Benjamin's Blog

Many people asking me, “How much you charge for …….?”
I need to reply them with X amount of money for X amount service and product.

And they will make a comparison with what other photographers are providing.
This is what usually a consumer will do when making a decision, noting wrong with that.
However, for portrait photography, it is easy to compare with what you can see, can touch.
But is very hard to compare what you can’t really see and can’t really touch.

How do you put a value on the talent of a photographer?
How do you put a value on your experience with the portrait session?
How do you put a value on a portrait of your child, which you will say to yourself this is so him/her when you see it?

So what is the value of the portrait of your family or your kids?
To others, it means nothing, but it mean a lots to you.

Now, spend a moment to think, look at this photo, if this is you.
What does it mean to you?
Will you think about your parents?
Will you appreciate what your parents have done for you by seeing yourself in this photo?

If you have such photos, congrats, you are the lucky few, not many people at your age have such photos.
If you don’t, no matter how much you willing to spend is also not possible to recreate such photos.
Lets face it, nobody can rewind the time back to the past.

Will you want to keep some childhood memory for your child,
create a timeless portrait for him or her now?

Many years ago, when I photography a wedding day event, a junior photographer tag along with me. I let him take some group photos, such shots most wedding photographers will just pose people and shoot it without second thought, however I happen to see how it done as a bystander.

As I observe him taking the shots, I notice he will say “Yi, Er, San, Xiao!” (One, Two, Three, Smile in mandarin) for every shots he took, and not only group photos, even pose couple or solo photos he also saying the same thing. I got a big headache on that day after hearing countless “Yi, Er, San, Xiao!” during the wedding. It can really make people “Ki Xiao” (go nuts).

Such incident make me think more deeply about wedding day photography, to be exact is about photography people, can a photographer expect good photos by asking people to smile when prompted to? Yes? No?

When photograph people, I interact, engage with my subjects, sometime even tell them jokes, the expression I get is genuine, many couples commented they are very glad that engaged me as photographer, as their friends and relatives really enjoy and it shows on their photos.

Beside engage your subject when photographing them, sometime you can also photograph them at a distance as an observer. But do remember your subject is not a dispenser machine, press a button and their smile will pop out.

after one year of absent, trying my best to write.