If you work for a large company, chances are you will have to organize events every now and then. Some of which will be huge, with an event organizer that will coordinate all the necessary parts including hiring professional photographers and videographers. But some events are small scale without much support, however, that doesn’t mean the event doesn’t involve some very important people or stakeholders.
Running a successful event is not just about the execution of the event itself, but also about the marketing and public relations angle especially when important stakeholders are involved. Photography and videography are POWERFUL ways you can document and highlight the participants, the planners and the creativity involved.
You should always set aside some budget for a photographer or videographer (get an instant quote) to step in to help you capture professional photographs or produce a short video you can use for your company’s social media or internal communications.
BUT when there is no budget, here are 7 tips to help YOU take awesome photographs for your next event.
1) Use a Professional Camera & Lens
Smartphones are more than capable in taking great-looking photos, especially if the venue looks great. For example, when you’re on a holiday in the streets of Paris or the Swiss Alps, you can point your phone camera in any direction and it should look pretty good. But when you’re shooting a corporate event, your background might just be drab looking walls with fluorescent lighting.
Phone cameras also have a very wide field of view so it’s difficult to get a nice portrait of a keynote speaker or presenter unless you are very close to them. Which is not ideal especially if you do not want to distract or block the audience.
You do not need a high end camera, but an entry level one such as this Canon 80D with kit lens is good enough. A large sensor coupled with a zoom lens with allow you to get great images straight out of the camera.
2) Use a Professional Flash
Use flash in the appropriate situations, such as at an after party where the location is very dark or at a networking session when everyone is relaxed, Angle the flash towards the ceiling or use a bounce card (this will usually come together with the external flash) so that the light is diffused and not harsh. This will help you take much more flattering pictures of people.
Do not use flash in a dark presentation hall when the flash will distract and annoy the entire room. Remember to disable flash when you enter such an environment. If in doubt, do not use flash - physically remove the flash if you are using an external one such as this Canon Speedlight if you know that bright lights would be a distraction.
3) Use the right focal length
Wide angle shots from a low angle are great for creating drama and making a presentation look even more impressive.
Try to use telephoto lenses (zoom in) when taking photos of people as wide angle lenses tend to distort a person’s features - make a person's nose appear overly large - so it’s less flattering. 85mm is a good working focal length for taking photos of people.
4) Pose your subjects if possible
If you have an important keynote speaker attending, try to get them to pose together with important members of your organization so that the photo can be used for communications purposes. It’s okay to arrange your subject's position as long as you do not take too long doing it. Tell them where to stand and look, remember to get them to smile. Countdown quickly from 3,2,1 and start snapping at 1 so that their smiles do not freeze over.
Arrange the keynote speaker in the centre with important stakeholders to the left and right, frame up the shot so that the focus is only on them.
5) Capture emotions
People are attracted to smiles so try to be on the lookout for participants having a good time. Capture them having fun and smiling, nobody wants to see conference photos full of overly serious people all the time.
On-stage, they can command attention and presence, but during the networking sessions, try your best to get shots of people smiling and shaking hands.
(Good Example by Jon Bradley)
6) Know your photography basics
Photography consists of a few simple rules that can help you take consistently good pictures. Of course, there are masters out there that break all photography conventions and rules but only experience can tell you what rules to follow and which to break.
One of the most important rules is the rule of thirds. You can see the grid below and most cameras will have this option in-built. Framing up your subjects with the left and right vertical lines with usually give you a flattering picture, especially if they are looking a certain direction.
7) Use Auto mode
Cameras these days are very intelligent, stick to full automatic or program mode to make sure your pictures come out well exposed. As you become more experienced, you can start to experiment with aperture priority mode especially for taking portraits.
Bonus Tip
When your event has the budget to hire a professional photographer or videographer, talk to them before the event. Let them know the schedule, who are the key speakers and how much can they interact with the participants. What is the dress code? Are there sensitive or confidential materials that need to be highlighted beforehand?
You do not want to deal with such issues during an event. Spend some time to go over such important details beforehand instead of doing it just before the event starts, you might be too busy by then.
Still unsure? Talk to us directly on Facebook Messenger or schedule an appointment to find out how our experienced photographers or videographers can help you with your next corporate event. We are based out of Singapore and can help you with your corporate marketing in the Asia region.