Why I dont charge RM300 only for my wedding service??

Ok, thanks Japrin Thomas for bringing up the issue of the price of wedding photography from a wedding photographer. Coz at the same time, a few enquiries I have are followed by a sceptic feedbacks on why my price is not RM300 only..
I hope this can at least clear my name as a ‘kedekut minta mahal2’. Some might ask: Buat apa laa mo caj mahal2?, ni sengaja mau cari duit lebih(AKA, bloodsucker!).
OK, I charge averagely more than rm1.5k. But I still think that it’s kind of low. Why? Let’s discus this issue from my side of view.

Why do I charge like that expensive??
1. For a living. Living is not cheap. We don’t live up a tree(although a lot of west Malaysians still thought we do). Like me, I rent an apartment. I need atleast THREE RM300 job to pay my house rent. And how many weddings you can possibly handle a week? Wedding always occur on weekends. As far as I remembered, theres only 4(occasionally 5)weekends in a month. If ure lucky to be booked four times a month, you’ll get rm300x4= rm1200. Ok, now lets talk about my car loan, my daily meal, electricity, water and internet bill. Ok, some might say I will use most of the money for my own deed(go clubbing, go find chix, go eat expensive foods etc).. yes I admit so(except for the ‘go find chix’ part, which is very subjective haha). But why not? Aint the reason people work, is to gain as much money as possible, so we can live a happy, comfortable lives? So I guess the same goes to a fulltime photographer(or designer, developer etc..)

2. Equipment. First, let me explain, all camera aren’t built the same. Some camera are expensive than the others are for a reason. Its not because of the design, coz you can almost say all DSLR camera looks exactly alike! Some point and shoot camera will have better looking design, yet they are cheaper. So the truth is, the price difference is because of its performance. For instance. I have a Canon EOS 7D, a 40D and an EOS 400D. Some might say I overcharge just to buy my fancy expensive camera. Well that is true! I do use the money to buy my 7D, which is almost three times the price of my 400D. I bought my white 70-200 f2.8 lens, eventhough I can buy a much cheaper lens.
please refer for its price here: Shashinki 70-200mm . It’s pricey, indeed. But who will benefit from my buying? If you say me, think again! A 7D + 70-200mm f2.8 is a tad heavier, and I have to carry it the whole day! But the quality of picture this equipment produce is superb! And it’s not my photo that I captured, it’s my clients! It makes your wedding a lot more meaningful if you are comfortably sure that none of your important moments are ever gonna be missed. Why? 400D can capture only three frames per second, while 7D can capture 8fps instead! It means, no matter how fast your kiss from the ‘you may kiss the bride’ session will take, a 7D’s percentage of capturing it is 5 frames more than the 400D. So, can I possibly buy this equipment, if I charge rm300 per session? I’m not done yet! Well, what if my camera fails me. Camera do have lifespan you know. They call it shuttercounts. And the charge of repairing it may cause me two weddings(base on an rm300 price). And then we need other stuff like external flash, a computer to transfer and edit the photos etc..

3. Time and effort. Taking picture needs me to sacrifice my precious time just to take photos of somebody I just known recently. I doubt people would voluntarily waste their time and energy to stand all day while carrying a 4KG of equipment and being told to move out of the way frequently for blocking others guest view on a wedding, even if infact it is their own sister’s wedding, if they won’t get paid. And it doesn’t end there. Taking photos on the event itself is half the work. The processing is the other half. On a normal wedding, it takes around 500-1000 shots per day. I need to edit each and every one of it, for it to meet the acceptable quality. That means, a whole week of sleepless nights.

Well that’s a few rambles from me. I would explain more reason of my pricing later on, but for the time being, I hope people wud understand that what I am doing is not an easy job. But don’t get me wrong! Since I love taking photos, and photography is my dearest life, It’s always a pleasure to be able to capture your lovely moments, let alone see the beautiful results for us to share! But how can I do that, if you wont help me? 
To all soon to be brides, wish have the most memorable event of your life! I can help ;-) ..
For enquiries and bookings, do not hesitate to contact me! Have a lovely day..

Ramadhan Fasting month. 1st day

Ok, Today I went for my first Bazaar ramadhan visit. Eventually its the first day of fasting Ramadhan month, and thankfully it went well. This first day, I went to Bazaar Ramadhan at Asia City Pasar Tani. Usually this market is only open every wednesday and friday morning. But for this whole month, it will be open for business selling a lot of very nice varieties of foods. Here is how I went through it which I manage to capture using my 7D, with my Tokina 12-24mm .. Went there with mo bro, and after that met up with Ak.huzaireen. Get well soon bro..
I parked my car near Asia City Complex, and this is the first photo. On the right side is the Cititel Express Hotel.


As it is the first day, I guess that contributes the crowds. Well its not an easy task going through it.


This is the crowds further ahead. Bunch of hungry people I suppose. :)

The kuih tarang bulan(Fullmoon cake). My favorite. I remember the time it was only rm1.00, now its RM1.50 ..

Bunch of traditional cakes.. I didnt grab any. Maybe tomorow..

They say it is always nice to break our fast with dates. But I didnt bought any though..

One of the most common drinks, Sugar cane and Cendol.

This guy makes so much noise. But im sure he makes the Martabak Jawa better..

There was an interview going on by a TV crew, I think theire from RTM.

I bought myself a Kue Tiaw goreng from them. Price:Rm1 + a photo snap.. :)

And as I wrap it up, took another final snap.

The 5th International Sabah Folklore Dance Festival

Ok, So last week, (around July 2010) I went for this spectacular dance, the Sabah International Folklore Dance Festival. It was participated by a few countries from all over thhe world. I also covered for the last years 4th edition, and this year it was great too!

Actually the whole festival was held from 18th to the 27th July, 2010. The Local dance competition was held from 21st and 22nd July, where all the local primary and secondary school from all over Sabah participated. Even then, the dances was superb.

The International level was held on the 24th and 25th at the Sabah Cultural Hall. On the opening day, there was some minor glitches happened, as the lights went out and took for about 5 minutes, while the participants from each country was introduced. It went totally dark, except for the spirited traditional music intrument teams keeps the mood going. Luckily everything went back to normal after that, and it went smoothly afterwards

Here are some of the photo collections from each participating countries:


The opening theme song
Team Singapore.


Team Kazakhstan.
Team Thailand



Team Chinese Taipei


Team Saudi Arabia


Team Romania


Team Uzbekistan



Team Philippines

Team Latvia

Team Indonesia


Team China


Team India



Team Egypt

and the performance by our local artist, Joanna Sue-Henley Rampas and Petrus Pressly

Overall, it was an impressive and informative performance from all who took part