Found this article on the internet and after reading finds it interesting to share with u guys. It is how we charge our service and why.
*The red line is my personal comment.
It’s you BIG day, and you need a professional to capture all the precious moments both happy and sad moments. Did you ever wonder what is behind those charges? If you don’t get the basic idea what’s behind photography and videography processes, then you would assume that the rate they charge you is considerably high. Let us see, what are the costs behind these charges;
1) Media/ Camera/ Equipments
To be able to come up with the best quality pictures/photos, the very first thing you need is the best camera available. An excellent camera set would cost around RM14,000 and above. Once you bought a piece of this, maintenance cost would come into the picture. The same set of camera shall be serviced, upgraded and most probably fixed, when something goes wrong with it. Moreover, digital equipments’ value depreciates much faster than analog equipments. These costs are all taken into considerations, when they decide the service charges. In short, apart from paying for his skills, you are also paying the so-called rental of the equipments.- Saya rasa RM14k tu dia maksudkan 3ccd videocam kot, kalo camera dslr saya tk sampai RM14K 
hehe…
2) Photographer’s skills
The best photographer that you would look for is the ones with highly photography skills such as creativity, lighting selections among others. Apart from that, he or she should be able to create suitable and pleasant environment for the customer and this is where good communications take place. These skills all comes with knowledge, practices and experiences. The more highly skilled a photographer or videographer is, he or she might charge higher than less skilled ones. – So far we charge the same rate, either DMZ’s or other associates, bcos we really care about the quality, so we are a bit picky when we choose a photog or videographer to be our associates, to make sure the quality of product is not drop below of our expectation. We’ve learned our lesson…heheh…
3) Service
At one particular time, a photographer dedicated his time to one particular event. Again, in short, time is important factor in a photographers’ routine. He or she will charge based on time taken for his commitment to that particular event.
4) Service (post-photography)
After each session of photography, editing work comes next. He or she needs to choose the best group of pictures to be edited. If needed, these pictures need to be edited for its’ brightness, contrast, color, hue, color compositions and etc. Satisfied with the quality, the photo will be printed. For the magazine or design album, graphic design skills are needed prior to produce exclusive effect on the pictures. Compilations of pictures, the selections made on good combination are needed for harmonious flow. Reprints are done if needed to fully satisfy the customers. In the end, the printed photos are bounded with UV protections before going through the binding process and sorted out into the album which later goes to the customer.
5) Materials
In addition to the service charge, material costs are included. Among others, transportation, lodging (outstation), printing, album, phone bills, promotional and administrative fees. Once you get to know what’s behind what your photographer charges you, then you would really understood and total appreciations towards his/her work comes in mind.
Credit: some web on the internet
