subject: Seven Tips For Photographing A Conference [print this page] Find the Scope of the Job Find the Scope of the Job
First and foremost both yourself and the client should sign a contract that clarifies the way pictures are delivered, delines the copyright situation, and last but not least, limits to your liability as a photographer.
Make sure that the copyright demands on photography for conferences might be different from those on other jobs because the conference organiser likely needs to publish the pictures online, and if they're unable to do that, the shots may be worthless to them. Also, be ready for delegates and speakers approaching you with the questions like: "Where can I see the pictures later? Do you have a business card?" Again, your client will help you give a confident answer so make sure you have these answers ready to hand. Lens Type
If you want to have some quality shots at the end of play, bring a SLR which can produce great photos at ISO 1600, and an 85mm f1.8 lens. Also make sure you have a flash as backup and a tripod is great for group shots.
The Agenda Make sure you know the agenda for the day, take a look at the conference website you will find out where the conference venue location is and understand how many keynote speakers will be attending, is there car parking at the meeting venue. On the day grab a agenda or program when you arrive at registration. You will find it much more enjoyable if you have a agenda to hand as you will not miss the important times like Q&A sessions. Look out for faces from the agenda as you might get images of the CEO or the VIP guests and you know who to take pictures of around the coffee tables.
Leave Guests Alone
Conference-holders want you to take great pictures of the speaker, but they don't want you to block the guests' views or machine-gun people with your camera. Also never stand in front of a video camera and you will get on with the videographer team and make guests feel much more comfortable in the conference centre. Change your Style
The speakers won't run away when they see you. So move around and get some great shots from different perspectives.Sit down on the floor in front of the stage, take a seat in the front row, take shots from the back including some guests, take the same with a wide-angle lens including a lot of guests, walk around and make pictures from the side.
You are shooting marketing material so stop thinking exclusively like a wedding photographer, and start thinking like a website designer. How would you like to crop this guy into the next year's website? Or into the conference report? Take a full-body picture from the front, the side, and maybe from behind. Take a landscape and a portrait picture, a close-up, and one from very far away. Include the conference logo if possible and make one with an interesting bullet point on the presentation screen in the background. Don't leave out any possible perspective.Try to make every image have a full body.
Take Important Shots
At the end of the conference, you want to go back to the studio with a story on your memory card. Shooting all the different angles of the keynote speaker alone is not going to cut it. Make sure you talk to your client before the event, though. If they just want to have pictures of the one VIP speaker, forget about this part and save your shutter some actuations. Turnaround Process Note, you're producing marketing material. And that gets old very fast. So be faster and try to get the selection ready within 24 hours. These events are not couples at the wedding venues waiting for their lifetime memories they want to post the shots on their website now! Taking fewer pictures and deleting some of the bad ones from your camera might help to speed things up afterwards.Forget about black and white pictures, HDR, crazy colors, or any artistic experiments. You're not producing art, you're producing marketing material.
