Tempest Photography Anmeldelser 

Extremely poor value – the pricing is very difficult to justify

As a professional photographer myself, I have a good understanding of the costs involved in photography, post-production, print production and digital delivery. I have to say that I find Tempest Photography’s pricing for school photographs extraordinarily poor value for money.

I completely understand that school photography involves costs beyond simply taking a photograph: photographers need to be paid, equipment purchased and maintained, images processed, ordering systems operated and prints fulfilled. A professional business also needs to make a reasonable profit.

However, there comes a point where the prices being charged simply become very difficult to justify, particularly for digital files and relatively modest print packages produced within a high-volume photography operation.

What makes school photography different from normal portrait photography is that parents have effectively no choice of photographer if they want their child’s official school photograph. The school chooses the supplier, not the parent. That makes reasonable and transparent pricing particularly important.

Tempest themselves state that they process around 200,000 school portraits per day during the autumn term, so this is clearly a very substantial high-volume operation. At that sort of scale, I find the retail pricing being asked of parents astonishing.

I also understand that Tempest operates commission arrangements with schools/PTAs on photographs sold. I would much rather see complete transparency about this so parents can understand how much of what they are paying relates to the photography and fulfilment, and how much, if any, is effectively contributing to the school or PTA.

I have no objection whatsoever to photographers making money from their work — I do it myself. Nor do I expect professional photography to be cheap.

But there is a considerable difference between charging properly for professional photography and offering poor value to a captive customer base.

In my opinion, Tempest’s school photography pricing falls firmly into the latter category.

Awful. Absolute rip off for school photographs. Wanted to purchased the group photo as a print and then 2 digital photos that should have been £25 for 1 plus an additional £5 for a second. However as these photos were in 2 different "catalogues" ie one sibling photo and one individual I would have to pay £25 each as they couldn't combine. Schools need to stop using these companies.

With the exception of HMRC I think this is possibly the biggest ripoff I have ever come across, I would love an explanation as to how they can justify their prices, how on earth after paying a small fortune for nothing more than a single digital print they can make you wait a month for access to it so you can print it yourself! I have never felt so ripped off in all my life I hope they fall foul of their utter greed and people wise up and stop having them at events

Children always come out looking dead-eyed and stiff in their photographs. They never did when photos were taken at nursery or at home. The options for purchasing are very limited, with rigid bundles you cannot customise at what appear to me to be extortionate prices. I really wish our school would stop using this company.

Website system is very clunky and due to this the photos we wanted weren't added to the orginal digital online order, although this was hard to see and the contents of the order are very hard to review. We phoned up as the order invoice isn't clear and you can't check the contents of your order clearly after purchasing digital donwloads. The net result was we had to a further £20 extra than we would. No solution was offered.

I've contacted child services from Falkirk council drawing attention to the consistent poor reviews of this company and asked the to revise the provider of school photos in the area. There's clearly a problem and parents are footing the bill consistently.

A truly terrible company. I'm baffled why this company is still used by so many schools. Poor quality photos that are extraordinarily expensive and now they charge extra for a cardboard frame. A massive scam.

Firstly, it amazes me why South Ayrshire Council school still use this company.
The prices are a rip off!

Now my gripe, every year my child has her photograph taken and every year you cant see her eyes.

Why?? She wears glasses. Every year its the same. Light reflection on the glasses. Every angle the same!!

Please dont tell me that is normal because I use private professional photographers and this doesnt happen in their pics.

Every year I ask same question, did photographer ask you to take off your glasses? Every year is same answer. No!

So, in my opinion, given my experience (I have also had a top award winning photographer take her picture) Tempest photographers are amateurs at best. If you cant take a picture without light doing this and dont have the professional know how, then ask a child to take off their glasses!! Problem solved!

Next year, I will use a local private, PROFESSIONAL photographer and I will do it on day school photographer is due and take her out of school and make a point of why. I will also tell other mums to do same!!

**Avoid Tempest Photography - Unbelievable Rip-Off**

I am beyond disappointed with my experience with Tempest Photography. The pricing for these school photos is an absolute shocker and a complete cash grab.

Charging £25 just for a single digital download is absurd, and £36 for a basic small print package is ridiculous for what you get. School photos should be a accessible way for parents to keep memories of their children growing up, not an opportunity to exploit families with outrageous prices.

The quality doesn't even come close to justifying these rates. Absolutely shocking service—I will definitely be raising this with our school and suggesting they switch to a company that actually values its customers. Save your money!

I honestly don’t know where to begin because words hardly seem enough to express how grateful I am.

Shannon, you are truly a shining star. You have gone above and beyond to make my wish come true, and what you have done for me means more than I could ever explain. Your kindness, compassion and generosity have touched my heart deeply.

Sometimes, a person comes into your life at exactly the right moment and reminds you that there is still so much goodness in the world. Shannon is one of those people. I will always remember the kindness you showed me and the happiness you brought into my life.Thank you from the bottom of my heart for granting my wish and for making such a meaningful difference to me. I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to have experienced your kindness.

