urgent venture portaits

[edgarcat]

Message withdrawn

hi
we have, very good
www.thisisventure.co.uk (sorry can't do links)

We had a free session with Venture last week (also included a free framed picture worth £75) - they seem to be promoting this at the moment.

However, much as I would love to have seen the results, we cancelled the 'viewing' session as we decided the cost of the framed photos was eye-wateringly expensive ie. a framed 8x10 mounted photo was £295. So we also lost out on the freebie, but we decided there was no point going to view something we might have loved, when we just couldn't justify the expenditure. Perhaps this price is normal for framed photos, but I've not had experience of any other company/photographer.

We had some done - they very carefully don't talk money until you've gone back to have your (admittedly gorgeous - but that's probably down to the subject matter) pictures projected onto the wall and you're arguing whether to get that extra couple for dps/dpils. When you pick your jaw up off the floor, you realise you need to pop to the building society to remortgage to be able to afford this. Seriously, they are expensive, as they don't sell you just the picture, you have to buy their framing service too. A photographer friend couldn't believe how much we spent (she did agree that the pics are very good though)and suggested that there are many cheaper options out there. That said they look good (if a little like the cover of Hello/OK) and the photographer was excellent at putting our 7-month old dd at ease, leading to lovely shots of her. One last gripe was, despite all the digital technology they used, they didn't bother touching up our slightly-less-than-Hollywood-white teeth!

Good to know that the photographer was good with your dd, BitBBH. Our photographer was not particularly sympathetic to the needs of our 18 mo ds ie. taking a ball off him that he was playing happily with and refusing to give it back despite our requests, because 'we've got enough shots with it'. Result: tears. Personally I couldn't have cared how many shots had a ball in it, as long as he was happy and relaxed. The blurb does say its 'your' session and to think about what you want etc., but ours was entirely photographer-led, and we were never asked our opinion. Maybe it's because it was a free sessions, but I felt a bit like I was on a conveyer-belt. Agree that the end results are great though - a friend had some done and they were fabulous - can't have been much change out of a grand though.....

We were very impressed with the photographs we had from Venturer - but they are VERY expensive, our photographer was excellent too - it was just before DS was due to have major corrective surgery on his skull and he got some fabulous poses. I've never been keen on 'formal' pictures before but we were very pleased with these - especially when they got the bill wrong, I pointed it out to them three times but they said it was correct !!!

HZL there wasn't

Message withdrawn

Message withdrawn

I am gobsmacked at the cost of these studio portraits. If you're going to spend nigh on £1000 why not have a painted or drawn portrait instead? I appreciate that wouldn't work for big family groupings though.
I've just started painting portraits so I'm interested in how much people will spend on capturing their little darlings.
Do people prefer photos to paintings? If so, why?
Has anyone ever commissioned a portrait and been pleased or disappointed?

Message withdrawn

Edgarcat, you could pay nearly a thousand quid for one picture - the most expensive was about £850. I went to the studio in Fareham. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't crap, I'm just not sure the bloke had that much experience of small toddlers (and it was 9am on a Sunday, so he may have been suffering from the night before).

Message withdrawn

we had ours taken in Stockport studio, yes fairly expensive but very different and not like traditional posed photos.

The smallest size you can get is 7x5 - think these start at around £250 each, all framed and mounted, and they do look great. I've chucked the price list I'm afraid. If there are a few of you paying, then it would help spread the cost, so may not work out too expensive. The reason we didn't go for the viewing session though was we were afraid of the 'hard sell' - isn't your child worth x amount etc., although I don't know if it's like this.

Message withdrawn

At our studio they started from £75 and went up to about £750

Message withdrawn

Well there was a huge range of different options print size, formats and frames. for e.g. the most expensive one was 9, 7x5 prints (in a grid) in one frame. but cheapest was a 'standard' 7x5.

Depends on the size of photo and frame. ie nine small pictures in a massive frame was the most expensive.

Message withdrawn

Personally have'nt had any done, as dh would never agree to the cost, but a good friend had a session just prior to Christmas. Lovely prints, which like others have said, caught the essence of the moment. Her gripe tho', was that she couldn't just buy the print - had to buy the frames too, which she could have got a lot cheaper elsewhere. Not sure if this is the same everywhere.
Now, if there is a fellow mumsnetter who is a good photographer/artist, now is your chance! I'm sure many of us could keep you in business!

bettys you have a good point there about the painting. I would love to have a painting of family. I will contact local art college 2moro and ask for details.

Leese -I've seen bettys' work and can recommend her highly (after taking a very reasonable 20% of course)

I do know people who know people who've heard of people who have scanned their pictures (copyright schmoppyright) so they could share them with family without having to sell body parts to finance it. With a high-res flatbed scanner with removeable lid it's allegedly not that difficult to do even with the pic still in the frame. Then you can stick them in your frames of choice. But you do have to buy them first, of course.

A friend of a friend had some done and they look great but they were very expensive. I just don't feel I can justify spending that much on a photograph. We had a freebie done at our local Debenham's store. The freebie was 12 x 10 (great size) and the resulting picture was fantastic - but probably pure luck!