"Crash Course Photography"...... basic photo workshop

05 September 2013
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Idea Workshops announces another basic photo workshop! Our cameras have given us the power to perform miracles; to capture precious moments forever. But a camera is nothing if the knowledge isn't there to back it up. We all take photos while we go out on our vacations. Photos taken during those tours document some of the most enjoyable moments of our lives. We can't say that the photos weren't good enough after we come back! We can't say, "lets do the tour again!" Thus, the only way is to know how to best utilise the camera in hand! This particular workshop, "Crash Course Photography" concentrates on two points: 1. to know the basics of photography, and 2. to understand how to translate that knowledge into great photographs while on travel! This workshop differs from other basic workshops in that it always talk about how you can utilise the camera to take better photos on tour. 

For all the details, go to this link.

on International Women's Day.....

08 March 2013

while thinking about what to write, I began to search my mind.... and ended up searching my soul.... to me, this single day to appreciate womanhood is nothing.... the people who are just inseparable parts our lives, they deserve a lot more than just a single day of appreciation... but its true that a day like this makes us think about them.... them... the persons without whom this world would've been without colour.... its because of this day that I'm writing this blog post... and its because of this blog post, that I've searched the inner parts of my soul....

every person in this world deserves his/her dues... and that what justice is all about... we are having to declare an international day for women because of the lack of justice... justice towards all the women folks out there.... we don't have to look too far to see how we are doing in terms of justice.... if every person does justice to others around him/her, there remains no injustice.... so, problem lies within our homes.... society is nothing but a collection of homes.... homes like ours...

being a family portrait photographer I have the privilege of getting close to families... seeing their bonds, feeling their emotions.... and I've never seen more emotion than what I saw in women... especially mothers..... yes, women tend to be more emotional.... but that what make them bring all the colours.... without them the world would've been full of colourless concretes.... I grew up around my mother; fell in love and married my wife; got another mother as a gift from the marriage; gave birth to a wonderful baby girl.... to me, women are all that I have... never had a sister, but that emptiness has been overcome with time, with the help of all the women I have around me; especially my sister-in-law (my brother's wife), who filled that position quite nicely....

to me, the meaning of women is a lot more than celebrating International Women's Day.... to me, everyday is a women's day.... but that day, women should be hand-in-hand with men and men should be with women.... thats the foundation of human bond.... and thats how it should be.....

cute, but "dark" images.....

27 February 2013

children are cute.... and very difficult to manage.... the combination?.... a "cute chaos"!.... well, that chaos can be controlled though, with some hard work and experience.... and that makes children's photos even more precious.... whatever you have to work hard to earn, is usually sweeter while you enjoy them.... children don't develop the expression of adults, which makes it difficult to pose them in front of a camera.... but you also have to be mindful that this is exactly what makes children, well... children.... a child's expression is a child's expression....

41 years victory.... 16 December 2012

but a more mature expression makes some unique photos of children.... something that children are not expected to do.... these photos are damn difficult to make, but always worth the try.... sometimes it just clicks, other times its a pain to pull off.... or in worst case scenario, you may have to quit.... doing our part, we've tried it many times and quite surprisingly, almost always pulled it off.... it doesn't come cheap though.... sometimes, lots of positive and/or negative motivations later, we still were undone and had to do the thing all over.... patience is the key.... we had been blessed by Lamisa's great ability to adapt to our styles.... it obviously happened because of her closeness to camera/studio since her birth.... but as said before, a child is a child... they always need that extra bit to work with them....

Lost Spring

talking of mature expressions, we've done several photos with Lamisa that needed her to portray a more melancholy mood.... making the image more "dark" thematically.... her mood was accentuated by the lighting, props and her surroundings.... at least, in the photo, that is.... but remember that while she was being photographed, all that moody environ wasn't there at all.... all of that turned into reality only after the actual photo was taken with moody lights.... moody lights depend on the artificial light settings.... and until the light flashes, its a typical environ around her.... it only becomes something to look at after the photo is made inside the camera..... for example, both the "41 years of victory" photo and the "Lost Spring" photo were made against a white wall..... the lighting made all the difference.... as a child we never expected Lamisa to understand the full meaning of what we were doing.... but we did give her cues regarding the mood that should be portrayed here.... she did respond.... just like any other preschooler would....

previously, in another post of December 2011 we've discussed three particular photo-shoots, where mood was everything.... though the moods in those photos were quite different.... the Victory Day shoot of 2011 was particularly difficult to make.... you can check it out here.... we also expect to discuss the 21st February photo of 2012, which was very popular among our viewers....

don't forget to leave your feedback.... and thanks for reading!

never miss a group shot!!

