in GD, I want to make more people aware

As some of you know, me and Mr Betty recently did the "Venture Experience" for a valentines present, yes that was a while ago, and thats just one of our gripes... for those of you that dont know what I am talking about...

Venture

All I am really trying to say to anyone thinking about doing this, well dont. Just dont. The prices they charge are absolutly astronomical (nearly £900 for a 15 shot album) We managed to escape reasonably unscathed, altogether we spent about £150, and came away with two nice shots, although it still wasn’t exactly what we had asked for.

I had a gorge turquoise necklace on that I wanted them to capture the colour of, and to my dismay, it wasn’t done. It seems they were more interested in getting their hands on our cash, rather than listening to what we really wanted.

They said it would take 5 weeks for our portraits, it ended up taking over 8, with no telephone calls or letters to keep us informed.

I want to post one of the pics, but I darent for fear of the Copyright Monster Bottom line is, we found out the hard way that Venture are total rip off merchants, dont anyone else fall for their charms

TTUIWP.... Sorry someone had to say it

Beansprout · 14 May 2006 at 00:04

Independent local photographers are always the best...we have one down the road and he's great

SexyBetty · 14 May 2006 at 00:07

Bes said:
TTUIWP.... Sorry someone had to say it

Which is why I said...

SexyBetty said:
I want to post one of the pics, but I darent for fear of the Copyright Monster

punky_munky · 14 May 2006 at 00:09

Oh yeah, I forgot about that part. You pay all that money for the picture and you're not even allowed the copyright. I asked if I could make copies or use it for her portfolio and they said no.

Energize · 14 May 2006 at 00:19

Just buy a camera :confused:

Bes · 14 May 2006 at 00:29

SexyBetty said:
Which is why I said...

That sucks! They retain copyright on the pics?

Sputnik II · 14 May 2006 at 00:39

Tbh, you should have just looked up the local amateur camera club. Some of them guys are really good at what they do because they're just interested in good photo's and not in how quickly they can get your cash.

clv101 · 14 May 2006 at 00:46

Snash said:
Mrs Snash got approached in a shopping centre one day asked for £20 for free studio shoot and one free photo.

Free? Sounds more like £20 to me.

cyKey · 14 May 2006 at 01:20

Bes said:
That sucks! They retain copyright on the pics?

They are their pictures though. It would take a fair bit of money for me to sell the copyright on any of mine. That aside they are over charging for their prints. As bad as they are they do make me feel comfortable with my prices. I charge £60 for a shoot and like £5 for an A4 print. There are times when I think people will think its too much and yet there's Venture charging like 100x the price and people pay.

beh · 14 May 2006 at 01:26

Wasn't a company like this on watchdog quite a while ago? Seemingly cheap gift voucher but only for a very limited product. Then high pressure sales tactics to get you to buy the other stuff at silly high prices.