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Portrait Photographer Recomendations?


KittyCat

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You can recreate the Venture experience in your own living room. Just get your family to take off their shoes, turn up all the lights to stun and run at the camera. Job done.

I hate those photos. Every middle class family seems to have them stuck above their stupid fake fireplaces.

Give me one of these badboys anyday!...

Family%20Portrait%20c.1982.jpg

(this post may belong in the pet hate thread)

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This is true. More fool them I guess.

not at all, more fool people who sneer at those who want to part freely with their money for a product they value and will gain enjoyment from. just because you don't see the value in it doesn't mean others have the same view. the frames are good quality and the pictures often capture a family at their best, having a good time and with good natural smiles. it's a style that's been widely copied by the majority of commercial portrait photographers because it's successful and people will pay for it.

i used to take photos for venture, most fun job i've ever had and i still hear from customers i photographed who absolutely love their pictures and the frames.

anyhoo, glad you've found a photographer. adam's a great photographer and shall do more than a good job for you.

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not at all, more fool people who sneer at those who want to part freely with their money for a product they value and will gain enjoyment from. just because you don't see the value in it doesn't mean others have the same view. the frames are good quality and the pictures often capture a family at their best, having a good time and with good natural smiles. it's a style that's been widely copied by the majority of commercial portrait photographers because it's successful and people will pay for it.

i used to take photos for venture, most fun job i've ever had and i still hear from customers i photographed who absolutely love their pictures and the frames.

anyhoo, glad you've found a photographer. adam's a great photographer and shall do more than a good job for you.

I didn't mean to cause any offence if I have done so. In my opinion, Im not very keen on the photos taken by Venture and I think they are a bit too expensive. However, Im sure there's plenty of people who love the pictures they've had done there. Each to their own.

I'd rather support a local photographer. Thanks, I'm sure he'll do a great job. Just hope the parentals like the idea!

Keep the suggestions coming folks. I'm hoping to have a few options. Cheers!

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I didn't mean to cause any offence if I have done so. In my opinion, Im not very keen on the photos taken by Venture and I think they are a bit too expensive. However, Im sure there's plenty of people who love the pictures they've had done there. Each to their own.

I'd rather support a local photographer. Thanks, I'm sure he'll do a great job. Just hope the parentals like the idea!

Keep the suggestions coming folks. I'm hoping to have a few options. Cheers!

oh don't worry, no offence taken. just sticking up for them a bit as they always seem to get a slagging just because they're at the pricier end of the portrait spectrum. i left venture for a variety of reasons but i still think the company itself have a good concept and do genuinely want to tell customers stories in a unique way.

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part freely with their money for a product they value and will gain enjoyment from

I've heard numerous reports of a hard sell with Venture so I don't agree.

the frames are good quality

What's the frame got to do with it apart from the fact you can't buy the picture without it? Rip off.

i still hear from customers i photographed who absolutely love their pictures and the frames

The frames are irrelevant. I could go to a framing shop, see a larger selection of frames and not pay as much for them IF that's what I wanted.

It's total nonsense. Venture are a bunch of charlatans. I'm glad they've closed, although I am sorry if that's impacted you badly in any way but that's just the way I feel about it.

Also, I hear that their photographers have to attend some sort of course at their own expense and be constantly reviewed and if they are not up to scratch attend the course again at their own expense... taking the piss.

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I've heard numerous reports of a hard sell with Venture so I don't agree.

What's the frame got to do with it apart from the fact you can't buy the picture without it? Rip off.

The frames are irrelevant. I could go to a framing shop, see a larger selection of frames and not pay as much for them IF that's what I wanted.

It's total nonsense. Venture are a bunch of charlatans. I'm glad they've closed, although I am sorry if that's impacted you badly in any way but that's just the way I feel about it.

Also, I hear that their photographers have to attend some sort of course at their own expense and be constantly reviewed and if they are not up to scratch attend the course again at their own expense... taking the piss.

that's a load of tosh. particularly the bit about attending a course at your own expense, that's a lie. although photographers are assessed continuously, same as in any job, if they're not up to standard then of course they may go through extra training. i don't understand why training staff is a bad thing.

the frames are not irrelevant, you go to venture to buy the whole product. that's their thing, if a customer doesn't want a venture frame they don't go to venture. that's the direct reason why venture costs so much.

as for the hard sell thing, no one forces anyone to buy anything. certainly the aberdeen studio didn't do hard sells when i worked there, instead focusing on wowing the customer with a high level of service. customers came in to view their photos and were offered various options for them, if they weren't interested in any of the pictures or framing options they got their freebie and off they went. most of the critiscm of venture comes from customers who didn't realise they had to buy venture frames or weren't aware of ventures price point and became frustrated that they couldn't buy the pictures they wanted.

anyhoo, venture closing didn't impact me in any way as i'd already left though some of my friends lost jobs. this was entirely down to the franchise owners rather than venture.