03 February 2013

group photos, especially family group photos are often neglected while they are being taken... people have too much urgency and suddenly everyone finds a work somewhere which makes them hurry.... the end result - someone is missing from the group photo.... its so common... it probably happened to everyone at least once.... but every group shot is precious.... I never found two group photos of the same group turning the same... either some people changed or they gained more members or some people went missing from the group or something else that I can't think of has happened.... the main lesson always is, don't miss an opportunity with a group shot.... either being in the group or shooting a group... its a precious moment...

this writing tries to explore some of the learning I had while shooting group photos....

 This photo was taken in 2010, and if taken again, it would be completely different

persuade, persuade, persuade.....

its true that its very difficult to get everyone in one place for a group shot... sometimes you may even have to hear some negative things for organising this, as if you're doing some harm to them.... yet, you have to have patience and have to convince others about the benefits of the venture... tell them how precious the picture would be after years....

 This photo, taken in 2010 is significant not just because its difficult to get this whole group together again, the old country-house used as a backdrop is gone now

use any camera.....

if your pro-level DSLR is too far away in your car and there's a risk that bringing that camera may result in missing the complete group, forget about the DSLR and use whatever you have with you.... this is the safe shot..... if you still get the luxury of time, get the highest megapixels and the biggest and the heaviest camera.... whatever!

 Taken in 2009, this photo can't be taken again; ever... because the central figure in the back left his loved ones within a month of taking this photo. This event was one of the biggest persuasion behind my concentration in portrait photography

forget about the technicalities....

a lot of the times we get too much involved in the technical matters and get too much into our gears.... while its OK to get the technical portions right to make sure that the end result looks good and also gives options regarding what you can do with it, make sure that it doesn't take too much time... too much time may push people's patience and may result in exclusion of some figures from the photo....

 Taken in 2007 with a 10-sec timer, this photo reminds us of our honeymoon times. The photo can be taken again today, albeit with some hassle, but it would look a lot different.

give priority to children....

if the group contains children, especially small children, always give them priority.... they're the most difficult to include in a photo... make sure they're properly fed or not feeling ill or sleepy.... and children would change the most when you do the next group shoot....

 Whenever there would be children in the photo, the photo goes old within a very short period of time. If this photo is repeated today, it would be totally different, even though it was taken less than a year ago in May 2012.

 
choose location beforehand....

if you can manage the time, choose the location well before you get the group together.... that will save time for you and you could also get prepared for any eventuality (e.g. light direction and intensity, weather, security, etc.)

use occasions.....

various occasions bring in the most number of people together, thus giving the best opportunity to get a group photo.... sometimes, we become too busy during occasions or parties and may forget group photos altogether.... get the job delegated to someone who would not forget.... if you have the latitude and if the occasion is big enough, you can think about hiring a professional to do the job for you..... that way, you don't miss the opportunity.... you don't know who might be absent from the next group photo!

and if you are interested, you can also have a look at our group photo-shoot offers "My Family My Moment" for more elaborate group photos and "One-hour Magic" for a short session with a maximum of four people....

what experiences do you have regarding group photos?.... do you have any tips to share with us?.... leave your experiences... and thanks for reading.....

the event that can make a photographer out of you!!

31 January 2013

I hope you've guessed the event already.... well, potentially there are too many such events that can come in our lives.... a travel tour; a close person's wedding; a special friends' or family event; or some freak event on the road.... but the event that eventually comes to most people lives is the birth of a child... if its not your own child, it can still be of someone very close to you.... the fact of the matter is, the event is such a special one that it hardly keeps us away from capturing the moment(s)..... its one of those magical moments in our lives when we a in tears of joy....

most people are not photographers... but most people have the desire to keep precious family moments alive through some photographs.... cameras are now at everyone's reach... at least, since mobile phones started to include cameras in them.... you no longer have to reach for the cupboard or some other less-than-easily-accessible place in your house to fetch a camera.... yet, I've known some people who bought a camera after the birth of their first child.... through this purchase, not all people can start to call themselves as photographers, but the benefit of them exercising their skills with that machine in hand would be far-reaching.... and at some point in time (usually after several years), they would realise what a precious little thing those clicks did for them....

