hey everyone, thanks for the replies. alot of emails, seems the pricing and services very competitive here. Gotta go tru the works and also must let her see before we proceed any further.
btw, those charging 800++ above all the way to 1500, forgive me for saying this, but how Ucome sooo expensive? in fact, it's more expensive than what those bridal shops propose. and given that most packages are around 3k+ to 4k+ and some super chop ex are at 5k, isn't it crazy that the day photographer is charging almost 50%.....?
worst, can someone explain to me how come free lanse photographers command such a high fee? 1k per day for 10 hours work is $100 bucks per hour. i know of part time lecturers in local universities are sometimes paid around that. i work 12 hours days in the office, 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month like a donkey and all i get is approx $25 bucks an hour..... somehow i feel cheated here..... where's the demand to command such a high fee?
hope i don't get flamed here. just trying to make some sense in spending so much money, just to get married in singapore...
$1K for a full day AD coverage from a seasoned professional is dirt cheap. Most of them will not be able to survive on that sort of rates.
$1.5-$1.8K seems reasonable for a seasoned pro.
If you break it down, nope, it's still cheap because here where it starts:
Say AD is from
6.30am - 4.30pm (10 hours)
BREAK
Dinner - 6pm - 11pm, sometimes later (5 hours)
Sub Total: 15 hours.
Now is when the REAL torture work begins ...
Photographer goes back to office/home whatever and downloads work.
1/2 day to sieve through and make a rough selection, and set whatever parameters to edit the work according to agreed contract. 4 hours
Another 3-7 full working days to edit, compile, lay-out, design coffee-table book if ordered, run to printers, run to clients. 8 hrs x 7 days = 56 hours, NOT including time and transport costs.
Based on the above ALONE, that's a total of something like 75 hours, NOT including time for meeting client and discussing, reccee location, run to printers, run to coffee-table book maker, run to deliver to clients. Factor this in as another 1 full day's cost.
So, you;re looking at 15 hours of shooting, + 60 hours editing + roughly 8 hours worth in running around and meetings etc gives you about 83 hours of hands-on work.
THE BOTTOM LINE?
Say you pay that exorbitant kenar cheated by photographer fee of $1,500 divided by 83 hours works out to a
GRAND TOTAL of $18.07 cents PER HOUR.
You say you work like a donkey, but at least you're getting paid 138.35% MORE than the working wedding professional photographer charging you $1.5K.
I can't figure out how any professional wedding photographer can survive on $18.07 per hour. Bear in mind that a person can only accept a fixed number of assignments per month, and there will be months like the ghost month where they can have zero bookings = ZERO INCOME for the entire month!!!
But but but but but, in order for all that to happen in the first place, there's this to consider - something pointed out by one of Singapore's prominent wedding photographers:
transport cost.
meeting the clients needs time and money,
confirming and collecting the retainer/deposit cost time and money.
meeting a few days before the client's wedding cost time and money.
going down to cover the wedding needs time and money.
going home to rest in-between the festitivies cost time and money.
going back to the dinner venue cost time and money.
returning home from the long day cost time and money.
meeting your clients to deliver your work cost time and money.
that is just transport cost.
albums,
sample albums, sample prints, sample pictures, sample CDs
electicity costs
computers need power
cameras need power
flashes need power
electric bills are going up again.
hardware cost
cameras cost money
camera parts cost moeny
lenses cost money
lens hoods cost money
filters cost money
memony cards cost money
batteries cost money
flashes cost money
camera bags cost money
computers cost money
ram cost money
harddisk cost money
monitors cost money
mouse, keypads, card readers, cost money
extention cords cost money
tables and chairs that you sit to edit your photos cost money
going to buy these equipment cost time and money.
softcopy costs
photoshop cost money
software to enhance your pictures cost money
other photo editing. enchaning slideshow software cost money
anti-virus software cost money
internet cost money
real or fake software, also need money to buy.
bills
phonebills need to be paid
servers need to be paid
marketing tools need to be paid
salary needs to be paid
cost of sales
CDs need money
DVDs need money
covers need money
paper need money
ink need money
paperback need money
office?
rental bills, car bills, tables, chairs, lights, water, fridge etc........
albums,
sample albums, sample prints, sample pictures, sample CDs
For most wedding professionals using full frame cameras or professional bodies, ED or L lenses, equipment alone already can easily cost more than $10K - $20K. Some pros exceed these figures.
For the record, I am not a wedding photographer and am not a partner to any pro wedding photographer.
It's really not fair to say you feel cheated before knowing about how much blood, sweat and sacrifices a wedding professional makes, besides the mountain of costs they face just to deliver never-to-be repeated memories for Clients ... unless you get divorced and remarry of course.
All the best in your search for a good, sensitive and reliable professional wedding photographer.
