Look Beautiful.

Venture Photography

Shopping
in/near Lichfield, Staffordshire,
England Heart Of Inc Birmingham



Review added: 21/06/2006 15:39
By: katygriff (£0.00 earned from reviews) Earn £££'s

"My Mom had been telling me and my sister Sam for years that she would really like a professional photo taken of the two of us so she could have it on the wall. You see me and my sister have always been very close and she wanted a photo that would reflect that. It took me and Sam three years to finally start thinking about where we could get this photo done and we did some research into the best photographers around and this is when we came upon the shop Venture and this is not just any shop so this review will be a little different to your normal shop review so here I go.

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What is Venture?

Venture is a specialist in photography and offers a different and modern way of having pictures taken as the photos are seen more as Art than simply photos. They were actually one of the first companies to come up with this new style of photography but now many companies are following suit. Venture has a catchphrase which is 'new generation portraits.'

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Where can you find a Shop?

There are many shops located around the UK and to find the one nearest to you just simply go to www.thisisventure.co.uk and click on studio locations. There is even a venture studio in Hong Kong if you are reading this review from over there. This web page will also give you information on venture shops that will be opening soon.

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The Actual Shop:

Now my review is based on the shop in Lichfield in the West Midlands as this is the one by me. Finding the shop was the easiest thing because the first thing that I saw was the huge venture symbol which is a white square containing a black square containing a yellow square and this sign was protruding from the shop so you could see it from which ever direction you were coming from. The first thing you notice about the actual shop is the photographs which I know you expect to see going into the shop so no surprise there.

The window displays were fantastic and they feature such wonderful looking pictures that (as the assistant told me) were taken in the Lichfield store. Looking at the photos you will see they are extremely expressive and actually look modern and cool so already I was excited about the shop.

Walking in to the shop and all around the walls were photos and although me and Sam arrived half an hour early for our appointment we didn't mind because they were interested to look at. They were all of different people but not only that they were all different types so some of them were big, some small, some colour, some black and white and then there were those that had been made cartoon like and then some seemed to be on photo paper while some were on canvass. Such a great display that it again made me excited about visiting this shop and having this experience.

The shop was extremely clean and it looked expensive which is a strange thing to say about a shop but it just had a very cool feel and made you feel important to be there. There was a room that we could see which is where they show you the photos they have taken and then there is a toilet there too as the assistant was telling us that sometimes you could be there a while. Upstairs in the shop is where the studios are and I will tell you about them next as they deserve a part of my review to themselves.

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The Studio:

When it was time for us to go and have a photos taken, we were shown where the changing rooms were. They were lovely with huge mirrors so that you can check you are looking your best before you go into the studio and then locks on the door so you do not have to worry about anybody walking in on you. Then we were took into the studio.

The first thing you are tempted to do when you walk into the studio is to shield your eyes as it is bright white and it shocks you at first. About a quarter of our room was not white and that is where we saw all of the lamps, the camera and the laptop where she would download the photos as they are being taken.

We were told to take our shoes off to go into the studios and although the floor looked cold as it was white, it was not too bad to walk on. As the room itself looked so unreal me and my sister were a bit nervous but after chatting to the photographer about what was going to happen.

So the things that happen in the studio are you get your photo taken and because of the white background the camera can get a brilliant defined capture of you and if you have colourful clothes on then even better as they will show up really well. The cameras are huge and our photographer actually had to have a step ladder to get the pictures she wanted. Using coloured lenses she could change shades and colours and the plain background allows the focus to be totally on you.

Me and Sam got to spend about an hour in the studios and they get you doing all sorts of weird and wonderful things like run at the camera and tickle each other and me and Sam even got to just mess around with our MP3 player and just generally have a laugh.

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The Viewing Area:

About a week after you have been in the studio you will be asked back to the shop to see you photos. To see these we were taken into the viewing room where we were offered drinks and in the actual room you can see a projector and there are comfortable seats all around with different styles of frames on the walls.

This part of the shop isolates you from the rest of the shop and is meant to be a very relaxing time of your experience with venture. Your photos are projected on to a huge screen while the lights are dimmed and gentle music is put on in the background so you can enjoy looking at the results for the first time.

When the member of staff has shown you all the photos then they will leave the room and let you have a think. They will also show you the prices and you will be given control of looking in your photos. You can change the colours of your photos too on the projector so you can have black and white, sepia or colour photos. I enjoyed my time in this room as it is very relaxing and finishes off your experience well.

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The Products:

The only thing I can say about the Venture products is that they are nothing short of amazing and the choice you have is brilliant. In our session we had over one hundred photos taken and about thirty of these were chosen for the final selection. Like I have said above you can have the photos in colour, sepia or black and white but there are also different styles you can have for your photos which are as follows (all sizes are in inches);

Normal Photos:
Of course there are a range of just photographs in frames that you can buy and they can be in a range of sizes. The smallest ones you can get are 6 x 4 and 7 x 5 which are handy if you want a photo that you can place on a desk or on any other flat surface. Then they get bigger so you can put them on to your wall. Some of the photos you have taken may be in panoramic style so are very long and these can look extremely effective. There was one when we were there that was a 30 x 10 size and it looked amazing and you could see it being the focal point of a room.

Metro:
Quite cool looking photos because they look quite artistic and they do not contain a frame as they look good on their own. They are not on canvass but they are not just on photo paper either. They are quite thick but thin and you can have them in portrait and landscape so they look really good especially if you have a couple together they really do create a focal point in your living room.

