Venture Photography Studios Avis 

I wanted to share my honest experience with Venture Studios because I wish I'd known how their process worked before booking.

We originally paid £100 for what was advertised as a family photoshoot, including one framed photograph. Nowhere did it feel obvious that the real business model was to sell you expensive packages after the shoot. I think Venture Studios should be far more transparent about this from the beginning so customers can make an informed decision.

I bought the voucher in February, and it had a 6 or 12-month validity. From then on, I received phone calls every couple of weeks encouraging me to book, which eventually started to feel excessive. Once the shoot was booked a few months in, the calls became even more frequent, asking about our ideas and expectations. This was despite me repeatedly saying we just wanted a simple family shoot and after completing their detailed online questionnaire. I also received several reminder calls making sure we would attend. While I understand wanting to provide good customer service, the constant contact felt more like high-pressure sales and harassment rather than genuine customer care.

The actual photoshoot was the best part of the experience. The photographer was warm, bubbly, creative and fantastic with our family. We genuinely enjoyed the session, which lasted around 40 minutes, and we left feeling positive.

Unfortunately, that's where the positive experience ended.

We weren't made aware beforehand that we would need to return to the studio for a separate viewing appointment. As we live around 30 minutes away, this meant another unnecessary journey. Considering the final photos were ultimately emailed to us anyway, this could have been done online.

At the viewing appointment, we were shown a slideshow of our photographs set to music before being taken through the pricing. There wasn't an opportunity to properly browse the images at our own pace or carefully choose our favourites. Instead, it felt like a sales presentation designed to encourage us to spend as much as possible.

The pricing was astonishing. We were quoted around £400 for just 8 digital images, while framed packages ran into the thousands of pounds. Finance options over several years were presented, but I honestly cannot imagine taking out a three-year payment plan for photos.

In the end, we felt backed into a corner and purchased all digital photos (about 70) for £645 simply because it represented better value than buying only 8 images at £400. Ironically, around half of those images weren't ones we'd ever use or want to see again. Not to mention that the files supplied were only the basic 1080p resolution unless you paid even more for actual professional higher-quality versions. We did not even get the one framed photo part of the original package, because they factored that into the £645 to give us a "great discount", we just got a download link.

By the time we'd finished, we'd spent £745 in total between the original booking and the digital package. For a 40-minute photoshoot, editing and around 30 genuinely usable digital photographs in 1080p, I think that is exceptionally expensive.

I also found the atmosphere during the sales appointment uncomfortable. It felt very much like a hard-sell environment with constant emphasis on "special offers" and "discounts" and "payment plans". We seriously considered walking out. When paying and walking out we were made to feel very "cheap" and a "let down" rather than feeling excited about our family memories, we left feeling pressured, disappointed and ripped-off.

What makes this especially frustrating is that we actually like many of the photographs. The photographer did a wonderful job, and we have some lovely family memories. It's such a shame that those memories are overshadowed by what felt like a misleading and high-pressure sales process.

My biggest criticism isn't the quality of the photography—it's the lack of transparency. If customers knew from the outset that the initial fee is essentially an entry point into a premium sales experience with packages costing hundreds or thousands of pounds, they could make an informed choice before booking.

If you're considering Venture Studios, my advice would be to ask for a full price list beforehand. Had we known exactly what to expect, we may have made a different decision.

Sadly, despite liking about 10 photographs very much, I wouldn't return or recommend the experience.

Fantastic photography session with Georgia. I really wanted to capture our family and gain some wonderful photos of myself and family ( as I'm often the one taking the photos ). Georgia was welcoming, friendly and consistent in her direction. We felt like we were doing a good job the whole way through, which built confidence and shook the awkwardness away.
We now have viewed out photos, Wow.. we all loved them, I cried and we left with our photos all on high resolution USB and sent via email.
Thank you Georgia at Venture Photography Maidstone. 🫶

Wonderful photoshoot experience for our dog. Our photographer, Caitlin, was extremely professional and patient with our spirited beagle. The pictures all looked wonderful and really captured our beautiful boy! Thank you to Johnny for the wonderful viewing experience.

We were kept informed at all stages of the process and everyone was very courteous and friendly.

I would definitely recommend Venture Studios for a brilliant pet photography experience! Thanks once again.

Well what an experience! We had a baby boy photoshoot at Venture Studios Leicester and couldn’t be happier with the experience and in all honesty I really didn’t want to go for anymore than 1 photo but damn they was good. The photographer was a great laugh, friendly, and amazing with our little one even her helping hand, making us all feel relaxed throughout the session. The photos turned out absolutely beautiful and captured such precious memories that we’ll treasure forever. Highly recommend Venture Studios to anyone looking for professional family or baby photography!
Thank you to our two talented artists Kelly and Dom and one great laugh of a receptionist Ash and keep playing The Ordinary!

