A LOOONNNGG TALK about OP - please take note of this.

i have 2 more ver. for wedding photographer, including my OP. haha.. but we'll continue later about that. here, i would like share 2 important topics that all brides-to-be should take note.

TIPS MEMILIH WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

saya copy dari sini. thanks to ami yang tabah. credit to you.

Petikan dari photographer Faisal Rahim.

Aku harap tips ni membantu serba sedikit kepada pasangan yang mencari photographer kahwin mereka.

Konsep - Mula-mula sekali, duduk bincang dengan tunang. Cuba cari photographer yang sesuai dengan konsep wedding korang. Sebab setiap photographer mempunya style berbeza. Photojournalism ke, formal ke, klasik ke dsb. Takkan korang nak suruh photographer yang karekternya cool/alim2 tapi korang nak buat beach wedding pakai bikini loncat2 atau buat wedding dalam air? Mau demam seminggu photographer tu.

Recommendation - Oleh kerana majlis perkahwinan ni merupakan pengalaman paling berharga dalam hidup, seharusnya kita kena percaya hasil kerja orang yang terlibat dalam majlis kita. Jadi, adalah lebih baik kalau photographer yang dipilih tu daripada recommendation dari kawan2 atau saudara mara yang pernah bekerja dengan mereka. Jadi kita boleh agak camne nanti kalau dia jadi photographer kita. Kita juga boleh nilai sendiri hasil kerja sebenar mereka. Bukan setakat tengok sample album photographer yang biasanya hanya compile gambar2 terbaik mereka yang kekadang ada yang amik gambar orang lain punya (kisah benar),hua hua..

Budget - Wedding photographer ni bukan dinilai dengan harga album. Tapi dinilai dengan kemahiran ataupun pengalaman mereka. Sebab tu kalau nak pilih wedding photographer pastikan mereka dalam budget korang. Kalau tengok harganya lebih mahal, cuba tengok berbaloi ke tak pilih dengan perbezaan harga tersebut. Part-time photographer harganya lebih murah tapi ada risiko macam2. Full-time photographer biasanya harga lebih tinggi tapi mereka professional dalam kerja mereka. Masing2 ada kelebihan dan kekurangan. Yang penting pastikan mereka ada kamera sendiri, bukan pinjam sedara dia atau girlfriend dia punya, whoahaha.

Personaliti - Benda ni bagi aku sangat penting. Takkan korang nak kerja dengan photographer muka macam Hitler yang masam dan garang mcm nak gigit orang. Pastu pendiam dan tak mesra alam. Itik serama nak kena sembelih pun lagi mesra dari diaorang. Sebaiknya kenal dan berjumpa bertentang mata (tapi jangan terpikat-bahaya. Tapi ramai photographer hensem dah kahwin, wakakaka). Sebenarnya kita boleh tahu dia tu sesuai bekerja dengan kita atau tak. Orang jawe panggil ‘ada chemistry‘.

Deposit & Payment - Tang ni memang kena jelas sejelasnya. Kalau boleh tanya byk2 kat photographer korang. Camne dengan deposit kalau cancel majlis? Kalau majlis lebih sejam cas tak? bila kena bayar? malam ni nak masak apa? dsb. Jangan ambil mudah. Ia bagi mengelakkan kita di cas lebih sebab kita pandang ringan hal ini. Pastu melenting dan buat page ‘Hate Fan‘ kat Facebook, kekeke..

Tempahan - Photographer yang bagus biasanya sibuk. Jadualnya sentiasa penuh dan ada sebab mereka begitu. Kalau mmg dari kecik dah tengok hasil kerjanya dan dah besar mampu plak nak bayar (dalam budget) cepat2 tempah. Tapi janganlah 17 tahun lagi nak kahwin dah tempah. Entah2 photographer tu dah arwah. Sebab sehari bertangguh ada kemungkinan tarikh tu diambil orang lain. Lagipun bukan korang berdua je nak kahwin, orang lainpun nak kahwin gak, hehehe.

Lain-lain - Perkara lain ni kekadang perlu diambil kira. Antaranya adakah photographer tu ada pembantu semasa majlis, ada tak back-up equipment, camne dia pakai masa majlis nanti (korang boleh lempang dia kalau datang pakai seluar pendek time shoot nikah) dan perkara2 lain yang berkaitan. Apa yang penting photographer tu mmg wujud dan bukanlah photographer professional negara Pandora dalam cerita Avatar tu, hoho.

Kesimpulannya senaraikan beberapa photographer pilihan. Jumpa mereka dan lihat hasil kerja mereka. Kenal karekter mereka. 80% pelanggan aku datang dari bersemuka seperti ini. Mungkin sebab aku sangat comel, baik hati dan berhemah tinggi, wakakaka *perasan. Survey harga mereka dan pekej yang ditawarkan. Oh ya, photographer biasanya kurang entertain pertanyaan yang tidak serius terutamanya melalui mail.

Seeloknya pertanyaan tu disertakan dengan tarikh, lokasi, jenis album dll. Ini bertujuan nak jaga market dan pastikan hanya orang yang benar2 nak kahwin yang tanya. Bukan kanak2 bawah umur (boleh kena penjara ni) ataupun pesaing2 yang ada niat tak baik dengan mereka :) Ia juga bertujuan supaya mereka masih available pada tarikh yang ditanya tersebut.