Multiple:
This is a way of expressing multiple photos but in a small and not so obvious way. Basically they are normal photos but they make a collage for you so you can have a few in there. This works out quite expensive but looks great and what me and Sam did want but couldn't afford was three panoramic pictures in one frame as that looked the best. A good way of getting the photos if you cannot pick one favourite as they are all too good.

ICE:
This is one was mine and my Dad's favourite as it looks amazing. What it is is small individual square photos which are 5 x 5 in size. Then you choose how many photos you want to use so say for example you used 4 then you would have four photos set in a clear frame and you can actually move them around so you can take a block out and then change it for another. It is a fantastic idea and I would have loved the big 16 photo one as you can just get the photos updates when you want to.

Bloq:
Another one of my favourites because bloq is your photo on canvass. As you can guess by the name it is square but if you can imagine how thick a canvass is and then imagine that your photo does not just print on the front but also on the sides then this is what you get from this product. I have to say that the finished photos look amazing and the appearance they give is pure art. The one on show in the shop in Lichfield was of the 48 x 29 style and it looked amazing.

Others:
We were given a few other options such as to have a photo put onto a cushion which would be quite good but as we have a dog who bites our cushions it would not be the greatest idea. Also there was the option to have every picture put into a photo album which we would have loved to do but the price tag of over £900 put us off.

Each photo that has a frame, they will give you the choice on what frame you want as you can choose from these black ones which are ok and then a lot of wood types which look very good.

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Prices:

You may have noticed that above I have not mentioned any of the prices and that is because they change all of the time. When we went to get a 7 x 5 photo the price was £95 and then a 10 x 8 one was £145. The smallest Ice block of four was £575 and then the smallest bloq was £375. As you can see they do work out quite expensive but if you do buy on the day you do get a small discount.

With the prices they do change regularly because my Moms friend who went to Venture about six months before we did paid a lot less than we did so I am not sure what the prices would be now.

The one thing I will tell you about the prices is that Venture do allow you to set up a payment plan with them so you can either pay all in one or you can pay over a one, two or three year period which will help those who can only pay a little each month. If you do settle for a payment plan then you can go in to the shop and pay off your balance at any point during that time.

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Buying an Experience:

If you go into any Venture shop you can buy an experience by just asking. Usually you can get an offer which will be about £25 and for this you will have to book for an experience then come back for a viewing and then come back to collect your photo which you will get a 7 x 5 one for free. You can also book online or at a stall which are often seen in shopping centres.

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Other Things:

I suppose the first thing to say is how friendly the staff are and they really were great. It must be a fun job because everybody in the Lichfield shop had fun together and they all helped each other really well. The people who were booking us in for our studio session at the shop were great and making sure we were ready and we knew exactly what was going to happen and then the lady taking our photographs was extremely friendly and made us feel instantly at ease and we had a lot of fun because of the way she was. Then the viewing was also made wonderful as she did not put us under pressure to buy anything and left us to make our own decisions until we called her back in.

The only thing they have in the way of offers is when you first buy an experience you pay a small price to get the studio session and then a free photo. This cost us £25 but again the offer does change every now and again. The other offer is you get prices slightly cheaper if you buy when you have just had the viewing session and it does work out at about £30 - £150 cheaper so it may be worth doing.

To be honest I am not sure where you stand with refunds from Venture or if you can get them at all. What we were told is obviously if the photos arrive and you collect them from the shop and you are not pleased then they will try their best to resolve the problem but they said refunds were not usually given because you choose the photos and what to do so you should be happy with them.

Vouchers can be bought from Venture in the form of the £25 or £35 ones which give you a studio session and then a free photo. A 7 x 5 photo for £25 or a 10 x 8 one for £35. You can go into any Venture shop and buy one or do it on the website.

The other thing worth noting is that when you go for your studio experience you can really make it as individual and as fun as you want it to be. When me and Sam went for ours some people came back down from theirs with their pet dog which we thought was a great idea. We were told that as many people could come as we liked and we could bring any family pets we wanted. Also you can bring as many changes of clothes as you want and also any props you may like to use so we took our MP3 player.

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Verdict:

Me and Sam booked our appointment and because the shops are open quite late (ours was open till about half 9 in the evening) we had no problem booking ourselves in and we only had to wait four days to go the studio. We were quite excited about it and had taken two changes of clothes and our MP3 players as props. What we found was although you are quite nervous at first especially me as I hate having my photo taken, the whole atmosphere of the shop made us feel at ease immediately. We were offered drinks and the staff were great to talk to.

We loved the studio session as we really got to have fun as me and Sam often do. We just played around really and listened to what the photographer had to say but mostly we came up with ideas for photos. It was so much fun running at the camera and although we had many shots of the two of us, we still had some individual photos taken and because the photographer was 100% professional they changed the light and colours to suit how we looked and the end result was amazing.

The whole process took around three weeks from booking to getting our photos. This is one shop with a difference and I think everything they did was professional and to an extremely high standard. We had five photos and they all turned out wonderful and we have had so many people compliment them. I am the most un-photogenic person in the world and even I looked quite nice in them and I bought a black and white one of myself which my boyfriend has now pinched.

I told you this would not be a normal shop review but seriously if you want some great artistic photos taken of you or your family and friends then you could no do much better than go to Venture.

In conclusion I could not do anything else but give the Venture shop five stars and although I am obviously only reviewing the shop by me in Lichfield I am sure that every single shop will give you as good an experience as I had. It was fantastic from start to finish and although I do think the costs were a bit high for the actual photos I am still giving them five stars because they give you the most fantastic results and we have photos that our family will treasure forever.

Thanks for reading.

xxx

P.S. For more information go to their website at www.thisisventure.co.uk"

Comments

you answered just about every question i could possibly have!so so useful-thank you for taking the timepi