Wedding snappers snap up biz at slashed rates
Big-budget events and parties – marriage functions included – are passé, at least for the time being, and the ‘big, fat Indian wedding’ has been downsized to meet the ‘new normal’. One immediate consequence of this downsizing has been that the photography business has suffered a body blow.
Wedding photographers are wooing customers with ‘attractive lockdown budget packages’! A flyer doing the rounds in WhatsApp groups reads: ‘Booking open for up to 50 members wedding. Attractive live streaming wedding packages in your budget.’
The packages of fatweddings have come down 5070%, costing between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000. “One of the main reasons for this is that lavish marriages have shrunk to become small affairs. A highend marriage used to have 2-3 drones, LED screens, Gimban equipment for cinematic shots, lighting paraphernalia and multiple photo and video cameras. Now, in functions where 30-50 persons are allowed, we have trimmed decor, limited arrangement so these high-end gadgets are not required so the budget has come down heavily,” said wedding photographer Amit Saheta.
Shooting too is done with just two or three people, as every head at the venue is counted in the permissible limit. “We have an eightperson staff and expenses have not stopped. We had 15 bookings for June and we are ending the month with 3 events. Expecting Rs 6 lakh business, we barely did Rs 1 lakh work. So, it’s a tough phase,” he added.
Photographer Mohd Azmi said that from 8,000-10,000 average photographs in a marriage the mandate for the last wedding he worked at was 200 photos. Those too were demanded in a pen drive and not as a wedding album, as is customary.
Arun Pushkar, another lensman, highlighted a new trend that he had witnessed. “I had a wedding booking that solemnised at a five-star hotel this month. They changed the terms and made us click from both bride and groom side. I eventually sent three persons as the budget was slashed,” he said.
In another function the prewedding shoot was cancelled totally. “Advance ‘wapas karna pada’ (had to return). I am returning the amount to them in instalments, as I had passed the advance on to my staff. It would be wrong of me to expect them to return the amount, but I will have to adjust the amount in future jobs,” he adds.
Established wedding photographers say that competition from newcomers is another reason for falling market rates. “Most photographers buy cameras and equipment on a loan. To meet monthly instalments, newcomers are ready to work at any rate,” said Mohd Asad, a photographer.
This scenario has created a win-win situation for customers. “Now, one can afford photographers that one could not think of in the small budgets we have. Spending even Rs 75,000 on marriage photography is a big thing for us. Now, at least one can negotiate and capture the golden memories forever,” said recently married Upendra, a Lucknowite.
The lensmen too don’t mind what they are getting as after July first week the ‘muhurats’ (auspicious dates) are only available after November 25 and that too in a limited number.
In functions where 30-50 persons are allowed, we have trimmed decor, limited arrangement so these high-end gadgets are not required so the budget has come down heavily AMIT SAHETA LENSMAN