Adding event photography to your skills as a photographer is a massive boom for your business. Events are always happening!
As an event photographer, you can participate in some of the most important moments, such as corporate events, concerts, etc.
Let’s look at some tips to help you successfully shoot those events for your clients.
Put yourself in your client’s shoes.
Be prepared that, as an event photographer, you may be asked to photograph various events. These events can range from weddings to birthday parties or corporate events. You may not find every event the most exciting but think about your client. These events are significant to them.
Prepare your equipment ahead of time.
Assess the situation and think about all the gear you will need. You don’t want to get to the site and realize you don’t have everything to make this shoot successful. Err on the side of caution and bring more than you think you might need. You would rather have extra than not enough. Test out all your equipment and make sure it all works. Don’t forget to check any of your equipment that uses batteries and have backups. A great way to be prepared is to have a gear checklist.
Organize your shot list
For most events, there will be certain shots and moments that are required to get. A corporate event is a classic example with a long list of required shots, speakers, networking breaks, booths, etc.
Once you have that list put together, you can think about other moments you want to capture of your clients. This is also a great chance to check with your client to review what you have and what other moments are on their shot list. Pre-event photos should be part of this list. They can also tell a great piece of the story of the event.
Managing your client’s expectations
The key to this is communication. Ask your clients their expectations for this event, what they want, and what they need. And then let them know what you can realistically provide. You never want a disappointed customer.
Disappointed customers lead to lawsuits and bad online reviews. Protect yourself by being honest with your customers and getting all agreements in writing. This way, the customer can not say later that they were not informed.
You may also want to hire a contract lawyer to protect both parties. The least you can do to cover your back is to have everything discussed in the email.
Show up early to the event
If you schedule yourself to be early, you can never be late. It is a bad look for the photographer to be late. And since you are capturing moments, whatever you miss by being late is not something you can get back. If you miss something, it’s gone for good.
Being late is also highly unprofessional. Being early allows you to check the venue for lighting conditions, capture some pre-event shots and make you look professional and confident.
Plan your outfit
You don’t want to stand out from the crowd, but you don’t want to look like you don’t belong. The rule of thumb is that if you didn’t have your camera, you would want someone to think you were a guest. If you are at a formal event, wear formal attire.
When photographing a rock concert, wear a nice t-shirt and jeans. Take your cue from what type of event it is and dress accordingly.
Wear neutral colors to blend into the crowd, not stand out. Do not show up in ripped, torn, dirty, not pressed clothes, etc. You are a professional and should look like one.
Do not put your camera down
While the event can go on for hours, important moments can happen. If you put your camera down, you can miss something significant. Keep your camera at the ready! If you stay set up for the shot, a moment will happen. You should always be on the lookout for candid shots and moments!
Be wise in photographing the event
Don’t get in the way of guests; sometimes, if the moment calls for it, ask them to pose for a group photo. Respect their space if a guest asks you not to take their picture.
As a photographer, you should not obstruct the view of the guests at any time. It is almost like guests should never even notice you are there. Only ask to pose guests if the situation calls for it or they ask you to.
Circle the room
If you stay in one spot too long, you will miss action and moments in another location. Stay on the lookout for those unique shots by circulating the room.
Make sure you don’t undershoot the event.
Some people would say that overshooting the event could be a problem. Undershooting is worse! There is no way to get that time or moment back in any event. Having too many shots is better because you can always delete a picture.
Edit quickly to get images back to your client
In many events, clients will want to see the proofs soon after the event is complete. Make sure you meet that expectation. Edit quickly and efficiently to get these pictures to your client. If you did shoot a lot of photos of the event, it might seem like you have too many images to get through. That will not be the case at all.
Once you get into the process, you will see some pictures aren’t up to your quality standards, and you can quickly discard them. Then you can see what you are really working with and get those edited and back to your client.
Hopefully, these tips are helpful when doing your event photoshoot. If you incorporate these simple tips, you will grow your business quickly!