vanitystudios.co.uk

Would not use for cosplay shoots

Although this company could definitely be good for general shoots, I would never recommend it to anyone looking for cosplay shoots, we were promised a lot more than what we actually got on the day and ended up spending way too much money which we felt forced to do. My main issue was that we were promised our makeup would get done for every look, it did not, it only got done once and if this had been communicated I would of quite happily gone with a more generic make up look to fit all cosplays I had brought, rather than the character specific look I went for. We were promised this at comic con where we got the voucher, and when a staff member met with us to discuss our first look, there was no indication that it would be the same look for all characters, it’s fine to only have it done once but again this needs to be communicated.Next thing was we were promised our wigs would be styled, I only had assistance with putting on one wig which I had already styled the rest I had to rush to put on in the fitting room. I did really need help putting on a crown for one of my other cosplays since it kept falling down my head, and bobby pins are poking out everywhere in the photos, but I felt very rushed in the photography area so decided to not ask for help that is my own fault but again we were promised our wigs would be styled.Another thing we were promised was that our nails would be done, we were never offered this and I only realised after the shoot when I was reading through the leaflet again.There was a lot of waiting around every time we had to wait we would be waiting well over an hour each time, which they were quite busy but just communicating what is going on to everyone makes a major difference, and also offering those complimentary drinks promised on the leaflet. We were only offered twice once when we got there and once when we were abouts to purchase our photo packages. Yes I could have asked a member of staff myself but everyone looked to be very busy so I didn’t want to disrupt. Next was the photography process, as I say it did feel very rushed you do only get an hour with the photographer which is fine, but this is another reason I wouldn’t recommend it for cosplay shoots, typically at cosplay shoots you want to bring your best cosplays, but you do not have enough time to be switching them out. We did not know this until the day before when we were phoned to tell us to only bring 3 costumes, we had already been told by the leaflet, emails, phone calls and when we were first given the offer, to bring 4 costumes. I paid for and worked very hard for 4 costumes, the one I worked hardest on didn’t get to see the camera, since I knew it would take a lot of time to get into.Another point I want to make is that they send you a video on a guide for your first shoot which tells you to not practice poses before hand since this will make you stiff, if you’re going for a shoot I would definitely have some in mind since we struggled quite a bit with this.My final point is the pricing, over the phone we were told it would be anything from £80-£100 per photo and you can also purchase packages. That was fine by me, I’d never been to a shoot before so I was expecting it to be expensive, however my partner and I felt forced into choosing a very very expensive package, we saw other couples and families were given time to discuss it alone in the consultation rooms in our waiting times so we thought we would also get that, but in our case it was all so very rushed. We did only intend to get a few photos, I would have definitely been a lot happier getting more if everything else was perfect I.e. makeup, wig styling, and no rush in photography area and also if all of our costumes were shot.The photos we received were very high quality, however may be more suited for a personal shoot like if you’ve just got engaged a couples shoot in a few different outfits is nice, if you want some portfolio shots this is definitely also good.

Date of experience: Feb 15, 2025