A Photoeventz Guide: Making the most of your event photography
After the applause has stopped and your guests have left the room, often the only way to remind people about your event and your hospitality is a great set of photos. You have gone to the trouble of employing a professional photographer to capture your event, so here's a few tips to maximise your investment.
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Making the Most of Your Event Photography
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1. Take some time to write a brief about the assignment to guide your photographer. Think about the important aspects of your event and what you would like photographed. Alert your photographer about the key people and important activities at your event. Include a list of the must-have photographs of your event. Detail your intended use of the images. Detail your requirements regarding the timing and form of image delivery (image files on a disc, web gallery, prints) and ensure that your photographer can meet your needs.
2. Tell your photographer why the event is being held as well as why people are actually showing up - this will help your photographer plan photos that will capture the experience of the event.
3. Recognise that things sometimes don't run to a script so your photographer should have some freedom and be alert to capture things that just "happen". If you see something "happening" your photographer will appreciate being told about the photo opportunity.
4. Appoint and introduce your photographer to a liaison person within your organisation who can keep your photographer updated with changes to the schedule etc.
5. Look at previous events photographed by your photographer or others to get some ideas for photo opportunities at your function.
6. Give your photographer a copy of the running sheet for your event. A running sheet will usually include details of the timing of the event, where and what is happening, key people involved, who is responsible to ensure that a particular activity happens on time, contact persons etc.
7. If you have invited a special dignitary that you would like photographed with your key people, let the photographer know and have someone available who can identify all the people for the photographer. Let your photographer know where your sponsors and special contributors are seated.
8. If you have a special dignitary or sporting legend at your function and they are happy to be photographed with your guests, co-ordinate their movement around the room so your photographer can take photographs with as many different people as possible. It may be best to appoint someone who can "extract" them from a group so they can move on to another.
9. Brief your presenters and key people where and how important activities should take place to maximise the photography opportunities. For example, when presenting awards, instruct the presenter to hold the face of the award towards the photographer and to direct the recipient to look at the camera. Your photographer can help and guide you regarding the best options.
10. If you would like a group photo of important people (the organising committee, the board, members of a panel discussion, sponsors etc), arrange a specific time/place when this should take place and advise the participants.
11. An event where all your key people are coming together might be a good opportunity to get publicity photos that can be used for future brochures, web sites etc. Pre-arrange this with your key people (so they dress appropriately) and your photographer.
12. Ugly or reflective backgrounds and backlighting can be distracting, so position your important activities appropriately.
13. Consider where best to place sponsor and event banners so they can be included in the background of photos.
14. With group photos, is there something that a member of the group can hold to identify the occasion?
15. If you have a number of important sponsors, consider arranging a media wall showing sponsor names and logos against which guests can be photographed.
16. If you are using a lectern, ensure that the front of the lectern shows the event name - this will help to identify your event in the photos.
17. Ensure that speakers and presenters are well lit to reduce the need for the photographer to use flash lighting which can be annoying and distracting to the audience.
18. Consider the set-up of the room to allow easy access for the photographer to move around without distracting from your activity to get different angles of your event (for example, in theatre style presentations it may be best to have aisles down each side of the room). If your event/venue is large, it may be advisable to invite your photographer to a pre-event tour to familiarise with the venue.
19. If your event is a large sit-down dinner and you require table photos, consider employing a couple of photographers so that the room can be covered within the time frame allowed (professional photographers avoid taking photos of people eating or while plates of food remain on the tables so this may limit the time available for photos of your guests).
20. If photos of the venue set-up are important, engage your photographer to start before your guests arrive so that table presentation and venue images can be taken before people enter the room.
21. If you are having a web gallery of images, it may be appropriate to publish the web address in your event material. Your photographer may make a table card available with the website address.
22. Enquire about the possibility of including sponsor images/promotional material in the web gallery presentation - this will give your sponsors additional post-event exposure (which may be a good selling point) or may present an opportunity to offer a sponsor unique exposure at a fee to offset the photography costs.
23. If you need urgent photos for media use, alert your photographer so that arrangements can be made to burn these images to a disc onsite. Many professional photographers shoot in RAW format where time is spent later adjusting the quality of the image in post production, so don't just assume that the images can be downloaded from the camera.
24. Photo prints are a great souvenir that your guests will treasure (in this day of digital files, your guests will actually be surprised and delighted with an actual print they can hold and share) - consider onsite printing options with logo overlays or specially branded folders.
25. Consider arranging with the photographer to allow free downloads from a web gallery as a gift to your guests (this could be another sponsorship opportunity - "free downloads with the compliments of . . .").
26. If you have a gallery with free downloads, see if your photographer can add a logo or the event details as an overlay on the images. Free downloads mean that the images are often posted to social media sites so having the details of your event overlaid on the photos will help to promote your event and/or cause and publicise your next event.
27. Consider publicising the event web gallery through a post event email or in your client/guest communications to maximise the impact of your event to everyone (not just the participants).
28. Do you need your photographer to record the names of people in photographs? This will obviously reduce the number of photographs taken, but it may be important if you are publishing the photos post event and it is a large gathering where you may not know guests' names.
29. See if your key person or the entertainers can be available for photos with guests - this can be particularly important when you have sporting legends or community leaders at your event. If appropriate, make an announcement to this effect and arrange it with your celebrities and your photographer.
30. Consider organising a photo book of the photos from your event. This could be a great souvenir for a special guest. A souvenir poster of selected photos is also a great idea.
31. At award presentations, after the individual presentations have been photographed, consider having a group photo of all the recipients.
32. If your event has special security, ticketing or parking requirements, make arrangements for your photographer.
33. Let your photographer know if there are any restrictions as to who and what can be photographed, any restrictions regarding the use of flash equipment, and restrictions as to movement around the venue during the function.
34. If your photographer is to set up equipment such as a background and studio lights, make sure you get advance approval from the venue manager for the positioning of this equipment.
35. If the photography is outdoors, have a back-up plan in case of inclement weather.
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