A lot of people assume wedding photography in India will be a bargain. If you’re one of them, this post is for you! Fret not though, there are deals to be had…but first!
Disclaimer: This isn’t a post that justifies WHY wedding photography is expensive in the first place. There are plenty of posts online written by both brides and photographers – which explore both sides of the story. This post is only about wedding photography in India, and why it costs just as much here than it would anywhere in the world.
Whether you live in India or not – if you’re Indian, you’ve been conditioned all your life to believe that things are cheaper in India. It’s a general mindset that we carry around with us; it’s the cushion we use to comfort ourselves with when we’re frustrated with the lack of infrastructure and the various other problems that plague our nation. The light at the end of the tunnel always is the fact that’s been drilled into our brains – things are cheaper in India, so forget about the problems you face – and enjoy!
Sadly, this is not the case. The largely capitalist-economy driven lifestyle that we lead costs just as much here as it would anywhere else in the world. A meal for two in a reasonable restaurant in New Delhi will cost you just as much as it would in New York. The latest pair of Adidas running shoes will cost you a little more (at full retail price) as it would cost you in Switzerland.
This reality comes as a fairly rude shock when couples who live in the west come back to India to get married. Expecting to get high quality images at a fraction of the cost as it would in the US or America (hey, it’s India! How expensive can it be?), couples looking for wedding photographers in India are often bowled over when they realise that leading photographers charge $5,000 and above for a wedding. So I’m just going to come out and say it: Like most other commodities and services, wedding photography as a product costs just as much in India as it does anywhere else in the world.
Of course, I’m only comparing apples to apples here. You can still get traditional wedding photography (or amateur wedding photographers who are starting out) at fairly reasonable rates, but that’s another story.
Well, not really. Since I love making lists, here are 5 reasons why wedding photography costs just as much in India as it does in the US or Europe (or anywhere else):
1. Camera Equipment costs just as much in India
Wedding photographers (at least the good ones) use the best gear. We can’t help it; the rig ours of shooting a wedding call for high grade professional quality camera bodies and lenses. We put our equipment through punishing assignments – they get exposed to the dust and rain, they get knocked about in a baarat, they get knocked about with people, things and other cameras and just about anything else you can think about. For the sake of comparison,
Wedding photographers (at least the good ones) use the best gear. We can’t help it; the rig ours of shooting a wedding call for high grade professional quality camera bodies and lenses. We put our equipment through punishing assignments – they get exposed to the dust and rain, they get knocked about in a baarat, they get knocked about with people, things and other cameras and just about anything else you can think about. For the sake of comparison,
As we can see
As of writing this, US $ 6831.94 vs INR 4,55,000.
As of writing this, US $ 6831.94 vs INR 4,55,000.
I could go into more examples (like how much lenses cost) but trust me, in most cases equipment costs just as much in India (and in same cases, more!). Photographers need to cover these costs.
2. The cost of doing business is just as much in India as anywhere else
The cost-of-doing-business is a simple math formula that adds up all the fixed costs that you are likely to face while running a business. Make no mistake, professional photography is a business. You need to have an office (and pay rent), pay your electricity bills, pay your staff salaries, pay for internet, for the phone, internet hosting expenses, cost towards transportation, insurance, data backup, computing and a hundred other things I can’t even begin to think of right now. It’s a global marketplace now; and most of the costs on our lists are equal anywhere in the world.
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3. This is our full time job
Just as the cost-of-doing-business is something that Indian photographers need to think of, we also need to earn enough to take care of our family! Being a photographer is a job like anything else. We still need to pay our home rent, pay for our kid’s education, pay our mortgage , save for the future and the zillion other costs that are involved in just having a normal life in the city. As I said in the beginning – having a normal life in India costs just as much as it does anywhere else; we need to earn a living just like any other photographer anywhere in the world.
The cost-of-doing-business is a simple math formula that adds up all the fixed costs that you are likely to face while running a business. Make no mistake, professional photography is a business. You need to have an office (and pay rent), pay your electricity bills, pay your staff salaries, pay for internet, for the phone, internet hosting expenses, cost towards transportation, insurance, data backup, computing and a hundred other things I can’t even begin to think of right now. It’s a global marketplace now; and most of the costs on our lists are equal anywhere in the world.
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3. This is our full time job
Just as the cost-of-doing-business is something that Indian photographers need to think of, we also need to earn enough to take care of our family! Being a photographer is a job like anything else. We still need to pay our home rent, pay for our kid’s education, pay our mortgage , save for the future and the zillion other costs that are involved in just having a normal life in the city. As I said in the beginning – having a normal life in India costs just as much as it does anywhere else; we need to earn a living just like any other photographer anywhere in the world.
4. Ancillary costs are just as much
Apart from how much cameras and lenses cost, wedding photographers need to also stay invested in the best computers, best printers, state-of-the-art backup systems, backup power (ha! that’s an India only cost) and so on. Like most creative professions, we’re used to using a Mac system for our workflow.
Apart from how much cameras and lenses cost, wedding photographers need to also stay invested in the best computers, best printers, state-of-the-art backup systems, backup power (ha! that’s an India only cost) and so on. Like most creative professions, we’re used to using a Mac system for our workflow.
