Event photography
An event happens once. There is no second take at a finish line, and nobody is going to give the keynote again because the light was wrong.
That is the whole discipline. Everything else in photography can be reshot. This cannot, so the preparation has to happen before the doors open, not while the room is filling up.
What I photograph
- Conferences, seminars and company away days
- Awards evenings and dinners
- Product launches and openings
- Charity events, fundraisers and public runs
- Trade shows and county shows
- Staff parties and milestone celebrations
I have photographed the Rendlesham Show four years running, the Adnams 10k in Southwold, the Galley 10k in Woodbridge, Norwich Pride, the Southwold Sausage Dog Walk, and fundraising events for St Elizabeth Hospice.
The problem nobody warns you about
Event venues are lit for atmosphere, not for cameras. A hotel function room at an awards dinner is dim, orange, and full of moving people. A conference hall has a bright screen behind a speaker standing in near darkness. A marquee at a county show is a green tent that turns everybody underneath it the colour of a lettuce.
None of that is fixable afterwards, and it is the difference between somebody with a camera and somebody who has done this before. I carry my own lighting and I know when to use it and, more often, when not to. Firing a flash across a room during a speech is a good way to be asked to leave.
Getting the images while they are still news
An event photograph has a short shelf life. A picture of your awards night is worth a great deal on the Monday morning and very little three weeks later, by which time nobody is posting about it and the press has moved on.
So turnaround matters more here than anywhere else I work. If you need a handful of images the same evening for social media, or first thing the next morning for a press release, say so when you book and I will build the day around it.
People in the room
An event is full of identifiable people, and most of them did not come to be in your marketing.
If images are going on your website, in a brochure or out to the press, that has to be handled properly. Guests need to know photography is happening, and anyone who is going to be recognisable in commercial use needs to have agreed to it. Signage at the door, a line on the invitation, and a plan for anyone who would rather not be photographed. It is straightforward when it is thought about in advance, and a problem when it is not.
There is a full explanation here: photographing people in your business.
What it costs
Event photography is priced by time, not by the number of images. A two-hour drinks reception and a full-day conference are different jobs and they are priced differently.
Tell me what the event is, how long it runs, and what the pictures are for. Full detail on the commercial photography rates page.
Getting in touch
Events get booked out, and the good dates go early in the autumn and the run-up to Christmas. If you have a date in mind it is worth talking sooner rather than later.
Phone or WhatsApp: 07884 366 342. Or use the contact form. You can also read about my commercial photography and PR photography.