some advices.....

there would be some advices for the new parents (also for the parents of more than one child) regarding capturing the moments of their child(dren).... and guess what, most the advices would not be related photography techniques!!... yes!!

a) make time.... we know you're busy.... but think about it.... why are you busy?... whom are you busy for?... if you do what you do for whom you do, you know what I'm talking about... don't forget to click when the moment arrives.... you don't know what you would miss just because you were tired on that particular day.... you wouldn't forgive yourself for being lazy on that day.... so, take energy from the magic you've brought to this world!!

b) don't look for the camera!!.... when you have a new baby in your house, don't keep your camera in a far-away place... keep it within reach of you so that you can click without a moment's delay... and if the camera is a bit away at the precious moment, forget it and use the best camera..... the one you always have with you.... the mobile phone camera!!.... I don't think I have to remind people of this in the age of iPhone.... just click!!...

c) explore video... if you love still photography, you should definitely do it... but you should ever underestimate the power of talking photos.... some of the baby's activities can only be captured in a video.... and another thing.... sometimes you may have to shoot in extremely low light conditions with possibility of blurry images (if you don't use a flash).... in such conditions, video is an excellent choice... and when the baby gains more activities, video only becomes more and more important...

d) don't forget to take backups..... in today's digital world, its extremely easy to lose photos... we lose our digital devices or those get damaged and we lose all the precious photos in them.... so, don't forget to take backups.... hope to do a separate blog on this subject soon....

e) all children are important.... sometimes the emotion of capturing moments wanes a bit with some couples as they become ever more busy rearing more than one child... it may be difficult for you do repeat the effort that you gave behind photographing your first child... but your other younger children also deserve the same... so, do keep clicking...

my little effort....

I've done a photo-series based on the first year's photos of my child, Lamisa.... this is one work that I'm really proud of.... its very much personal, emotional and memorable... I'm glad to mention that this piece work inspired a lot of photographer friends of mine around me to do the same.... the series was presented as an audio-visual presentation at Lamisa's first birthday event for the first time in November 2009... it was also presented during the photography exhibition "Bangladesh in Frames II" in 2010, organised by "Through the Lens: Bangladesh" (TTL) photography group....

you can find the presentation in Slideshare....

do you have similar experiences with you child?.... please share with us... and if you have learned a few more lessons, don't forget to share those as well....

 thanks a lot for reading!! ...... a lot more coming up....

the fading culture of printing precious family moments.....

29 January 2013

there was a time when printing was the only available way for most people of looking at the ultimate outputs from a photo-shoot.... it was the age of analog... digital cameras and mobile devices were still not there to flood the market.... Kodak was still doing business... but things have changed and so have the perception of people regarding images... no longer are people shooting pictures and looking at the top LCD to see how many shots are available.... people are more interested in numbers now-a-days... big numbers.... of images... as if the number of images will be biggest differentiation between a satisfying shooting experience and a dissatisfying one.... in the film days people still had an eye on the quality of the moment, as at the end of the day they would have to print the images spending some bucks!.... so, only the best moments got clicked and only the best ones got printed....

too many images and too much confusion!!

the digital age almost like washed away the culture of printing images, especially portraits... too many images are getting clicked.... and that too, from one or two occasions... why?... because people are just too busy today to shoot photos on many occasions.... the camera is out only once in a while and the rest of the year it collects dust.... when the moment comes, the camera is used until the last bit of battery charge is left there.... and the end result?.... none of the huge number of images getting printed... too many and too expensive to print.... too much confusion.... and after some time, some hard disk crash and some digital device theft later, none of the memories left to be cherished!!.... what a way to wipe off precious memories.... isn't it?.... the digital age is still too young for people to realise its ultimate debacles... after some decades a lot of people will realise what they have lost because of the digital age... in the analog days, people at least used to have some family portrait albums.... now its more like a PC desktop wallpaper!!