We had a lovely experience from start to finish. Izzie our photographer was fab and so patient with our crazy dog! The shoot was so fun and creative! We had Dom show us our photos which was such a unique experience and he helped us pick out our favourites (he was also very patient as I couldn’t decide😂). The whole experience at the studio was lovely and everyone made us feel so welcome! Thank you!

Had the best experience with Venture studio Maidstone. Such lovely receptionists, were so accommodating, great customer service. Ben the photographer was outstanding, made us feel comfortable and welcome. He did an incredible job with editing the final photos- outstanding work! He really is the sweetest person. And thank you to Gigi you were incredibly kind to us, helped us choose the best photos to buy, you were so lovely. Cannot recommend enough. Such an amazing experience we will never forget it. Thank you Venture! Now we have photos to immortalise our engagement. 100/10 cannot fault any part🩷

Very lovely staff and great experience

We received a voucher for a photo shoot. The shoot itself was fine and the photographer was very good with our dog. However a few issues:
1) there is a lot of pressure to purchase the photos, which are absolutely extortionate (£100 for one single digital photo)
2) we purchased one photo and had one included in our voucher. When we were sent the photos, we spotted that my partners glasses had completely distorted his face and it made him look very odd. We hadn’t picked this up at the viewing session as they show you them so quickly, but i would have expected the studio (as the experts) to have flagged it to us, either during the shoot or at least after. Every photo with my partner in is essentially unusable. They should really have suggested that either my partner removed his glasses, or that we didn’t select one of those photos.
3) We’ve then had to really haggle with them over a solution, involving multiple emails and calls

So eventually we’ve now got the two photos we are happy with, but I would say it’s not worth the hassle or money

Our experience was absolutely amazing from start to finish. Cannot fault any aspect of the process or the experience at all. The communication, our treatment and the final product are/were perfect. Hannah did an amazing job with our shoots and Gigi was great taking us through the slideshow and package choices. Thankyou!

We had Beth as our photographer, and she was absolutely amazing! She made the whole experience fun, helped us feel comfortable, and kept our daughter who is full of energy entertained throughout the session.

Emily took the time to listen to exactly what we wanted and helped us choose the perfect photo package for our family. She was patient, welcoming, and provided excellent customer service.

The photos turned out beautifully. They are all high quality, they captured so much personality and us as a family. We couldn't be happier with the experience and would highly recommend them!

Dan, Cal, and Jess were absolutely fantastic. Dan and Cal were amazing with my nervous rescue dog and so kind during the photo shoot. The pictures were unbelievably cute and far exceeded my expectations! Absolutely would 💯 recommend!

Such an amazing experience! Caitlin led a fun and wonderful session with our three boys and took the most beautiful photos. Ellie was so helpful with selecting which photos to take home, and we cannot wait to have them up to remember our time

Had a lovely experience with our photographer Emma at the South Woodford Branch, she made us feel very welcome and comfortable throughout, great experience!

Amazing photography and the owner is very kind and generous. 10/10 recommend and would do again.

Paige was very welcoming from start to finish and made us feel completely comfortable with our new born and our dog. When we went to select the package Milton went through everything in detail so nothing was left out when. Would highly recommend venture Cardiff to anyone!

From start to finish our experience with venture Cheltenham has generally been amazing from first contact right through the photography to the viewing. We did the bump to baby shoot. Evelyn was great through the maternity shoot, making us feel at ease through. We had Dan for the Baby shoot and he was fantastic, very patient and great with our little one. Would definitely recommend to anyone. The only reason I can't give a 5 star review is that we had to come back to complete the baby shoot and when we arrived discovered that our photographer was off ill and we told they had tried to contact, but only one attempt was made and it had not got through, where in the past if they have not got through they have contacted by another method, but that was the only negative.

Our photographer Emily was fantastic. In fact all staff we dealt with at Venture were excellent. Very supportive and engaging. Highly recommend

We had a great experience with Dan capturing photos of our 2 boys as well as some family shots! We’re really looking forward to updating the ones on our living room wall and sending family around the world the digitals when we get them! 🗺️ 📸
Jess was fantastic in our viewing and spent time talking us through the different options and costs. Yes the photos are expensive but they are so so worth it! ✨

Amazing! Would highly recommend. Everyone was so lovely and welcoming. The photos were incredible. Seeing them for the first time made me very emotional. Ben was so good with my girls. They just clicked instantly and they normally take a long time to interact at all with new people. He was amazing with making them feel at ease. They had so much fun.

We’ve used Venture twice now, when our son was two and now again when our daughter has turned two - in both cases they have done a fantastic job of keeping the kids entertained and producing amazing memories. Jenna this time around was friendly and engaged throughout the whole process and photoshoot. Thoroughly recommend!