The latest buzz now is the new kid in the block…. the Nikon D800 with it’s impressive 36mp image sensor. A bit too impressive for me actually. It’s a bit of an overkill when it comes to weddings, which I shoot most if not exclusively. But the new camera by itself trumps the huge megapixel count drawback.

But at a price of approximately RM9k, it’s quite an investment.

The other idea I was toying with is to get a “semi-pro” camera like the X100 below.

It’s retro feel and looks is quite impressive. And it’s performance is rather interestingly amazing, especially for a non DSLR.

Coupled with the retro ‘casing’, it completes it’s retro look.

But.. at RM3k… it’s rather pricey for a non DSLR. 

So it’s back to the drawing board.

Maybe a D3s?

That’s a 5 figure camera.

decisions!!

Recently, a bride somewhere posted on a website somewhere, venting her disappointment at wedding photographers who seem to charge brides (somehow the groom went missing in her ‘essay’) cut-throat prices (something to the tune of USD3k). Apparently she accuses wedding photographers of charging an average american’s monthly wage for a single day of ‘hanging around’ weddings, taking tons of pics and editing them.

probably this was what she thought wedding photographers do most of the time (photo thanks to Dizzy)

There were lots of responses to that particular comment, particularly in photographers’ blogs and surprisingly, also on various other ‘lifestyle’ blogs. Interestingly there were some commenters who defended the bride.

Anyhows, here’s my thought on this issue. I actually wrote a comprehensive and detailed version but thought it would be better just to have a different version. The earlier version was rather similar to that of the other blogs. So anyways…

Here in Malaysia, you have various options for wedding photographers. Actually, you are spoilt for choice. You can choose the professionals whose chargers ranges from RM8k-RM10k… possibly more. Then there’s the those who dedicate their weekends and any free time to their wedding photography business. They range from RM1.2k all the way to RM6k. Then there’s the “I just got a DSLR and now I am a wedding photographer” photographers. Oh.. and then there’s the friend-friend photographers. The last two ranges from free-of-charge to RM400-600.

The difference? Quality of work. Dedication. Responsibility. Uniqueness. Friendliness. Dare I say quirkiness?

So how do you exactly choose your wedding photographer?

It’s rather simple actually. It’s like buying a car. You decide on what type of car you want, then you set a budget. After that, you go car hunting. You buy car mags to read the reviews. You go online to check out online reviews. Read about what other people are saying about the cars you have in mind. Then you go to the showroom, check out the car, talk to the salesman, see what offer they have. And then go on a test drive. After all that, you review your findings. What are the prices, what are the equipment offered. Does the car have the necessary required safety features? You see, when I first wanted to buy a new car, my most important requirement was that the car must have ESP or Electronic Stability Program. That narrowed down the list of cars.

So it’s the same when you choose your wedding photographer. You might want to first set what kind of photos you want. Then search for them. Ask you friends about it. Search online, in magazines. If you can, and I always recommend, that you meet up with your photographer in person. Why? to see if you can *click* with your photographer…

… like this…

.. or maybe you may find his sense of humour a bit.. erm… disturbing? or maybe you dig his quirkiness..

… (photo thanks to khai@cheekyboy)

Or maybe you might like how he is able to interact with kids???

(photo thanks to anson)

Or maybe his attention to detail/food?

(photo thanks to Stefanie)

.. oh.. and like I always say to people… a good photographer is not shy to be in front of the camera once in a while..

(photo thanks to cow)

(photo thanks to JasonW)

End of the day, it’s your wedding and your money. You decide. but remember, the wedding photographer is there for you, to capture your wedding moments which will last you a lifetime. The keyword here is “moments”. The posed group photos and such are not much of the worry since I believe there would be tonnes of camera during your special day. It’s the emotion in captured moments which will bring you back to your wedding day after many many years. I get emotional sometimes when I see the mother of the bride burst into tears as she wishes her daughter and her new son in law during tea ceremony.

“ Ah lui.. mummy love you… Ah boy.. I give you my dotter ya.. you take care of my daughter ya.. *sob sob*"

then they embrace and both burst into tears. aiyor.. sometimes really got to fight back tears…

So anyways.. I hope you enjoy my rant as my first blog entry of 2012… as much as I enjoyed posting my camwhore pictures. buahaha.

It has really been a while since I last updated my blog. I do not know why. Laziness? Maybe. Nothing exciting to blog about? Hmm.. possible. I do not know.. really. But hey! Better now then never right?

So what have I been up to?

Nothing much. Work. Come home. Chores. Computer games. Yamcha. Oh.. I did some radio thing. I previously got my amateur radio license which allows me to get on the specified frequency legally. Many people do not know that you actually need a radio license to operate a two way radio. Some people say that it’s alright and that you can use low powered walkie talkies to do a little chatting or coordinating like during an event where you need to communicate with your team. Or while in a vehicle convoy heading somewhere.

Like for example in a construction site where you need to talk to that fella sitting on that crane and coordinate where to place that 5 ton slab of concrete.

I tend to be a little “kia si” so I went ahead and got myself a license.

It has nearly been 5 years since I got my radio license. And only a couple of days back that I really got on to a repeater to have a chat with a couple of fine gentlemen. What’s a repeater? Well, it’s a bit lengthy to explain but think of it as a chat room where anyone within it’s range can tune in. I also got myself a nice little antenna to maximise my radio’s range.

(that’s not me yeah… that’s the other photographer in the funky FingerOnShutter.com)

You see, there are generally 3 types of radios. Firstly is the base radio. These are usually more powerful stuff you put at home. They look like music amplifiers with a lot more dials and buttons. The second is the mobile station, or a car radio. They look much like a car stereo. These two are more powerful, or more efficient type of radios. The third one are hand-held radios. They look like.. well.. walkie talkies. They generally have a typical output of 5watts. The other two are about 10 times more powerful… or more.

This is my handheld radio… or rather part of it. The main subject of this is the antenna, I bought this during my trip up north to Hatyai some years back. Kind of limited as it can only do a certain frequency, but it does make the radio look nicer.

Will report back more once I got more photos of the hand held, the antennas and.. oh yeah.. i got myself a nice mag-mount base for the huge antenna. In the mean time, anyone of you who has a radio license, can look me up on RKK which I usually monitor whenever I can…

Till the next blog entry… 73 and Cheerio!