Busy, busy, busy…

At events, everyone is busy. The client is busy. The guests are busy. The event planners are busy. The venue coordinator is busy. In fact, everyone is busy, busy, busy and that’s including the photographer. At least, that’s my experience covering most private & corporate events.

Most of my works covering corporate & private events made me come to one vital conclusion: every breathtaking work of photography produced is a collaboration between the subject or client and the photographer.  And ideally, that synergy should begin from the moment both the client and the photographer decide to work together.

It is against that backdrop that I like my clients to relate their expectations and ideas for the event – if they have any in mind. No, I don’t just like them to brief, it’s something I demand from them. But in reality, not all clients know exactly what they want the pictures to capture or achieve. And photography is deep, so not everybody has a general knowledge of it.

But every client recognizes quality when they see it

No matter how unaware the client is about photography, or how limited the information they provide the photographer is, at the end of the day, they expect one thing and one thing only: a perfect job! – And everyone recognizes a perfect work when they see it. From my experience, that’s the case all the time.

How unfair you think? But not when you’re looking at it from the client’s perspective. The challenges faced during the events proper mostly stems from the unpredictable nature of events. No matter how good the original ideas of the event planners were, the event never goes 100% accordingly. And nobody should expect it to, certainly not the photographer. And the clients are busy during the events, and it would be unwise to disturb them with questions on such an important occasion. As for the event coordinators, I generally assume that the important schedules have been communicated beforehand, which helps for the initial preparations on the part of the photographer. Besides, they are a tad busy as well.  Hence, I personally stick to initial plans and prepare for any eventualities.

Solving the busy-busy conundrum: my approach!

Drawing from experience, the worst thing that could happen during the event to a photographer is equipment failure. To avoid telling stories that touch on that, I always go with multiple backup cameras, lenses, & lights. I have you covered.

Then the human factors come next. To have a chance at taking the right shots. The photographer has to be in the right place at the right time. But sometimes, there are actually “two right places” at the same time. And I’ve got to be there. And Everywhere! Incorporating several photographers to work on the same project helps me ensure nothing important is missed. Of course, I make sure there is synergy amongst the photographers & clients so we arrive at one single and comprehensive story.

Check out my event photographer survival guide, choosing a corporate event photographer, and creative corporate event photographer for more information to help you choose an event photographer.

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