Why Event Photography is one of my favourite genres to shoot

I love the spontaneity, diverse subjects and environments, and putting my observational skills into action. What I love the most is the candid nature of event photography where (mostly) shots aren’t staged, resulting in authenticity throughout the images. Authenticity is both beautiful and powerful.

So why should businesses invest in event photography? Well, there are loads of reasons why (I’ll talk about a few) but the big reason is that authenticity in images builds trust and transparency about your business, brand or organisation. And trust is priceless.

Event photography is a genre that requires skill, experience and empathy. Photographers are often required to shoot fast-paced events, in poor lighting and sometimes sensitive or erratic environments. An experienced event photographer understands how to work within these parameters and plan as much as practicable to be ready to get the shot.

Even the best and most experienced event photographers need help from event planners. But the help isn’t one-way. Photographers can help event planners with making their event photo-friendly.

After shooting events for over 13 years, from music festivals, sports, conferences, awards and everything in between, there are some simple things that event planners can do that will result in cracking shots. Here’s a list of some of them.

Lighting quality and colour

Many indoor events where there is a stage will often utilise lighting to highlight the person/people on stage. Always use white light to light a person speaking as coloured lights can be difficult to shoot and make the person look distorted or unflattering. Coloured light is great for creating drama and excitement around a speaker, but don’t put coloured light directly on your subject.

Some events, such as those outdoors, don’t have lights so make sure any staging is set up (where possible) that doesn’t make anyone on stage have to stare directly into the sun. If the people are staring into sun, the people will be pretty uncomfortable and they won’t look great, they’ll be squinting or obscuring their faces with their hands or sunglasses. An audience being able to see eyes is important for trust. Use an app that has a sun tracker. Most photographers use these apps so ask them if you’re unsure.

Some events are in hybrid venues with a little bit inside and a little bit out which results in really dark inside and very bright outside. Sometimes these locations can be tricky with balancing light but sometimes the event set-up can make or break lighting. Let me share an example.

I was engaged to shoot a luncheon featuring several speakers at a winery. The cellar door has large wine barrels around 3 sides of the room and the 4^th side is a huge door that rolls open to let in the light and the view. Sounds amazing right? Well, it looked amazing but the problem for photography was that the stage was set up in front of the door with the speakers back to the light. This meant that the speakers were back-lit which meant that I needed to use flash to fill their faces and the audience had to look into bright light. The solution (at the planning stage) would be to flip the layout of the room and have the open door behind the audience. This would have illuminated the speaker’s faces with natural light (bounced not direct), which is great for photography and the audience could see them more clearly. That also means I don’t need to use a flash. Why do I not like using flash at events? Simply because it’s distracting for speakers and audience and a good event photographer is like a ninja- no one should notice you.

Visual obstructions

Obstructions on stage disrupt the viewer and photographer and distract from the event. The usual culprit is microphone stands especially if multiple people use the stage/multiple microphones these can often clutter a shot. A simple fix is if there are multiple mics on stage but not all in use, simply ask techs to lower them. This is best done ahead of the event so the techs can plan the appropriate time to adjust them. These guys are ninjas too, so don’t want to be unnecessarily visible.

Other obstructions are lecterns. Well, it’s not so much of the lectern itself but the lectern in relation to the height of the person speaking. Many incredible speakers are lost, and thus their message, when hidden by a lectern. I’ve photographed people where their head was barely visible which meant we lost access to their body language. Simple fix, check ahead of the event what sort of lectern the venue uses and if the height is adjustable. Again, it’s too late once the event is rolling.

Bums on seats

If your event has seating, make sure you fill the front row. This is easier to manage if your event is allocated seating but if it’s not, make sure you have someone on the ground at the event to get people into those front seats because an empty front row looks like your event wasn’t popular even if it’s 95% full. Empty seats are another visual distraction in the photos.

How much time is enough?

I can’t believe I do this, but often I am booked for the duration of an event but then I see the brief and realise that I don’t need to be there for the entire time. It means less money for me, but it is dishonest for a photographer to be there longer than they need. But sometimes the allocated time and the photo brief do not align and there is not enough time to get the desired shots. The best way to overcome this is to get a draft brief and a running sheet to your photographer ASAP. The photographer can look through what images you’re after and advise any adjustments to timing.

Have a good photography brief, no, have a great one.

Photography briefs aren’t complicated. Essentially, it’s the who, what, why, where, where. There are loads of photo brief templates available online. Apart from logistical info things like brand guidelines/ styling, how the photos will be used and when are all important info. For example, does the organisation plan to use the images with their logo or other graphics so you need to leave space in the photos, are they going straight to online media etc.

A good brief spells out the expectations of the photos that will be supplied and a good brief allows flexibility and photographer input where required.

It’ll also include the ‘must get’ shots, VIP names and timing of image delivery. Make sure you include your image delivery timeline and specs e.g. 5 low res photos for social media supplied same day.

Marie Kondo

So, good photographers won’t give you all their shots. They will cull for technical quality and in line with the brief. But with the images you are supplied, you need to apply a cull as well. When going through the images take note of the shots of people in an audience, how do they look? I’m not saying everyone needs to look glamorous, but they need to look as close to usual as possible. The example here is photos of people eating, mid-sentence when their mouth is pulled into awkward position or they are blinking or even half-blinking. The first thing to note, no-one looks good while they are eating.

I spend time culling photos where people aren’t presented well. And a note on that, sometimes I think female photographers are much more aware of this issue than male photographers. And some photos just don’t tell the story you are trying to convey. Does the person in the audience look bored out of their brains or are they deep in thought or inspired by the event? Look at your images as objectively as you can and if you are able, allow a little space between the event and looking at the photos to help with this (although it’s not always possible due to timelines).

The bonus of publishing photos of audience where they look good is that then they are more likely to share that image and therefore potentially give your event more reach (good ol’ leveraging).

When do I engage a photographer?

So, when should you book an event photographer? As soon as you start planning the event. They can offer advice on all these issues and more and work with you to get the best outcome, plus, if you lock in your photographer as soon as possible you ensure you’re not running around chasing a photographer last minute and risk getting a less-experienced photographer or none. That’s pretty stressful. I’ve lost count of the amount of calls I’ve received the days before or even on the day.  Don’t treat photography as an afterthought- treat it as an asset.

What to look for in an event photographer

Choosing the right photographer is much more than getting one with all the gear. Choose your photographer based on their event photography experience. Can you see their portfolio has a variety of images e.g. varied lighting situations and subjects?

Do they understand your event, your business or organisation and its values? While some may argue this isn’t actually this important, I beg to differ. Empathy in a photographer is more important than their fancy pants camera* because this will inform the storytelling in the images. If they don’t understand, empathise or sympathise with you even how can they create genuine and powerful images? This is important for audience experience as well. I’ve seen ‘star’ photographers that make it about them. They are loud, and exhibit behaviour of ‘look at me’ and this is not ok. It’s distracting for everyone. Get a ninja photographer or better still one with Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak. The best compliment I’ve had immediately after an event and before the client has seen the photos is ‘I forgot you were here and didn’t notice you the whole time’.

Does your photographer understand the delivery timelines are can they deliver on time? Deadlines are crucial to the publicity of the event.

Event photography can be the most powerful visual asset your brand has because of its authenticity. Investing in event photography will get you an image library that you can use for your online assets  – website, social media and online traditional media. Event photography is great for reporting, grant applications and acquittals. Event photography is not just documentation of an event but a powerful visual storytelling tool.

Got questions about event photography? Ask me

* I have a fancy pants camera but I don’t rely on it for great images, they come from the heart.