I cannot recommend Shannon highly enough. She is truly an amazing person with a beautiful heart. ❤️✨

Thank you, Shannon, for being my shining star. ⭐

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Oliver Boston and his manager for the kindness, patience and support they have shown me.

Due to a difficult change in my personal circumstances, I’ve had to make several requests and changes, and throughout the whole process Oliver has been incredibly understanding, patient and helpful. Nothing ever felt like too much trouble, and I was always treated with kindness and respect rather than made to feel difficult for asking.

Oliver and his manager genuinely took the time to understand my situation and did everything they could to support and accommodate me. At a time when things have already been challenging, having people who are compassionate, approachable and willing to help has made such a difference.

It’s very easy to recognise good customer service when everything is straightforward, but I think the real test is how someone treats you when your circumstances are difficult and you need that extra bit of understanding. Oliver and his manager absolutely exceeded my expectations in this respect.

A huge thank you to both of you for your patience, kindness and continued support. It has genuinely meant a lot to me, and I’m extremely grateful for everything you have done. You are both a credit to the company and truly deserve recognition.

40£ for a single digital graduation picture is crazy 🤣 Idk what universities are even thinking hiring them but the only thing I learned is that if I ever see this company again I will run the other way ✌🏻

My university used these for my graduation pictures. However, when selecting the images it is impossible to see what they look like. Whilst I do understand the reason for this as they don’t want them to be copied, I have received two of the same images. A simple email to me to say two of the images are the same, would you like to proceed or would you like to choose a different one would have made the whole experience different. I have since received two of the same image and after paying an extortionate price £100 for 5 images just to download I am less than impressed. It’s not the price, I was happy to pay this but I do not expect you to even be able to purchase 2 of the same photos. Other companies use their water mark all over the photo but you can still see what you are buying behind, whereas this photo company you can barely see your image. Customer service was useless, making it out as if I wanted a refund when I just expected 5 different images for the price paid. Also, we were not told that you had to wait 10 days to download the image after the graduation. Whilst this wasn’t a problem, it would have been nice to have been aware as I was expecting that after you paid you received the images. Disappointing as the pictures taken were lovely and the experience on the day was great. Look at the reviews for this place before using them as I definitely wouldn’t buy from again.

Ordered two prints of my sons' school photos, both the same size, both paid for. One arrived correct, the other came out smaller and doesn't fit the frame it was supplied with. Customer service told me the photographer chose to shrink it and that they can't reprint. Their only offer was to send the photo back for a refund.
So one of my boys ends up with his framed photo on the wall and the other gets nothing. Try explaining that to a child. These are one-off school photos that can't be retaken. I asked for a reprint at the size I paid for, or a frame that fits the print they actually sent, and got neither. Poor quality control and worse aftercare. Avoid if the photos actually matter to you.

Emily from the team for the university of Westminster graduation on 21st July @ 2pm was absolutely amazing.

Very funny, very accommodating and lovely personality. The pictures came out amazing and I’m so grateful we had her. It took us a while to get in for the pictures but it was well worth it.

Thank you Emily 🙏🏾🫶🏽

Absolute rip off.
Over priced photo then another £5 for delivery.
Clearly a company without any ethics whatsoever.

They charge literally hundreds of pounds for 5 photos as a digital file, but only allow you to download it as a 6mp (blurry) resolution. This is significantly lower (25%!) than even a 4k video you can find on youtube. Absolutely disappointment and a complete scam. For reference, the iphone 4s from 2011 shot in higher resolution than what tempest is charging hundreds of pounds for!

Shannon was great dealing with my broken mug query. She helped me get a new mug within a week. Great customer service, many thanks again Shannon!

Have not yet received my physical pictures so cannot comment on their quality (although for the sake of pricing I hope it will be exceptional), however the selection process for my graduation pictures was ridiculous. Really what is the point of the photographer taking six different pictures if I have the option of only ordering one in a pack. Yes, it is useful to have multiple copies of the same one to give to family members etc, but then god forbid I want one of the other ones I had taken I would have to order it separately for another £30. So, at first glance the packs seem like great value until you realise it's all for the same picture. I don't understand why a company of this size and reputation continues to charge as much as they do when they could probably afford to lower them. Having the option to have more variety in the same pack would be a big improvement - that and not charging £100 to download digital pictures!! As if I haven't been made poor enough by university LOL

The price of £13.50 for one class photograph is extortionate in my opinion. Not only are they making an unreasonable profit out of parents - who just want a keepsake of a life moment - they offer a tiny proof (which is heavily defaced with their name written several times diagonally across it) so that it is hard to see the faces at all to make an informed decision. So pleased to hear the high school doesn't use them!

Rude staff, especially on a special day for students. Poor quality and organisation for services.