Event photography

Shooting special events  is as varied and individuals. Sometime’s you end up somewhere great like big conference room, other times you’re in a small, dark, dull event space with only 20 people making the best of the situation.  Regardless of the size or location of the event, you’re job is to make some great images.  There are a lot of little things that can make diving into special event photography much easier or much harder on yourself, below are a few ideas of how to prepare and execute the photography at your next event.

1 Dress like you belong there

As a photographer, there are plenty of times when you can go to work in jeans and a t-shirt, after all clients aren’t watching you do post production.  When photographing a special event however, you should dress like you belong there and blend in with the crowd.  This doesn’t necessarily mean a suit and tie every time for men, or that a blazer is necessary for women, but slacks/dressy pants, comfortable, low key, black shoes and a nice shirt/blouse usually are a must.  If it is a higher end event you men should be sure to wear a suit coat and tie while women should wear a blazer if they feel it is necessary.  If you’re unsure of the appropriate attire, always err on the side of safety.

2 Take some shots before

While it may be an afterthought for your client at the event, the event planner responsible for dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s will love that you captured shots of the room prior to the guests arrival. Not only will it be something they can use to sell their services in the future, it will also allow them to catalog the set-up in case they have a very similar type of event in the space again. This will prove invaluable to the client and should be the way you start any event.

3 Don’t over or undershoot

The divide on over vs under shooting seems like it would be quite blurry, it really isn’t. If you are photographing a special event, you have to remember that even though great photos are key, the attendees having a good time is the top priority. While it is completely acceptable to photograph the attendees, both candidly and posed, be sure to make mental notes of who you have photographed so that you aren’t going to the same groups of people over and over again. Along with posed shots, if the lighting allows for it, bump up your ISO and shoot candids with ambient light. Once you move past a cocktail hour and into a reception, keep your focus to the stage. Candid audience or crowd shots are nice here and there, but a good rule of thumb is that once plates go down and people are eating, keep the camera pointed away from the tables and onto the stage and shoot conservatively.

4 Be Quick

Whether it’s a panel discussion or candids at a cocktail hour, no one is at the event to be with you. Accept it. While shooting candids, be ready to go, take a step back, click off three frames and move on, any more than that (unless it’s a VIP or there is a glaring, non-camera related, issue) and you might be intruding on the attendee’s time. When shooting a panel discussion, or anything on a stage, shoot a lot with a long lens. While close, intimate shots from a wide lens look awesome, the people who are paying, or are invited to the event aren’t there to look at the back of their head. If you do have the opportunity to shoot from up close, be quick, quiet and stay as low as possible.

5 Deliver quickly and edit mercilessly

I find that no matter how hard I try to not over shoot an event, I still end up trashing about half of what was shot. It usually isn’t because the shots aren’t good, but because there is something very similar and slightly better in the edit. If you shoot three frames each of every group you photograph at an event(which is pretty typical) and have hundreds files, there’s no reason you can’t cut at least one of the frames for each group, if not two. Your client only needs the cream of the crop since there is only be a limited amount of use for event photos. If there are any VIP’s you might want to leave an extra frame or two in if they are also good, but for the general attendees the top frame of three works best every time. The same rule applies to shots of speakers or the panel at a discussion, edit hard and give the client the cream of the crop.