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AyRojgar

Photography and videography

Shooting stills and video at events. Packages start at Tk 15,000, while a workable camera, lens and tripod cost about Tk 105,000.

  • Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
  • Version 1
Photography and videography

Photography and videography

Starting capital
৳85,000 – ৳4,00,000
Market quote
Manpower
1 – 6 people
First sale
7 – 30 days
Editorial estimate
Break-even
5 – 12 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Mobile service · Medium difficulty

About the business

Weddings, holud nights, aqiqahs, birthdays, school and college functions and product shots for small businesses — turning up with a camera, shooting stills and video, and delivering the edit. Two numbers face each other in this trade: what the gear costs and what one event pays. On 16 September 2026 Star Tech listed a Sony ZV-E10 with lens at Tk 73,525, a 50 mm lens at Tk 25,620 and a tripod at Tk 5,700 — about Tk 105,000 for a workable kit — while a Sony FX30 cine body alone is Tk 175,890. On the other side, a well-known Dhaka and Chattogram studio's published list starts at Tk 15,000 for one photographer, four hours and 100 edited photos, runs Tk 35,000-60,000 in the middle, and tops out at Tk 250,000; video packages also start at Tk 15,000. Put the two together and the starting kit is six or seven events. The problem is that events do not come all year. In the winter wedding season there can be two bookings in a day; through four or five monsoon months there is almost nothing. Where the instalment on the gear and the associate's fee come from in those dead months is what decides whether the business reaches year two.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳15,000 – ৳80,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳15,000 – ৳2,50,000 / unitMarket quote
Variable cost৳6,000 – ৳70,000 / unitEditorial estimate
Gross margin60% – 72%Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue7 – 30 daysEditorial estimate
Break-even time5 – 12 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle7 – 45 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss3% – 10%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity1 – 2Editorial estimate

What you need to start

  • An editing computer and at least two hard drives — one to work on, one for the copy. A single failed card loses an entire wedding.Equipment
  • Camera and lenses. Star Tech's prices on 16 September 2026: Sony ZV-E10 with lens Tk 73,525, Sony ZV-1F Tk 53,950, Sony FX30 cine body Tk 175,890; Canon EF 50 mm Tk 14,535, Sony FE 50 mm Tk 25,620, Sony FE 85 mm Tk 46,860.Equipment
  • Tripod, video head, spare batteries, memory cards, lights and microphones. On Star Tech's list a tripod is Tk 1,800-5,700 and a fluid video head Tk 15,400.Equipment
  • Trade licence from the union parishad, municipality or city corporation: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type, issued in 3-5 working days. Institutional work also needs a TIN.Licence
  • Shooting in low light, reading the flow of an event and knowing where to stand, and editing — colour and the video cut. Good gear alone does not make good pictures.Skill
  • A bench of associate photographers and cinematographers, plus a gear rental shop. Big packages need three to five people, and a sudden rush is covered with rented bodies.Supplier
  • No shop is needed: the work happens at the venue and the editing at home. A place to sit with clients does help in landing bigger jobs.Workspace

How the work is done

  1. 1Decide first whether you do stills, video, or both. Doing both means double the gear and double the people.
  2. 2Rent gear for the first few jobs before buying. Find out whether the work is really coming and whether you can handle it before putting money down.
  3. 3Fix the starting kit: one body with a lens, one portrait lens, a tripod, memory cards and a bag. On 16 September 2026 that came to about Tk 105,000.
  4. 4Set up for editing: a computer and at least two hard drives. Lose the files and you lose the fee and your name with it.
  5. 5Take a trade licence from the union parishad, municipality or city corporation. Community centres, schools and companies pay against a bill, and a bill needs a licence.
  6. 6Write your own package list: how many hours, how many people, how many edited photos, how many minutes of video, and the delivery date. Have that list before you quote a price.
  7. 7Take an advance on every booking and write the date down. In the winter season two bookings can land on the same date, and a booking without an advance gets cancelled.
  8. 8Keep a bench of associate photographers and cinematographers. The bigger packages need three to five people, and in season they are all busy on the same days.
  9. 9Put the delivery time for the photos and the video in writing before the job, and keep to it. Late delivery is what holds up the balance payment.
  10. 10Keep posting work on Facebook and YouTube. In this trade most bookings come from seeing earlier work and from word of mouth.
  11. 11Line up different work for the dead monsoon months: product shots, passport photos, school functions, small company videos. The season's income has to carry those months.
  12. 12Keep the accounts for each job separately: what you were paid, what the associates took and what travel cost. What is left after those three is the real income.

Seasons

  1. JanHigh
  2. FebHigh
  3. MarNormal
  4. AprNormal
  5. MayNormal
  6. JunLow
  7. JulLow
  8. AugLow
  9. SepLow
  10. OctNormal
  11. NovHigh
  12. DecHigh
HighNormalLow

Where it works well

  • Strong fitChattogram · The bigger studios keep a separate team and a separate rate card for Chattogram alongside Dhaka, so the market is large enough to stand on its own.
  • Strong fitDhaka · The country's greatest concentration of community centres and convention halls, the base of the best-known wedding studios, and the highest package prices.
  • Strong fitSylhet · Weddings in families with relatives abroad are lavish, and professional wedding studios have set up in the city, so the bigger packages sell here.
  • PossibleBogura · A major northern city whose teams also travel to events in the surrounding districts.
  • PossibleCox's Bazar · A separate market in pre-wedding shoots and holidaying couples, though work falls away outside the tourist season.
  • PossibleCumilla · Many families with members abroad, and a growing number of community centres along the highway.
  • PossibleGazipur · Next to Dhaka, with community centres multiplying, but Dhaka teams travel in, so competition is heavy.
  • PossibleKhulna · A divisional city with a wedding and event market, but few buyers for the big packages.
  • PossibleNarayanganj · Dense settlement with plenty of venues, and close enough to Dhaka that travel costs little.
  • PossibleRajshahi · A divisional city with university functions, though prices are lower than in Dhaka.

Risks and cautions

  • HighWorking capital: The money goes into gear first and the income comes later. A workable kit is about Tk 105,000, and a cine body alone is Tk 175,890. Against the smallest package at Tk 15,000, that is six or seven events just to get the gear back — and outside the season those events do not exist.
  • HighOther: Gear broken, stolen or lost. Drop a lens at a crowded function and Tk 25,000-46,000 goes at once, the income of several events. Worse is a memory card failing and a wedding disappearing with it — then the fee goes back and the name is gone in the whole locality.
  • MediumLate payment: The advance is small and the balance comes after the photos and video are delivered. If the edit runs late, or the client is unhappy, that money sits for months — while the associates were paid on the day of the event.
  • MediumDependency: Most of the work is weddings, and the bookings come from earlier work being seen and from word of mouth. Lose a community centre or event organiser contact, or lose the Facebook page, and the source of work dries up overnight.
  • HighDemand: The work is not spread through the year. In the winter wedding season from November to February there can be two bookings in a day, and through four or five monsoon months there is almost nothing; Ramadan is dead too. Instalments, internet and gear maintenance carry on through those months, and that is the single most common reason a photography business does not reach year two.

Sources

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