Introduction:
Welcome to the Phuket Photo PROjects FAQ page! We created this section because of the numerous queries sent to us by prospective clients. We thought this would make things a little easier for everybody. We hope that the following will answer your questions regarding our company and what we can do for you. If we left anything out, please e-mail us and we can add it to the FAQ!
Sincerely,
-Karim (Kim) Khamzin, Professional Photographer, Phuket Photo PROJECTS
About Phuket Photo PROjects (PPP):
Who are you and what is Phuket Photo PROjects? Are you Thai or Western?
We call ourselves Phuket Photo PROjects. We are the premier photography company in Phuket, Thailand, and we are Westerners. Karim Khamzin, or Kim for short, is a Russian-Canadian photographer with over 32-years experience. He is the head of the company.
What type of equipment do you use?
We have the means, skill and equipment to be able to shoot any style of photography at an international level. We use many different cameras and accessories for different occasions.
Our arsenal includes:
Canon 1DX
Canon 1Ds Mark III
Canon 1DS
Canon 5D Mark III
Note: The cameras listed above are top of the line for the industry, and are the best on the market. All of our lenses are “L” series as well (Professional designation).
We also use a host of studio lights, flashes, backgrounds, reflectors, tripods, location batteries, etc. to achieve the best possible results for your shoot.
The Work We Do:
What type of photo shoots can you do?
We pride ourselves on our versatility. With his vast knowledge and experience, Kim can come up with a clever way to shoot just about anything. Weddings, pre-weddings, honeymoons, couple shoots and even “love stories” are possible! We can do advertisements, family portraits, real estate, architecture, fashion and sports. We have no problem shooting privately and commercially. All of this can be done in the beautiful tropical backdrop of Phuket.
We can say with confidence that we are one of the best, and our clients like to tell us that.
Where can we see your work?
Our couple and wedding work may be viewed here:
https://phuketphotopro.com/gallery/
You may view more of Kim’s work on his personal Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kmk38/show/
Hair and Make up:
What about hair and makeup? Do you have an in-house make up artist and stylist? How long will the process take?
We have a few very talented make-up artists here in Phuket and they will be happy to work on your photo shoot.
If you have something specific you want to do with your hair, please inform us ahead of time and we can enlist the services of our recommended hair specialist. This will cost approximately 2,500 THB ($80-USD).
Make up usually takes a minimum of one hour. Usually, our make up artist will arrive at your location before the shoot and do your make up before we begin. The process of hair and make up usually takes approximately 2 hours.
Do you provide your own cosmetics?
Yes, our make-up artists has all of the necessary make up and cosmetic accessories you may need. If you have anything in particular you want, let us know and we may be able to find it for you. If you have something specific that you would like to use, feel free to bring it to the shoot!
Packages and Services:
Do you provide packages? How are your services broken down?
A typical photo shoot for us is broken down into either a full or a half-day. We usually start from your hotel or where you are staying. Our usual itinerary of a full-day shoot is as follows:
-Begin at your hotel
-Then proceed to a lake, with elephants, wedding chapel or to the yacht marina.
-Followed by the beach! This is usually when the outdoor light is at its best. We try to time it perfectly for every shoot.
-Most shoots are ended at a coffee shop. We try to pick a unique ending location with lots of character and culture.
In the end, the most important thing of us is the result we get. To get the best image, we need to combine a several aspects; your best and happiest mood, the best location, beautiful right light, and of course, the right moment. A full-day shoot can span up to 5 different locations. A half-day shoot will include 2-3 locations.
Clients should understand that every photo shoot is different. We have a formula, but it changes with every different person we work with. A shoot also depends on the weather, locations, driving distances and of course, light. We have lived in Phuket for 10 years, and we know most of the best spots to conduct a shoot.
Also, we will bring outfits that work with the relative surroundings. Our clients change outfits up to three times depending on the location we are at.
Are you providing the Wedding dress for rent? Can we get a Thai-style wedding dress and a Western style wedding dress?
We are NOT providing the wedding dress for lease; however we can bring you to couple of wedding dress shops here, which lease their wedding dresses. The price varies from 4000 to 12000 THB per day, and depends on the quality of the dress.
Here is our suggestion for Pre-Wedding, Honeymoon, Couple or Love Story photo shoots: Buy simple, nice white dress, which usually cost around 700-1500 baht. You may find these in major shopping malls (Central Festival and Jung Ceylon) or small specialty stores. We can provide you for free wedding veils of two different sizes (long or short). For the groom we recommend a white cotton shirt and pair of white shorts. It’s tropical photo shoot anyway and it looks great on a beach. Some of the brides with good body figure like to use a white bikini with a veil, in addition to a white dress. The choice is ultimately up to you!
What clothes should I bring with me? Do I need to bring props?
Please bring a few different dresses or outfits for the shooting (2-3 outfits is our recommendation). These could be short and long dresses.
For the man, you should bring comfortable cotton shirt and shorts. It gets quite hot in the Thai sun. If possible, please try to wear something more colorful and not just black and white (Unless we are shooting wedding photos). Color is everything in photography, and more vibrant colors make your photos more memorable! If you have some nice jewelry, please take bring it with you as well – it will work well for close up portraits.