PC desktop and Facebook timelines replacing prints?

its not that everyone has stuck with the same culture discussed above.... there are others who have kept up the tradition and printed images to be displayed in lovely albums.... decorated their living room walls with their precious family moments.... they don't have to boot the PC to have a look at the most loved images.... the images are all round them.... the point is, what good are the images if they're never going to be displayed?.... are images only for Facebook timeline?.... to be seen for as long as Facebook algorithms allow us to see the images on our home page?.... its a pity that social sharing of a near-thumbnail image has taken over the beauty of a big size printed image....

some days back I did a video podcast on printing images.... may be you can have a look at that to refresh some of the memories regarding printing images....

whats your experience in the digital world regarding printing?.... do you print?.... or do you differ with it?.... don't forget to leave a feedback!.... thanks a lot for reading!

self-portraits, tripods and timers.....

23 January 2013

whenever we were posting some self portraits we had been knocked by many, asking how the photo was taken.... at least, one of the blogs that I've written back in November 2010 tells me the same thing.... quite obviously, the first suspect is the tripod+timer combination.... yes, of course.... simple?.... definitely not!!.... self portraits are some of those efforts that you can choose to do extremely cheaply with minimal effort or you can choose to spend a considerable amount of time to make the image stand out.... in our part, most of the time we go for the tougher option..... our philosophy is always to get a small number of quality photos rather than going for a lotta average ones.... we push ourselves until we achieve the ones we really desired.... that said, this post is more about getting portraits with tripods and timers rather than just taking photos of one's own self.... we would also talk about photos where its not just a self portrait, but the photographer himself featured in the photo along with other subjects...

whenever the photographer features in the photo, it poses some challenges.... the first problem is to get the frame right.... its just too easy to make a mistake... and the longer the focal length or the tighter the frame, the tougher it is get the framing right.... some sort of stand-in always helps to get a general idea about the frame.... the longest focal length I have used was a 150mm one.... a close head-shot.... it was extremely tough to get the frame right.... and that also complicated the second problem, focusing, even further.....

to get the focus right, it helps to choose a smaller aperture.... but the photo that I chose to do with 150mm was more about shallow DoF.... so, a larger aperture (f4) was almost like, required.... but for couple photos, it was an easier choice.... no stand-in required... your partner always gives you the convenience of focusing.... though, for individual photos I always preferred manual focusing, for couple photos or other photos with more people in the frame, auto-focus worked nicely...... but bringing in more people in the frame presented with a new problem.... time....

setting the timer is the third challenge.... you can use a remote in some cases, but without any delays set, you may find your photo with you clicking the shutter!!.... and that too, may be tricky in some cases, if the remote shutter featured in your hand.... I always found the timer to be the most convenient way to go.... it also helps to get prepared after pressing the shutter.... the distance of the camera from the subject(s) and the complexity of the pose would dictate the timer length.... sometimes a 10-sec timer is enough, but sometimes a 20-sec time is required.... a 20-sec timer can potentially make the session very lengthy and tiring if perfection or variation is expected from the shoot.... we spent as much as 90 minutes for a session with 20-sec timer....

 

but because of the 20-sec timer, there can be a fourth challenge, especially if there are several people in the frame.... everyone in the frame getting tired of the timer, and when the shutter finally closes someone is not ready.... and the more people there are in the frame, the more problems you're gonna face..... for a ground shot, we don't prefer more than 10-sec... for couple photos with more complex poses, a 20-sec time works well, giving chances to fine tune or correct some things regarding posing and framing....

another interesting option can be a combination of tethered shooting and remote trigger... I haven't used that option so far though..... do you have any experiences with tripods and timers?.... why don't you share your views?....

thanks for reading and don't forget to leave your feedback....

"Intimacy" - exclusive intimate indoor couple session

22 January 2013

Ideasrbulletproof introduces the most artistic photo-shoot offer for couples.... we understand that most people are not models, but most people have the desire to look good, especially together, when we talk about couples.... those good-looking moments create memories..... images of memories.... these memories are remembered decades after the start of their conjugal life.... the images become priceless moments; capturing time forever.... we're here to create moments in the most artistic way.... in ways that are more associated with our favourite actors in the most romantic movie moments.... think of creating art for yourselves... we're only here to help you out.... this unique offer from Ideasrbulletproof is named...... "Intimacy"....

sorry, we don't show example photos here.... we will keep privacy of our clients.... to have an idea about our portfolio for this particular offer, please give us a call: +8801711-055524


offer summary.....

a) it will be a 1 to 1.5 hour session
b) 1-2 wardrobe changes are suggested
c) formal, cute, informal, intimate, dramatic, exclusive couple moments (we'll shoot many types of images; not just the intimate ones)
d) no need to think what we will shoot... just trust us :)
e) you have some dream pose?... we'll take that too!! :)
f) please don't request anything that can be considered taboo!

