“Why do you run around so much with your camera during events?”

“Why do you run around so much with your camera during events?”

Because great moments aren’t going to wait for me to get in position to shoot them, that’s why!

I have been asked this question quite often over the years by people who have observed me while I’m covering an event.

My process and system for shooting these events has developed exponentially over time, but, here’s the simple reason - I find as many unique vantage points from which to see the action and shoot, shoot, shoot until the last words are uttered from the stage.

When you are at an event, something amazing and memorable could literally happen at any second - that moment can happen on stage or in the audience - and I want to make damn sure that I am in position to capture it.

After all, that’s the point of hiring an event photographer in the first place.

You see, all those staged shots and selfies of attendees can simply be taken with your smartphone - event producers and speakers don’t hire me for that stuff.

They hire me to capture the magic from the stage and the reaction to that magic from the attendees in the seats.

When these moments are captured, this affords the speaker the opportunity to share these special moments in order to give their audiences on social an up-close glimpse into what truly goes on during their events.

It reminds those who attended how they were affected by the presentation, and it provides motivation for those who missed out to sign up for the next event.

Either way, sharing these moments on social and in blog posts is a wonderful way to celebrate a successful event and promote the next one.

As a result, it’s my job to make sure I collect as many candid moments that paint the picture of that event with as many brush strokes as possible.  That means the moment that I step into that venue, my eyes and ears are wide open to anticipate where the action is or will be happening and run to it.

But, being in position to capture magical moments is not the only reason why I run around an event like my hair is on fire.

I seek to capture as much variety as possible, too.  

One of the benefits to hiring an event photographer to capture your talks is that you are handed a pile of shots of you in action, and those images can be used for months on end…

...that is, if the shots are interesting and diverse and not shot from the same angle, with the same expressions on your face.

So, that means that I have to see the room from a variety of angles and shoot a versatile collection of wide shots, medium shots and close ups in order to create a portfolio of images that feel unique and special.

In addition to the variety of shot angles and composition, I’m also on the lookout for unique, facial expressions - expressions that present a wide variety of emotions; that includes confidence, approachability, and like-ability. When you add in body movement and hand positioning, the variety becomes even more diverse.

The one drawback is the high-risk, high-reward nature of event photography; meaning, you have a 50/50 chance of capturing gold, or, capturing a truly horrific, mid-speaking expression on the speakers face. So, as a result, many, many images need to be taken in order to account for the vast majority that are not useable for this reason.

But, that’s okay because when you overshoot an event, you will always balance out that crazy face/amazing expression ratio. Also, experience has taught me incredible patience to wait for the right moments...but, yeah, I still capture a ton of unusable images, :)

Also, capturing the audience engaging in the talk by taking notes, consulting with fellow attendees, laughing or just listening very intently, are all images that must be captured in order to truly represent the emotion and temperature of the room so that these visual assets can be used over and over again.

So, if you ever wondered why I’m moving around like a jack rabbit on speed at an event, now you know. There’s a lot of work to be done, and you never know when the magic will transpire, but, quite frankly, it’s a rush to capture money-making moments, :)

Speaking of events and photos, do you have an upcoming talk on the books and no photographer to cover the festivities?

Let’s work on that, shall we?

Set up a call with me and let’s see if we’re a fit to work together - help me work in getting some cardio, would ya? :)

PS - For those of you who aren’t in the know, I mail out these blogs 3x a week, and lemme tell you, they’re a real party, so, if you’d like to get in on this, sign up for it here and I’ll throw in a free gift for you, because I care, :)