We do have some photo props and accessories, such as umbrellas, sarongs, jewelry, and hats that you can use, but it is always good if you have something you wish to bring as well. Please take a swimming suit or clothing you can get wet if you want take pictures in the water.
If necessary we can arrange a bride’s bouquet and flowers as well.
We saw the 2nd album in your wedding photo gallery on your website. The clients are Ivan and Svetlana. We want something romantic and artistic with beach, coconut trees etc. We don’t want daily life. We don’t want it to be too casual. Is a full day going to be enough for this shoot?
Ivan and Svetlana hired us for 2 full days, but according to the clients who hired us for half-day, we are managing to get a lot done in that time. More so than other photographers they worked with. We have been shooting in Phuket for 10 years.
The speed and quality of the work will also depend on your willingness to “work” with us. In any case, all we are doing is recording your love, and this love will be even bigger when we finish the shoot. Trust me!
What about transportation (Pick up and hotel drop-off)? We are planning Couple Photo Shooting, as for transportation, we will have all together 6 people include our guests. Will there be room in your cars, or will we have to arrange to find a bigger vehicle to accommodate everybody?
You will need to arrange your own transportation for your relatives/friends.
How can we secure our booking with you? Will a deposit be needed?
Yes, we will need deposit to reserve the date for you. You can pay it directly to our official company bank account. We will provide the necessary information in this case.
Or you can pay via Pay Pal system, by buying deposit certificate from us.
Please also advise how I can settle the balance payment, in Thai Baht or in U.S. dollars?
The rest of the payment can be delivered after the photo session is done and after you see the result on the camera screen. We will prepare the official receipt for you and we will post-process your photos and send them to you 2-3 weeks later.
We prefer to receive payment in Thai Baht.
What if the weather on the day of our photo shoot is cloudy or rainy? Are cancellations possible?
Cloudy weather is usually not a problem at all, (even light rain is O.K.). The results still turn out great. There are many advantages for lighting control in this type of weather as well.
We are shooting under gloomy sky and light rain. If there is heavy rain all day, then it will be possible to postpone the shoot to a later day.
In this case, second day shooting, make-up and hair will cost extra 5000 baht. We will need to do it all over again. Let’s hope the weather will be nice to all of us. It usually is.
If the photo shoot will not occur due to poor weather, your deposit will be returned in the full amount (except Pay Pal or bank fee charges).
Is it too hot/sunny to take photos in the afternoon? (We would like to take beach photos, plus some photos in/near hotel)
We plan all our photo shoots according to our clients’ needs. We also aim to make the experience as comfortable as possible. Even 7-month pregnant ladies and the men (surprisingly they are the most afraid of the hot weather) find the photo shoot to be an effortless and very entertaining experience.
Can you create a slide show, like a short video of the whole process during our photo shooting? For example: stylist for applying make up and the hair styling (getting ready), than traveling to the location, one photographer takes photos of us, another one will shoot the whole process, moving from one location to another, some photos behind the scene – assistant holding the lights, and etc., we would like to have the final slide show 3-5 min high resolution. Is this possible?
Yes, usually we are working us a team, it will be 2 photographers + 2 camera and light assistants, we can produce the slide show you describe above based on pictures we will take.
I want to work with PPP! What else can I do to help the creative process?
Once your booking date is confirmed, we would have one more request. Please send us a recent photo/link to a photo of yourself and your partner/family! This is very important! In fact, please send it to us with your first e-mail if possible.
The photo does not have to be of exceptional quality, just as long as it clearly shows us what you look like. This gives us a good idea of how to plan your shoot, hair and make-up. It allows Karim to visualize the shoot before it happens, which helps us provide a much better result for you. This will help us prepare for when you arrive on the island, and will smooth the process tremendously!
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/TYeGzUcJbD0/
Can you do similar video, capturing the same emotions? Can we make it high definition?
No, we are not doing video at this time. We can refer you to a local video production company. My estimate for producing a video of this quality, using the same resources and equipment, is approximately $3,000 – $5,000 minimum, but I can be wrong.
YES, we can do photos with same level of emotions and feeling, and even higher resolution! Our cameras are top of the line, and we are very good with them!
Basically all you have to do is concentrate on your love on the day of shooting, and we will do the rest!
Please explain what “Black & White” means in your description as below.
(30-50 best retouched photos, (Black & White) some Photoshop editing)
After the shooting is done, we download the photos and go through an editing selection process a few times until we get final select 150 – 300 best photos. From this final selection we choose 30-50 best of the best images and then retouch them.
Retouching is the same as post-processing: removing scars, wrinkles, spots on the face, blemishes, improving the body shape and etc. In addition to this, we can also change the colors, turn the image into black & white, saturate the image, or make it sepia, etc.
We want the photos to be retouched but the postal fee $50-U.S. seems very expensive. Would you please advise why the courier cost is so high, for only 1 disc and 1-2 collages prints?
The delivery fee is approximately 1,000 baht. The USB stick is another added 500 baht. We found that DVD disks can be damaged or not supported by some clients’ computers.
Hope our answers will help you to better plan your photo shoot. Please send us your pictures. We need to see what you look like for a better result!
Thank you for reading our FAQ. Please send us any feedback you may have: photopro888@gmail.com!
Karim Khamzin