We would have the session in the most homely manner possible. Just drop by our home studio Idea House. We'll have lots of fun. To get more idea about what types of photos we are talking about, please give us a call: +8801711-055524.


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Fees and Deliverables:


Session Fee:
BDT 8,000 /-

a) One session with the above details. Its the time cost for the photography team along with cost of the studio setup and equipment.

b) Session fee does not include products, which are described below.

Viewing Session:
This is a free session. Usually this is around a week after the session when the client would be able to see the photos in their digital format and choose the photos they like for the product deliverables.

Products:

-Three 4L size (4"x6") prints would be complimentary (FREE). The Ideasrbulletproof Team would choose the images for the client and present the client during the viewing session.

Photo-products* are not part of the session fee. Our photo-products start at BDT 2,000/- and goes up to what your mind desires (well, almost)!! Our photo products are ready to be hung on the wall or displayed on your desk or to be carried with you anywhere. These are the ultimate outputs that you take away from the sessions that you do with us. We invest time and effort to bring to you some of the most attractive photo products available in Bangladesh. We custom design the products to make them unique. Our innovation is continuous to come up with the most unique photo items. For some business reasons we do not post photos of our products online. So, to learn more about our products, please call us: +880-1711-055524.

*digital photos are more like digital negatives.... you have to process them to see them in their ultimate form... that processing is not done during the session.... the photographer or someone else will give hours behind that effort in digital darkroom... cost of photo products include cost of processing, cost of designing products (which are ready to be hung on the wall or displayed on desktop or printed on the pages of a finished coffee table book), and cost of printing, framing, and other costs..... the photographers give their time and let you get the facilities of a professional studio setup for a session fee (you don't have to spend millions to set it up yourself)

if you want to know why we are this kind of pricing policy, please visit this link....

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Location for the Shoot:
a) We are mainly an on-location photography team. But this particular photo-session would be at our home studio, Idea House.  For further details about the location of our home studio, please give us a call at +880-1711055524.
b) We may also do this shoot at an indoor place of client's own choice. For such a session, please add BDT 5,000/- to the session fees listed above.
c) If the shooting location is outside Dhaka, client would arrange transportation facilities for them. Ideas_R_Bulletproof team and their equipment would be transported in own vehicle and the cost of that would be paid by the client.



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Booking and Payment Procedure:
a) Just go to this link and follow instructions or give us a call at +8801711-055524.

strobist setup diagrams.... why you should maintain...

20 January 2013

a lot of our blog followers are strobists and one of the most attractive subjects is strobist setup diagrams.... a very useful tool for learning lighting for sure... though its a two-dimensional tool that doesn't cover height or angle of light modifiers... still, it has a great amount of use to document things quickly... the three-dimensionality can be achieved by keeping as much info in the diagram as possible... some of the objects don't quite match with the actual setups sometimes, which can be rectified by drawing your own stuff... now-a-days I hardly have the time to draw these diagrams, but it was a very important companion for me in my early days as a strobist... it was more than three years ago when I became a strobist... and I had been enjoying this ever since... the early setups and resulting images were crude, yet they paved the way for me to grow up as a photographer....

one of the best things you can do about lighting setups is to keep a document of the setup... it can be in the form of a hand-drawn diagram in a notebook or it can be a digital file.... digital files surely help in these digital times though.... but its not like an EXIF data that comes automatically with a digital image... you have to create the diagram, and thats the pain.... I highly recommend early strobists to draw lighting diagrams.... I've become a lazy bum now, but people like Joe McNally still draw diagrams on paper even after teaching thousands of photogs through hundreds of workshops.... so, try to do this even its a pain... it also helps to keep a document of setups that you want to repeat in the future, especially of complex setups... again, you need to be as detailed as possible in terms of documentation for maximum usefulness...

digital diagram files are readily available on the web... I used the file available for download (in PSD format) for free at www.kevinkertz.com, developed by Kevin Kertz... thats a great deed by him for all the strobists out there...really admirable job...

here are some of the more popular strobist diagram posts in this blog.... may be these can be useful for you.... just click on the image to go to the relevant blog posts...

thanks for reading... please leave a feedback to help us provide useful stuff for you....