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Have to recommend Scott Hogg, he did some portrait work for me recently, including this award winning photo of my niece. :):up:

site.jpg

Also, on the Venture thing, we had some done a few years ago, in fact I'm pretty sure dave was the photographer, the prices were mental, especially compared to Hog's very reasonable rates, but the photos were very, very good and the frames were nice. We have a great Venture picture of our son on our wall and we look at it and enjoy it every day, so in that sense I guess it was worth the 180 notes it cost for an 8 x 10 pic.

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Have to recommend Scott Hogg, he did some portrait work for me recently, including this award winning photo of my niece. :):up:

site.jpg

Now you mention it, that's a very good suggestion! I've had some photos done by Scott before and they were really good. I'll drop him a line. Cheers.

That's an absolutely gorgeous photo!

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that's a load of tosh. particularly the bit about attending a course at your own expense, that's a lie. although photographers are assessed continuously, same as in any job, if they're not up to standard then of course they may go through extra training. i don't understand why training staff is a bad thing.

the frames are not irrelevant, you go to venture to buy the whole product. that's their thing, if a customer doesn't want a venture frame they don't go to venture. that's the direct reason why venture costs so much.

as for the hard sell thing, no one forces anyone to buy anything. certainly the aberdeen studio didn't do hard sells when i worked there, instead focusing on wowing the customer with a high level of service. customers came in to view their photos and were offered various options for them, if they weren't interested in any of the pictures or framing options they got their freebie and off they went. most of the critiscm of venture comes from customers who didn't realise they had to buy venture frames or weren't aware of ventures price point and became frustrated that they couldn't buy the pictures they wanted.

anyhoo, venture closing didn't impact me in any way as i'd already left though some of my friends lost jobs. this was entirely down to the franchise owners rather than venture.

Sorry Dave, I disagree with a lot of that (I do agree with some points as well though:up:)

I agree that wowing customers with high quality images and providing decent customer service is a massive part of the experience. However, the prices that Venture charge is laughable. Of course, nobody has to go to Venture.

Many Venture studios have gone out of business in the last year or so. They seem to be dropping like flies.

I had a portrait customer who showed me their photo taken by Venture Aberdeen. Shocking lack of basic photographic knowledge, terrible lighting and composition (It wasn't you Dave..)

A frame is part of the overall presentation but charging 1000 for it, IMHO, does turn it into a piece of wood.

Pixie Photo in Mothercare have a sign saying that they have jobs and shall "train you up". Didn't do a good job with the lady who works there. The examples of her work include basic mistakes like shadows in the eye sockets.

49 for a sitting and a 12x16" print. That's what I charge.

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Sorry Dave, I disagree with a lot of that (I do agree with some points as well though:up:)

I agree that wowing customers with high quality images and providing decent customer service is a massive part of the experience. However, the prices that Venture charge is laughable. Of course, nobody has to go to Venture.

Many Venture studios have gone out of business in the last year or so. They seem to be dropping like flies.

I had a portrait customer who showed me their photo taken by Venture Aberdeen. Shocking lack of basic photographic knowledge, terrible lighting and composition (It wasn't you Dave..)

A frame is part of the overall presentation but charging 1000 for it, IMHO, does turn it into a piece of wood.

Pixie Photo in Mothercare have a sign saying that they have jobs and shall "train you up". Didn't do a good job with the lady who works there. The examples of her work include basic mistakes like shadows in the eye sockets.

49 for a sitting and a 12x16" print. That's what I charge.

i'm not going to say venture were faultless, all i'm saying is that if people didn't like the prices, they just don't buy them. they aimed their products at the exclusive end of the market and priced accordingly.

now, i'm not going to slag them off because i don't believe in being overly critical of former employers in public but some franchise owners were not as enthusiastic about the photography side of things as perhaps the company itself were and had they a greater understanding of that side of things perhaps more studios would be in business and they would keep their better photographers.

i learnt alot from working there(mainly around interacting with clients in a studio, and workflow management, not so much on photography) and like i said it was a fun job but i shall concede that you can get great photos at a cheaper price if you go to people like hog. but venture was never about the price, it's a company aimed at people who don't care about price. the frame is important because that was ventures unique selling point, the whole venture experience, shoot, presentation, service and a final product that looks amazing on your wall.

sorry for ruining your thread kittycat! it's all gone off on a tangent.

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