Perlu diingat photographer juga manusia. Bukan robot, mereka juga ada perasaan. Ada masanya buat kesilapan. Itulah perlunya berbincang supaya benda camtu dapat diminimumkan pada hari bersejarah korang semua. Akhir sekali, tepuk dada, tanya pada diri sendiri sakit ke tak? hahahaha *takde kaitan, sekian. Wabillahi taufik wal hidayah wassalamualaikum warah matullahi wabarakatuh.


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'celebrity juling' syndrome

an article from a photographer
source: blog clickcouture

this is one of the many big issues a lot of my fellow friends faced nowadays. you prepared yourself for the job, you brought along the necessary gear, you wear your 'uniform' for your marketing & promotion, thinking you'll be the only one the guests will see strutting your stuff out ( especially if there are potential customers or brides-to-be among the guests ). but as soon as you stepped into the preparation room to say hi to the couple, BHAM!! another team ( i've also been to a wedding when there were even TWO! ) of photographers are already snapping away the couple enthusiastically. what should you do? act cool? or continue looking stunned at the door? hehehe..

for clients, they will say "you have to accept the challenge-lah" or some "i suka kalau ramai-ramai photographer ni, banyak angle!". some even say "sorry-lah ya, ada orang sponsor last minute!..." or " ni my best friend, dia suka-suka je nak belajar" so on and so forth. but whatever the reasons are, i am not against the idea of having more than 1 photographer from different companies but there are issues the pengantin have to take into consideration.

first of all, angle blocking. simply put, wedding photographers are angle freaks. in order to story-tell the event in the most creative manner, any good wedding photographer will go to great lengths to capture a moment in a different angle. sometimes the shot has been planned beforehand. i do know some photographers who uses their vast experience.. who have covered at the same venue over & over & over again, still check the floor plan, before everything starts. planning makes perfect, isn't it? they know when and where to shoot, to get that special shot for the client.

when the moment is up, the poor experienced photographer stationed himself at the spot he first planned. he waits, eagerly to snap. he's waiting for the right moment. suddenly, PAP!!! 2-3 photographers from the other team(s) covered the couple from the poor chap's lense, also scrambling to get an angle. and that's it. a precious moment is gone! a potential 'meletop-kinda-shot' has gone. repeat? i don't think so! :-). it works differently if you get a few photographers from the same team or company or brand. not only they're already used to work together, they would know when and where to stay off from each other's angle and also usually well equipped with walkie-talkies to communicate with each other. with different teams, i don't think we are allowed to yell to each other in a wedding. kekeke...

secondly, bored couple. i've been to a wedding whereby the unofficial photographer was always 'sticky' to the bride & groom. ke mana saja pengantin pergi mesti dia ada. all sorts of poses and actions dah disuruhnya pengantin tu buat. so when the time comes for the official photographer to shoot, they will give this look as if to say " hey, kitorang dah penat la pose! ". but hello!.. this is for the official photographer! we are the ones to prepare your album! and 'segala maknekaa' things that we've promised to give to the client at the end of the day. if we were not allowed or given this kinda look, how do you think the album will look like nanti? horror beb... hehehe

well, i know there are many other problems stemmed from this situation of banyak photographer, but i think i'll leave it to the clients to consider the ups & down of having more than 1 photographer ( or team of photographers ) from different teams on their big day ( from 1 team is OK :-) ). but this last problem is unfortunately very apparent in these events. i would love to call this ' celebrity juling' syndrome. ( tiada kaitan dengan mana-mana persendirian mahupun kumpulan yang bernama sindrom ). hehehe..

fortunate to capture a few celebrities' weddings, i always have this problem when it comes to group photo or just a simple portrait shot of the couple. why? it's because not just you who wants those shots, there will be many others next to you kelam kabut wanting that shot as well. i could remember when i was doing the shoot in Jakarta for Ashraf Sinclair and Bunga Citra Lestari, i had to have someone to stand next to me to signal Ashraf and BCL to look at me during the group photo session. next to me? berpuluh-puluh if not hundreds of other photographers. as the result, most of the shots, one will look at me and the other at someone else, and it's vice versa in a minute later. macam mata yang juling lah. sangat difficult to see at the same direction and in this case, at the same camera. and in many of my clients' weddings, this syndrome always occur during the cake cutting. hehe..

well, again, i'm not against having more than one photographer from different teams in an event, but please get the pros or the ones who has vast experience if you want to have more than one, because they should know how to avoid being in each other's frames or being a nuisance with one another. they'll know how to work seamlessly and not only you will save yourself from getting ruined pictures as the result from inter-framing of photographers, you could expect great photos from 2 pros, whom most likely will cover your event with different views from one another, without being in each other's frames! kekeke...

however, no matter what we as the photographer thinks, the call is still yours! hehehe. so decide wisely ya! :-P majulah photographer perkahwinan tempatan untuk negara! hehehe...

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as dear ashylla keeps reminding me, do have a 2nd photographer (unofficial), at least among the family members or friends to capture the detailing part. such as hantaran, deco, card, doorgift etc etc. the OP might 'miss' or forget about it, as he/she will be busy capturing the moments.

thanks for now.

p.s.: cik belle, ko nak jadi syndrome ni ke? haha..aku dengki.