Brightening up a gloomy day - one-light strobist set-up





Lamisa's playhouse - two-light strobist set-up



Day-long strobist - two-light strobist set-up for black backdrop

whats more dynamic than a white wall?

17 January 2013

just a few days back when we produced our winter theme photo, we received some nice feedback, including a praise for the choice of backdrop (from Mahmood Hussain Mehedi... thanks, buddy!!).... it was a grey backdrop, nothing more.... but this grey backdrop wasn't even grey in reality.... it was, in fact, a white wall and the control of light produced that grey background.... it produces images a lot different from that of a genuine grey backdrop... the biggest difference between the white wall and grey backdrop is the diversity that is achievable from the backdrop... the grey backdrop will not give pure white unless its blasted with a zillion watt-second of light!... the white, on the other hand, is much easier for producing diverse background... just a tweaking of light directions can produce completely different images.... its much more dynamic...

I've used my white wall to produce lots of images that are difficult to associate with the same backdrop.... using gels or cookies produce even more drama.... but just a mere control of light with softboxes or grids can produce totally different images.... the best part of using controlled light on such a backdrop is the gradient that I get.... that gradient produces something more natural, which can't be achieved only with a backdrop.... so, I would say its the combination of lighting and white wall that produces the diversity, not just a bare white wall....

my favourite lighting tool to be used with the white wall is the Elinchrom Ranger + Simpex 50cmx120cm softbox combo... it gives so much flexibility that it almost made me crazy, as I was constantly drawn to this combo alone... sometimes its good to have some fill-light options to cut shadows or back-light options to give the images more edge...

I would be glad to produce a video podcast with a review of the above lighting combo sometime... but as my main video podcast platform Youtube is currently banned in Bangladesh, it can't be done so soon.... I'm keeping my fingers crossed, though...

please give your feedback... whats your most favourite background option when it comes to dynamism?

is there a better portrait backdrop than Baliati Palace?

15 January 2013

old buildings automatically make great subjects... their time-driven textures add that natural element to human creations to make it perfect for crazy people like photographers.... photographers like textures... they venture into stinky damp places in search of textures... but remember that photos only contain visuals, they don't record smell or any other negative aspect of the place... so, if the end result looks cool, that would justify anything...

I've seen Joe McNally take subjects down to shaky boats on crocodile-infested Florida swamps or on flying helicopters above the "Hollywood" sign... all of that to get a great natural-looking backdrop... others like Joel Grimes make their mark as composite artists, combining the subject and the backdrop in Photoshop in a way that would make even the best of critiques think twice...

 Baliati Palace provides a diversity in backdrop like no other....

anyway, back to old buildings... like many other photographers, I also got fascinated a little with old buildings as portrait backdrops... Baliati Palace at Manikganj is one of the prime places I've found in Bangladesh... its walls, doors, and arches give numerous opportunities to diversify framing.... they're no doubt great backdrops, but there's something missing there... its not the place where I would go to get a wide shot... for that kinda shot, I would prefer Panamnagar at Sonargaon in Narayanganj.... that place is also great for lovely old backdrops, but recent 'renovations' over there wiped off a lotta cool textures forever and also put some of the most attractive buildings beyond limit... entering these buildings is a challenge for most... though with proper permission its possible to get access...

Panamnagar gives an excellent option with open spaces inside ruins....

another place I would consider good for portrait photography is Rani Bhabani's Palace at Natore..... this place doesn't provide a lotta different backdrops, but certainly a handful.... the other attractive place near Rani Bhabani's Palace is Puthia Palace at Rajshahi.... Puthia's position is a little sensitive though.... I've seen Bangla movie shoots there with actors dancing on temples... well, my experience says thats exactly what one should avoid if you want some last friendship with people over there.... I've got tremendous support from Puthia's caretakers because of my gentle handling.... anyway, this is a sacred place and mostly contain temples... still there are opportunities there keeping the place's integrity intact.... the things most unique about this place are its terracotta.... the temples are full of fantastic terracotta art.... though the terracotta is missing in a lotta places, its still something not to miss....

