With effect from Aug 2011, Pixareuz Photography will be having a specialized discount and/or package just for you, our loyal customer! The coolest part is that you, as an ex-client of us, is entitled to pass on these special loyalties to someone you know as well. This means that if you recommend Pixareuz Photography to someone you know, he/she will get these special discounts! Good things should definitely be shared! =)

 1.     10% discount for wedding premium packages

If you are getting married, and you had previously engaged us for an outdoor photoshoot, or even your engagement, you will receive 10% discount on our premium wedding packages! How awesome is that?

2.     Truly a SPECIAL package!

If you had engaged us for any occasion and would like to have an outdoor photoshoot, we have designed a specialized package for you!

• 1.5 hours of outdoor photography
• 20 pages 8” x 12” album
• 20 fully edited images in cd
• Outdoor Photoshoot of ANY KIND (e.g. maternity, family, wedding)

3. 20% discount on the basic outdoor photography package

Terms & conditions: The discount/package is not valid with any other promotions.

Please email to pixareuz@live.com. We are spreading the love to you, you should too!

I would like to share with our readers why and how we turned our sideline photography entrepreneurship to the path of becoming a full-blown business. Many of you who have asked quotations from us would probably wonder why we are charging ‘steep’ prices for a standard 12-hour package. This is our take on it, and we hope you will accept this in your own way.

Syukri had the passion for photography ever since he was a child. He never had the right equipments, or maybe, the ample opportunities and timing to successfully dwell in this passion. That was until 2008, when I, Shaheerah, realized that there was a unique take on the shots that he’s been taking. Details came out alive!  It may sound pretty comical, but indeed, this was the critical juncture that pushed him to dive into the passion more professionally.

He was in National Service (NS) back then, while I was pursuing my degree in NUS, and you would probably wonder how did we ever manage to take such a big risk into going into a business like this? It was simple. I merely wanted him to turn his passion into something bigger, into a dream come true. He, on the other hand, wanted to do what he has always loved most. Photography isn’t just about capturing pictures through the lens. Why do some pictures from renowned photographers appear to be so mesmerizing and splendid compared to others? It’s not just about skills and techniques. There are important ingredients involved if you put yourself out in the field. We were definitely in it for a ride, we thought. With no capital, no experiences, no contacts, how are we ever going to manage it?

Undeniably, we were scared. I was only 21, and Syukri was 23 when we first started out. We were young and ignorant. But the rationale was simple. We would start out small, get all the experiences needed, furnish ourselves with a clientele base and we would make it. It wasn’t as simple as it sounded. Syukri started shooting his very first engagement for a friend, free of charge. It wasn’t just pictures in soft copy, there were printed pictures, even an album. We used our own ‘pocket-money’ and started publishing on multiply. We also had the help from my contacts who were willing to be ‘models’ for our portfolios, which have been a wonderful bunch of people right up from the moment we started till today. You guys know who you are.  :) We then slowly started getting exposure from the public and we started picking up speed. However, the time was not ripe yet for Syukri to start shooting for weddings. Not a big risk-taker, I must say. But he was soon given a chance to shoot for his very first wedding in 2009, in which he finally had the courage to do so. It was indeed the start of the many adventures.

We started meeting clients anywhere and everywhere, even under the void decks. We are glad to have many wonderful clients the past years that understood and gave us their full support. But we were only charging very little, for the much effort that we had to go through. We thought we should raise prices as there was a demand for his works and honestly, Syukri could only take on a small number of assignments a month. We were also encouraged that the enquiries didn’t slow down despite the increased rates.

Our breakthrough was in 2010, when we were surprised that we had many weddings in our list. Due to hard work and effort, and more so through word of mouth, we were indeed getting better. Syukri’s style of photography leans towards the emotive and passionate. He loves meeting new people. More importantly, he gets himself engaged on the day of the shoot. The energy level required is really high, with the way he shoots. In addition, we started having to spend more time on matters that was outside of photography. We spent more time answering emails, meeting clients, getting the contracts sorted out, delivering the albums, making new albums, sourcing for ideas, and the list goes on.  In fact, all these were on top of Syukri being a full-time student, where his time is almost split in half, or even more, having to deal with both school as well as to be physically present for actual shooting and the number of hours he has to put in for the digital imaging part.

This year, we raised our prices again because we have factored in a lot more into our expenses, the equipments, the editing software, the lenses used, as well as the making of albums.

We worked out the expenses and the time spent on each wedding. He could easily spend about 28 – 30 hours on each wedding – 12 hours on the actual shoot (maybe more for outdoor photography as well), 6 – 8 hours on the digital imaging work, 4-6 hours on laying the album out in Photoshop, 1-2 hours each time he meets a client for appointment(s), and 1-2 hours physically doing up the album. We are still doing quite a number of weddings in a year, especially now that he shoots wedding outdoor photography and we would like to embark on overseas bridals very soon!

The style of photography is also pretty different from what it was and so is the quality of images. Syukri spends a lot of time with his couples. I am sure you will realize that his works will show the passion and drive that he has for them. It’s often about searching within yourself, and asking why are you in this line in the first place? It may sound rather cliché, but we believe that has been the very foundation of our business.

Lastly, we trust that the client’s experience start way before meeting up with us. It starts from the moment they first hear of our name/branding. We have also gone into using advertising mediums to attract more customers as well. To do them well, requires significant time, effort, and higher material costs.

During these two years, when demand was high, we had decided to raise our rates. We are currently charging $2000 – $2500 for both actual day and outdoor photography (12-hour coverage), including albums. It might sound like a lot to those would compare to the more affordable ones. But, if you consider the effort that we had put in, in the earlier years, the cost that we incur, the quality of our images and album, the amount of time we spend on each wedding, you would understand why we have to charge as such, and we believe that our charges are indeed reasonable. We work very hard to make our dream come true. But you, our clients, are the most important factor in realizing this dream.

We hope this sharing would serve as a good awareness for many of our potential clients out there. We believe that through this too, you would be more willing to accept our business prices. We honestly would like to do this full-time in the coming years, and we hope you will give us your full support.

p/s: This post is drawn from an inspirational sharing from one of our ‘idol’ in photography.