I recently had my sons photos done by Memory Gate Photography and thoroughly recommend them.

It was a deal through savvymummy.com (they've advertised on here, its groupon for sw london mums) and its was £37.50 for the shoot plus 2 photos, 1 8x10 and the other A4 and a DVD slideshow to show family members, the idea being they then buy the ones they like which is fair enough.

Two photographers came to the house with all the kit, they were professional and lovely and prints were delivered by hand a week later. Brilliant.

I am getting them back to do his photos at 3 and 6 months and the shoot is free you just pay for the photos from £20 each, canvases etc obviously more but they do have to make some money! Great service and photos.

If you really think you can fend off their really hard sell at the end of it like I did then go for it - like I said the actual shoot was okay.
But its afterwards that's annoying. Just enjoy the shoot and don't fall for the sell, stick to your guns demand the one photo free your entitled to - get it scanned and enlarged somewhere else.
If you see a pose you like, then go to another decent photographer afterwards who will do it for a tenth of the price. Please, please don't go and fall for their rubbish and spend thousands - you can get it all done much cheaper elsewhere.
Personally I think Trading Standards should invesigate them. Their hard sell tactics and efforts to get people to sign up to credit agreement is quite bad I think.

Only go if you have the strength to resist the hard sell. They will work very hard to get you to buy something (I liken them to the double-glazing/bathroom/bed salesmen who come to your home and won't leave til you sign on the dotted line). Stay firm, and just take the one photo you've got included.
Personally, I think the likes of Venture are scandalous, and verging on the immoral. A friend of mine had a session with her husband and little boy. Yes, they got some good photos, if you like that sort of thing, but they were suckered into paying thousands for something they could have got from a local photographer for much less.

Hi all


I am due to go and have a photoshoot there this week, do you recomend I don't go? I am pregnant, wanted nice pics but can't be bothered to be pushed to buy something expensive, as you all have mentioned their prices are crazy. They have been quite pushy already trying to book a session, I got the voucher for 25 pounds which includes free framed photo and hour shoot and got it as present so not sure what to do.

I went to somewhere similar with my sister. I stuck to my guns and took the freebie photo only. Despite me suggesting they send the print to my sisters address along with the prints she had purchased so that I could save on P&P, they said they couldn't do that and I'd have to pay nearly £10 in P&P. They were obviously desperate to get some kind of money out of me because low and behold several weeks later my print turned up in the package they sent to my sister

PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT FALL FOR VENTURE' TACTICS. We won a voucher in a raffle, the photo shoot was ok - my husband is a photographer so I know what should be going on.
It was the hard sale afterwards that shocked me, there were phone calls beforehand asking if i wanted to take out a credit agreement (a warning that the price was going to be huge!!)
The show of photos was all 'oh doesn't she look sweet' trying to get my daughter to ask me for photos etc. The prices are absolutely ridiculous - I know from my husband what a 10 by 8 costs and what other prints can be obtained for a mere few pounds, not the huge huge amounts they charge.
The whole thing reminded me of the hard sell tactics of timeshare sharks.
I stuck to my guns and got the free 10 by 8 I was entitled to, treated like sht afterwards. They couldnt wait to get me out the door, and tried to make me feel guilty that i wasnt buying the 'wonderful photos' of my daughter.
The special 'factory' frame was a crap black one that broke.
I am a reporter and I did a report on what happened to me to warn others.
My only 'revenge' was that i got the 10 by 8 out of the frame, had it scanned by Happy Snaps in Southside,,,then had four prints made and a poster sized photo of her pic which I got framed --all for less than 150!!!
Please don't fall for their hard sale, go to a professional photographer who will not try to talk you into handing over huge sums of money.
You can also get all the special effects that Venture do on photos done on your own prints at Happy Snaps.

As a studio owner I can't believe how Venture get away with the prices they charge!

My studio is huge and has a big white cove just like Venture (actually mine is bigger!) and we specialise in the same sort of family shots with everyone running around being themselves.

My basic family package consists of:
A two hour session in the studio
1 x 10"x8" framed print
10 x 10"x8" unframed prints
11 x hi res images on CD (print them wherever you like)

So your choice of 11 different images.
And the price?

£99

Shame my studio is up north!!
http://www.loudandflashy.com

Just to say that I have managed to get everything sorted with Venture. Even though it took several phone calls and a lot of complaining from me, eventually they gave in and I got what I wanted (=paid for). I would not use them again but, to be fair, they did take some beautiful photos and sorted out my complaint in a satisfactory manner.

me too - please don't give them any business!

I AGREE

VENTURE IS A TOTAL RIP OFF

Hi everyone

I offer a 3 hour photo shoot that includes a disc of high res images for you choose from and print yourself, for £150 . I'm happy to answer any questions with no obligation to book.

Feel free to browse my website http://www.jillmclean.co.uk

You can email me directly at jill@jillmclean.co.uk or call 07988745413.

Very nice photos Starfish!

Yes, you still have to go back for a viewing - inspirational music and wine included...

I too would have liked to keep the NVN competition photo. I asked Venture but apparently that photo was not available...

Starfish your little girl is very cute

I love some of those photos love the poster type multiphoto ones too

there are a couple of long running threads on other mum focussed websites about venture, recently I 'won' a voucher for a photoshoot and 6x4 photo
my husband was keen until I told him some of the tales and the costs involved
then he agreed that in fact they should be paying me for the 4 hours of our time it would take to travel and go back again to see the shots (do they still make you al return for the show complete with inspirational music?)

one explanation as to why it may take so long to send the prints is that I have been told they touch up quite a bit just a thought


as a complete aside however I was disappointed that we didn't get to keep the photo from the face of NVN competition
worth thinking about had it been good might have won them a few more customers

My husband's neice runs Bubbaloo photography with her husband and though this is going to sound totally biased, I think they're pretty great. Best of all they are really good value for money. They're based in Manchester but come down to London every couple of months or so and do shoots either on location (they photographed our DD on Wimbledon Common last summer and it was gorgeous - shots 16 & 28 on their gallery) or at your home using amazing backdrops, floorings and props (if needed) to create amazing pics. Gary and Mimi have a two year old boy and Mimi is from a family of seven so they're great with children. Mimi is also a trained stylist so is great at adding little touches to the set-ups. Their session fee is just £50 after which you can buy shots individually (prices are clearly listed on their website) or they have packages from £200-£450 including the session fee. Here's their website if anyone's interested:

http://bubbaloophotography.com
http://bubbaloophotography.com/gallery
http://bubbaloophotography.com/prices