Puthia Palace provides magnificent terracotta backdrops....

Rani Bhabani's Palace at Natore has some cozy backdrops....

so, do I really think that Baliati is the best portrait backdrop from the ones that I've seen?.... difficult question, but I would say 'yes'.... unless I want open spaces within old structures... for that I would pick Panamnagar... and if I want terracotta, it has to be Puthia.... it also puts the matter of convenience to the fore.... Puthia and Rani Bhabani Palace are far from the capital Dhaka, whereas Panamnagar is the closest, closely followed by Baliati....

what do you think?.... whats your favourite old backdrop? :)

an explanation of our pricing policies....

08 January 2013

one of the questions that we regularly face is - 'what is a photo product?' .... well, to give a proper answer to this question, we need to give a brief overview of our pricing policies... this can explain a lot about how we do our pricing and why we do so.... we have received almost too many words about we being expensive... perhaps after looking at these explanations you would think otherwise....

how did we end up with "session fee + photo product" pricing policy?


so, why did we switch to this complex "session fee + photo product" pricing policy? .... its simply the choice of our clients.... we used to have a straightforward package-type policy whereby there was a single fee amount that would cover costs of photo session, editing and products... e.g. a client would be paying "x" amount for photo-shoot and editing of the photos and in the end, would get a specific number of printed photos of some specific size at the end of it without any extra cost.... that means, the client pays "x" amount for everything.... simple enough... but why did we move away from this?.... demand for customization... we received requests for photos of various sizes, which means photos that would be displayed in a variety of ways... some would like the photos displayed on the wall, others would want them on their desk, while others would like to keep their photos within albums.... this customization demand forced us to redesign our packages... yet, it wasn't enough.... people needed even more customization options.... so, we started to look for a different option that would bring the maximum amount of flexibility into our pricing.... the current pricing offers literally innumerable possible combinations....

why do we charge "session fees"?

lets now talk about session fees..... how do we justify that?.... we have invested a substantial amount of money behind equipments, props, and other stuff.... and most of these things need to be replaced within 2-4 years... so, its quite obvious that we need to recover the cost of all those stuff.... and we never have 365 days to recover that cost... why?.... think about it... which days of the week would you give us for a photo-shoot?... for a viewing session?... or for receiving the photo products?.... our experience says that it would most possibly be a weekend or a holiday.... how many weekends or holidays do we have?.... if one client needs one weekend day for a shoot, a second weekend day for a viewing session and a third weekend day for product delivery, you can do the math yourself....

now comes the quality of work.... does it come out of nowhere?.... certainly not.... photography is a technical thing and you need to study and learn it before you can say that you are ready to become a professional.... mastering this craft requires a lot of study, practice and time.... and the more experience someone gains through this process the more demanding he/she would be..... simple math.... think about it... if an entry-level executive works for one hour and gets "x" amount for that, a manager-level employee with a lotta experience would certainly cost "x + another certain amount"..... and then also add the creativity, complexity, and uniqueness of work.... the simpler the work, the less time requirement; so, less expensive...


"photo products"?.... what are those?

now comes product development.... increased demand of customization pushed us to look for better value addition.... we started to invest time and money behind new products... we designed them, piloted their productions and made them ready.... the products are finished items that you put to display on your wall, on your desk, in your bag or any other place.... its ready for display..... so, where are those products?... why can't we see them online?.... well, thats a question we would answer only over phone.... so, please give us a call (+8801711-055524)....

do the "editing" cost anything?

think hard..... a single photo may need an average of 10-15 minutes of editing time.... so, if a session produces 20-30 photos, how many hours of editing work would there be?.... simple math.... well, you may say that you need 1-3 photos, not more than that.... but wouldn't you ask us to produce 20-30 photo options from where you would like to choose 1-3 photos?..... that means all the photos need to be edited..... and someone has to learn that editing, isn't it?.... you just can't bring someone and tell him/her to edit a photo.... you require certain skills to do that.... that means you need a person with certain skills to spends hours behind your photos after they were taken in the studio.... now, you don't think its worth some cost?.... oh, don't forget the high-end editing equipment required to edit high-resolution digital files.... those need to be replaced every 2-4 years.... the editing cost in embedded in the "photo product" cost.... so, if you think our photo products are expensive, think of the whole story, not just a part of it....

and "overhead"?

how can forget the "other" costs?.... ufffff..... yes, there are more costs.... think about the marketing costs.... the cost of reaching you, the cost of maintaining communication with our clients.... advertising, Internet bills, phone bills, courier bills, delivery costs, website subscriptions.... think about the administrative costs.... house rest, utility bills, equipment maintenance, etc. etc..... if we forget these costs, we wouldn't be here to provide you with our services....

after reading all these, you may still say that we are expensive.... but perhaps at the corner of your heart, you may say that we have some justification.....

thanks for reading!! :)

what we did in 2012 and what we plan for 2013....

