I think what Stephen meant was that its not that simple as couple wants you to go then you agree immediately to go just because you want to go. There are alot of hidden costs in doing a shoot overseas and its not as glamourous as it seems to shoot overseas. Yes, we do get to travel and sightsee when we shoot weddings overseas but there are alot of things we cannot do when we are there just so that we can be fit and healthy for the actual shoot. Things like cannot anyhow eat street food, always eating hotel food so you don't get diarrhoea in a foreign land. I mean there goes half the fun in traveling alre. Then there so many things you cannot do, cannot surf cos afraid you might break you leg, etc etc. Precautions you have to take to ensure you make it to the shoot. Then there's the jetlag from traveling and all the preparation work for a overseas shoot that you may decide that it is much simpler to earn $$ from local shoots.
About the 7th Month thingy, you cannot make assumptions too. Some photographers are packed in August with local weddings. It really depends on clientele.
P.S. Stating more cons than pros doesn't mean i say its not good to do an overseas shoot. I am just pointing out what the cons are and its up to the individual to weight the pros vs cons and to decide for themselves whether to take up overseas assignment.
All these are things are still very relevant to this thread because AD wedding can be an overseas one as well, and the pros have shared their experience in this aspect. Many people, my relatives, my clients do think it's a very glam job to be able to go overseas, but if you have to be so cautious and paranoid all the time, the stress... Do you know that I'm happiest when the plane finally land safely back in Singapore because I know that I've regained control over things?
Just to break it down some of the costs:
1. Air fare - I fly exclusively SQ, and yes, it is more costly but I rather charge that than to work with a razor thin margin by lowering the package cost and fly budget /european airlines. Air ticket to Europe starts from SGD$2300 (you want to book those that are flexi to allow you to change flights to earlier /later in event of emergencies)
2. Hotel. Average 3-stars hotel in Paris cost you at least SGD$140 a night. The one we stayed in is rated 3-stars with bare minimum facilities and doesn't come with a safe nor safe deposit box service. And trust me, you won't want to go to any hotel that are cheaper than that. So you fly there on day 1, shoot on day 2, fly back on day 3, that itself is at least 2 nights of hotel stay. My advice is NEVER ever get the client to book the hotel for you in case they book you into some cheap inns with questionable security.
3. Food. You can bring your own diet of maggi mee and biscult, macdonalds meal there cost at least SGD$14 a meal, and trust me, you won't want to eat that for the whole trip. Even drinking water has to be purchased at shops for SGD$2 - 4 simple because even the SGD$400+ a night hotel that my client stayed in doesn't have a water boiler in the room.
4. Transport. Airport transfers especially cab fares are very costly, and that itself would cost you SGD$120 easily, assuming there is no delay/traffic jam. Travelling around London /Paris in tubes/metro, ala their version of MRT, cos around SGD$2 - 4.5 PER trip within Zone 1 & 2 (the central area).
5. Insurance. Every photographer's nightmare is to fall sick or get injured while in another country, because there's just no way you can call your fella photographer to cover you. Same goes to equipment, my mirror from the canon 5D dropped out during an AD in Melbourne last year and Canon service centre there told me that it'll take 2 months to repair. You have to be just so disciplined - bed by 11pm; between alchohol and the more expensive sky or fruit juice, you have to choose the latter.
Yes, such disciplines should in place even for a wedding job in Singapore, but when nasty things happen overseas, there's definitely less room for ramification and much much harder for you to call for help.
6. Telephone bill. Overseas calls can go as much as SGD$40-80 a day.
The list goes on, and at this point, we are looking at conservatively SGD$4000 on just your costs for the project. Even at $8k per job for an overseas AD shoot, I'm still making more if I were to stay put in Singapore.
