An adventure with venture into expensive photography (Venture)

Member Name: bucksfizz66

Product:	Venture
Date:	17/08/09 (465 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great experience without doubt

Disadvantages: Expense and cost and its all hidden

Six years ago when my daughter was Christened, her Godparents gave a gift of a Venture Portraits gift voucher. The voucher itself cost £25, and I think this is still the retail price in 2009.

The voucher entitles you to a one hour photo session at your local venture studio, for me this was Hanley about 20 miles away. There is a validity on the voucher so you only get about 2 months to arrange a session before the voucher expires. I had no idea what to expect at the photo session, but about half of the room is painted white - floors, walls and ceilings. As my daughter was about 9 months old we were given coloured balls and balloons to perform with whilst various shots were taken. You can apparentely take your own stuff too, favourite ted etc. I have to say at this point I was very glad my girl could at least crawl as the floor as well as being white was cold and very hard, so if your child is still very much a babe in arms and struggles to lift their head I would ward off this type of session. Once they are moving I believe its makes for a more benefical session.

Once our session was complete, a date was arranged for us to come back and review the photos. This was an amazing experience, you sit in a little private cinema with drinks and nibbles, then the slide show of photos begins whilst surround sound music pulsates around you. Very des res.

Now as part of the voucher you are entitled to one free photo which is framed, and I have this still in my lounge - without doubt it is a great picture (slightly biased). Picking this was easy and up until this point no shocks were involved in the process.

Next you get to choose if you want any more pictures and get to configure if you want them in standalone frames, or 4 pictures in a single frame. The projectionist will then work with you to configure the pictures of your choosing on the screen until you have a result you are pleased with, then you progress onto selecting frames for the pictures.

I have to say we only bought one picture frame with 3 photos in it - why? Well this cost £520 and to be honest it was more than I felt comfortable paying . The photos whilst contemporary and stunning are jaw-droppingly expensive, un-necessarily so I feel. If these pictures were more reasonable priced then people would feel inclined to buy more not only for themselves but also for their extended family.

And it is right here that I struggle to remedy in my mind what market segments Venture is trying to pitch too, with vouchers at £25 for a photo session and pictures extending into the £1000s - the two concepts just do not marry up. It used to be that you could buy a CD with the pics on - but this gone when I went six years ago, this is now replaced by an album or a venture USB with 10 to 15 pics on - I can only imagine how much this might cost. Nothing on their website alludes to their pricing - very clever.

So next time you're in the shopping centre and the Venture sales team stop you - think about this review - and if you're buying it for yourself - then buy with your eyes open. If you're buying this as a gift experience really think about your recipient and don't put them in an awkward situation with this gift.

Summary: Expensive - buy this gift responsibly