01 January 2013
Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh

2012 wasn't quite the starting year of our business, but we did most of our work this year.... when January 01, 2012 came up, we were a completely different company than what we are today.... we crossed a lotta hurdles and learned a lot, which contributed to our current position.... there were a lotta hard lessons, which made us upset sometimes, but when we take our time and contemplate, we know that was necessary....

we can't help thank our friends, clients, partners and well-wishers for being with us in 2012 and supporting us in various capacity.... we really have too many names to mention.... but some of the names require special mentioning..... KAK (all 6 of them), KM Mobin, AKA, Bijuman, Rezwan Tokon, Tahmid Munaz, Sk Saadi, Anik (Imtiaz Moyeen Syed), Lippu (Momenur Rashid Siddique), Yeasef Akbar, Gaziman, Sadia Sharmin, Mona, Sumon Bhai, Riad (Shah Fayed), Lita Bhabi, and all others whose names we missed here!!.... we can't thank you enough!!

the offers we ran throughout the year....

we introduced our outdoor couple shoot offer "Under the Same Sun" at the start of 2012.... this was one of the major breaks from our mostly indoors works.... one of our major events of the year 2012 was "Scrap-book Memories" offer, which we ran a promo for the whole month of April (62% OFF!!).... this offer brought a lotta interest from people all over and won us a lotta admirers....we also introduced other economical packages like "The World of Colours" and "Snow White" for 2-5 year old children; "My Family My Moment" family group session;"The First Cake" first birthday session; etc.... the most successful offer of the year was "One-Hour Magic", which became a favourite among families.... we would be offering periodic promo offers for different types of photo-shoots, but all we can tell is that they won't be offered at the same time.... so, you either wait the whole year for such offers or..... :)

free promotional sessions....

we ran several quiz contests on our Facebook page throughout the year that had free sessions as prizes.... but that opportunity only went to the winners.... all this changed with one of our most important offers of the year... "Referral Credit Program", which gave the power in the hands of our clients to win a FREE SESSION for themselves....we ran the promotion for another free session on 04-05 January 2013.... and we don't think we would be repeating such promo sessions too often in 2013... but we might come up with some quizzes on our Facebook page and tag some attractive prizes with it... stay tuned...

publicity.....

one of the major events for us during the year was being featured on major national daily "Prothom Alo"'s weekly lifestyle magazine "Noksha".... it brought us a lotta prestige and also added a lotta credibility to our new business....


policy changes....

one of the major policy changes of our business came in late June-early July, when we switched from full packages to "Session Fee + Photo Products" concept.... we had to explain our clients a lot about this.... its still some way to go before everyone can take this as normal... but our effort is there to make things easy to understand and also to help our clients with decision-making.... we also promise our clients to come up with ever more innovative photo-products.... those who had seen our products have an idea of what we are talking of.... only those who do sessions with us would be able to see the products first-hand.... not much more of that would be posted online though... its a matter of our business policy.... sorry folks! :(

workshops....

we have a lotta followers who are interested in photography.... after getting a lotta requests, we decided to offer something for them too.... with that in mind, we brought out our new venture "Idea Workshops".... we ran several workshops throughout the year that dealt with basic and intermediate level lighting, and basic photography.... lack of time again impeded progress and precluded regular offering of such workshops.... we hope to introduce some more workshops in 2013....

video podcasts....

January was also the start of our Video Podcast series... this was something that we really loved, but lack of time and also, lack of feedback from viewers discouraged this effort until the government had the final say in banning Youtube in Bangladesh later in the year.... our last video podcast was on 23 June 2012.... perhaps we can start doing this again once our government realises how they deprived people....
we would love to get some feedback from our end... that would certainly encourage us to continue with our drive to do better.... :)