It’s not just computers – we’ve setup an entire business around photography, and we’ve invested in double redundancy – so that we can finish our back end work fast and efficiently. We’ve built our lives around providing client satisfaction – but like everything else, that comes at a cost!
5. Insurance companies do NOT cover camera equipment in India
This is a really sore point. Abroad, wedding photographers (and all kinds of photographers) are fully covered by insurance. So in case the worst happens (rain, fire, theft and so on), all they need to do is approach their insurer with a claim, and hey presto – you get some amount of your investment back, so you’re never really at risk. This sadly isn’t the case in India. No insurance company insures cameras and camera equipment. This means, that if I get mugged (or held up along the highways of Uttar Pradesh) and someone steals all my camera gear – I am finished. I really am. I’ll lose everything. I won’t get a single rupee as compensation, I’ll loose all the tools that ensure my livelihood – and I’ll be out in the streets. If you think I’m being drastic; I’m really not. This is a constant fear I live with everyday, and almost every photographer worth his salt will too. It’s just one of those risks you have to live with.
This is a really sore point. Abroad, wedding photographers (and all kinds of photographers) are fully covered by insurance. So in case the worst happens (rain, fire, theft and so on), all they need to do is approach their insurer with a claim, and hey presto – you get some amount of your investment back, so you’re never really at risk. This sadly isn’t the case in India. No insurance company insures cameras and camera equipment. This means, that if I get mugged (or held up along the highways of Uttar Pradesh) and someone steals all my camera gear – I am finished. I really am. I’ll lose everything. I won’t get a single rupee as compensation, I’ll loose all the tools that ensure my livelihood – and I’ll be out in the streets. If you think I’m being drastic; I’m really not. This is a constant fear I live with everyday, and almost every photographer worth his salt will too. It’s just one of those risks you have to live with.
It’s worth it: Indian Wedding Photographers are amongst the best in the world
A couple of years ago, (and I’m talking about as early as the late 2000’s) couples and families would invite wedding photographers from elsewhere in the world (like Europe, the US, Singapore etc.) for high quality imagery because as that time the talent in India simply didn’t exist (or was very rare). Today, the genre in general has grown leaps and bounds and there are many Indian Wedding Photographers I’ve had the pleasure of either working with or simply talking with; who are amongst the best in the world at what they do. In fact, the trend has now reversed. Many NRI Indians and other couples hire photographers from India to fly down to their native country to be a part of their wedding – just because they want the best. India never had any shortage of talent; it’s just that the genre didn’t develop until now – and with global availability of resources and learning, western styles of wedding photography have been internalized, “Indianised” – and translated into work suited for the type of weddings we have here. Of course, with global work comes global pricing. However…
A couple of years ago, (and I’m talking about as early as the late 2000’s) couples and families would invite wedding photographers from elsewhere in the world (like Europe, the US, Singapore etc.) for high quality imagery because as that time the talent in India simply didn’t exist (or was very rare). Today, the genre in general has grown leaps and bounds and there are many Indian Wedding Photographers I’ve had the pleasure of either working with or simply talking with; who are amongst the best in the world at what they do. In fact, the trend has now reversed. Many NRI Indians and other couples hire photographers from India to fly down to their native country to be a part of their wedding – just because they want the best. India never had any shortage of talent; it’s just that the genre didn’t develop until now – and with global availability of resources and learning, western styles of wedding photography have been internalized, “Indianised” – and translated into work suited for the type of weddings we have here. Of course, with global work comes global pricing. However…
Indian wedding photographers are now part of international bodies like Fearless Photographers and the WPJA (Wedding Photojournalists Association) who award excellence in wedding photography based on global styles and standards.
It’s still a great deal
There’s a silver lining here though. All said and done, there’s still a deal to be had here. Indian weddings are big, fat, fun affairs – and they have the particular characteristic of going on for at least two days. Wedding photography packages for western weddings are typically for 6-8 hours of photography (the getting ready, the wedding and the following reception). Indian wedding photography packages are typically for anywhere between 18-35 hours of photography (spread over 2-3 days). In many cases, things run late and we hardly ever kick up a fuss about working overtime. I’ve been at weddings when the original schedule had things wrapping up at midnight, and found myself at 5 in the morning waiting for the vidai to start (the wedding ended at 7 am – I had been on my feet since 8 am the previous day, and worked 24-hours non-stop).
There’s a silver lining here though. All said and done, there’s still a deal to be had here. Indian weddings are big, fat, fun affairs – and they have the particular characteristic of going on for at least two days. Wedding photography packages for western weddings are typically for 6-8 hours of photography (the getting ready, the wedding and the following reception). Indian wedding photography packages are typically for anywhere between 18-35 hours of photography (spread over 2-3 days). In many cases, things run late and we hardly ever kick up a fuss about working overtime. I’ve been at weddings when the original schedule had things wrapping up at midnight, and found myself at 5 in the morning waiting for the vidai to start (the wedding ended at 7 am – I had been on my feet since 8 am the previous day, and worked 24-hours non-stop).
What I’m trying to get at is, if you think about it; hiring an Indian wedding photographer is paisa vasool. For roughly the same price as abroad, you get two days of wedding photography instead of just one day!
If you think I’m wrong and wedding photography in India is indeed cheaper, let me know below.
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