The recession is here again. How do you think this recession is gonna affect the wedding photographers here? Any insights from pros here who have gone thru the last recession?
How would the recession affect the wedding photography business?
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I have been through some of them. Here's what will happen:
1. Watch the most influential studios and photographers. They will probably change pricing due to their operating cost.
2. When this happens, there will be a domino effect and market price for all tiers will be adjusted accordingly.
3. Photographers will have to watch their overheads like rent and expenditure to ride the recession out. Prices will have to adjusted also.
Zohan.
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I think recession or not, the following are businesses that will stil thrive:
>> Wedding Studios
>> Medical/Surgical/Dental Clinics
>> Private & Gov Hospitals
>> Car Repair/Mod Shops
>> Geomancy Services
>> Computer Retail/Repair Services
>> Cooked Food Hawkers
... err.. the rest are rather iffy...
>> Wedding Studios
>> Medical/Surgical/Dental Clinics
>> Private & Gov Hospitals
>> Car Repair/Mod Shops
>> Geomancy Services
>> Computer Retail/Repair Services
>> Cooked Food Hawkers
... err.. the rest are rather iffy...
I think the high end photographers will consolidate, the market will disappear for the mid end and the low end photographers will race toward lower prices, accelerating the disparity in wedding photography prices between the high and low end market. The recession will simply accelerate a process which has already been taking place over the last few years.
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vince123123
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Actually I disagree with "geomancy services", "computer retail" - people will simply cut back on these when there is no money.
For "wedding studios", when there is no money, they will simply avoid the more expensive studios, or choose cheaper packages, hence again this industry is affected.
For medical, same thing, in times of no money, pple will avoid seeing doctors and just "tong" their illness.
We need to think of the lower income bracket rather than the mid-high income bracket where these services will still be used even in recession.
For "wedding studios", when there is no money, they will simply avoid the more expensive studios, or choose cheaper packages, hence again this industry is affected.
For medical, same thing, in times of no money, pple will avoid seeing doctors and just "tong" their illness.
We need to think of the lower income bracket rather than the mid-high income bracket where these services will still be used even in recession.
Actually, I do agree with ckuang.
It depends on how niche your market is, whether photography is the first thing they'll cut. I actually posed that question to clients who just signed up recently, their take was take away the chinese banquet and hold their wedding in the backyard
Another interesting observation.. a lot of my clients rather cut a real cake than a styrofoam box on their wedding day, guess end of the day it's a mindset.
It depends on how niche your market is, whether photography is the first thing they'll cut. I actually posed that question to clients who just signed up recently, their take was take away the chinese banquet and hold their wedding in the backyard
Another interesting observation.. a lot of my clients rather cut a real cake than a styrofoam box on their wedding day, guess end of the day it's a mindset.
a small real wedding cake cost few hundreds dollars.
a big gigantic dummy cake is Free.
that is the different mindset of our clients.
You'll be surprised. Rich people doesn't mean they're willing to spend on photography. Money to spend and power to spend is 2 different things altogether
And frankly, even the most pricey photographers here aren't charging exhorbitant or prohibitive rates like USD$25k for a wedding, which is a norm overseas.I've encountered rich people who stays in big condos and drive swanky cars, dealing with them was a pain esp when the whole process from day 1 right down to delivering the images was about bargaining and finding little things to ask for rebates.
Likewise, I've also got couples who aren't very well off, stays in 3/ 4 room HDB that cut real wedding cake on their wedding day. To the typical price sensitive Singaporean, people must be crazy spending $6k on wedding photos; likewise, some couples just cannot accept the fact that they're going to cut a block of styrofoam as their wedding cake.
Agree fully with your first part. But for the second, not quite. There is really some difference, but I would say going digital has helped many join the bandwagon of being a wedding photographer.
With digital, it makes being a wedding photographer a lot easier than the film days. To the point that some of these so-called pro photographers simply produce screwed-up shots which they don't even know are that! But to be fair, not all are like that of course.
As to whether or not the bad economy will affect the choice of photographer, it's hard to say I think. Anything goes. But I tend to think, yes, generally.
Anyway, I find couples overe here tend to spend a lot of unnecessary time and money preparing for the wedding. For eg, choosing a photographer, how many tables to hold banquet, where to hold it, etc etc. Then there are the quarrels, misunderstandings between parents/relatives on who to invite or not to, etc etc. Aiyoh, it's sad really. What for??
As for the photos, from each and every one of the couples I speak to, friends and colleagues, all the photo albums very quickly ended up stored in some deep corner of the room, and will hardly be referred to from there on. Like it or not, it's a one day event, life goes on, and there are many other matters to attend to in life.
So, yes, my guess is, with the bad economy, I feel a higher percentage of couples will try to take cheaper photographers who can produce just decent shots.
hmm, i'm in my 20s liao, quite alot of my frenz/relatives still get married, =D
Maybe cos this year is a mouse year, good year to get married, in my opinion i think the tiger year will have lesser ppl getting married.
*contributing my small knowledge from observing
aniway gd luck!
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http://jasminesg.multiply.com/photos
Honestly you don't need eagle eyes - at least some of us don't. While we can't price the difference just by looking, the difference is easily seen most of the time.
I'm sure you can see a difference in light/shadow, composition, pose, moment etc. At the most basic level, it should shout out to you more, if you compare shots that have been well taken?
I'm not saying all $600 photog photos are bad, but if a high percentage of his/her shots are good, he/she should know it and many people can attest to it and it's time to move up the bracket?
I'm sure you can see a difference in light/shadow, composition, pose, moment etc. At the most basic level, it should shout out to you more, if you compare shots that have been well taken?
I'm not saying all $600 photog photos are bad, but if a high percentage of his/her shots are good, he/she should know it and many people can attest to it and it's time to move up the bracket?
I guess like wat CKuang said...the high ends will come together to a decent range of price and the lower ends will simply undercut one and other just to get the job...a friend recently compared himself with the middle range and said...if i get 5 jobs a month of $500 i already have $2.5k. Sometimes its not the case of who cannot afford...but of who would stoop lower.
If wedding photographers in singapore is to come a consensus that photography will not go below $800 at the lower ends...does it mean no one will hire a wedding photographer anymore? The discipline is in you to educate the market.
If wedding photographers in singapore is to come a consensus that photography will not go below $800 at the lower ends...does it mean no one will hire a wedding photographer anymore? The discipline is in you to educate the market.
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vince123123
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Then it is possible that there may be an investigation for anti-competitive practice
no la...what i meant was that...its in their own discipline not to undercut. No one can force anyone to charge a certain price...no one can stop you from under cutting too.
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