Corporate/Company Event

shemwhistler

Hey folks,

My boss has found out about my 'hobby' and I've been 'asked' to take photographs at a company event on Friday.

This will be for around 80 to 100 people, a large section will sat in an audience style setup whilst a few presentations are made.

Then some certificate giving with the young people we've worked with and the Mayor of the area we were working in.

After that it's some food and activities for the young people.

I'm feeling more comfortable about the second section as I think I'll be alright getting some candid shots and shots of the craic, but the first parts, the more corporate parts worry me as I'm not sure how to make them interesting or what things to look out for.

I was hoping that someone might have either some tips or some examples of these sorts of events. I'm just looking for any inspiration really as I don't want to make a fool of myself with my work colleagues.

Thanks folks
Matt

Ballyman

Look at the business section of any newspaper and you will see plenty of the "corporate" type shots.

colblimp

For the presentations, make sure you take a bit of time to 'set up' the pic - eg; make sure there's space between the two people - don't have them standing really close to each other. Take 5 or 6 pics of each shot as someone will be blinking, looking away, picking their nose etc. Make sure they're not standing too close to a wall otherwise you'll have nasty shadows. Above all, relax. There's no point in getting worked up about it - JFDI!!!

Good luck!

colblimp

So this is the kind of thing I'm rabbiting on about:



OK, there's shadows, but they're not harsh.

Don't zoom in too much. Leave yourself a bit of space for straightening or cropping later.

Do you have a flashgun? Would be very handy if you do (if you're able to bounce the flash you'll get much better results, but sometimes your location, or lack of flash, won't allow for this).


Regarding Colblimp's comment above, if you've got about 100 people to photograph, I wouldn't worry at all about how close or far they're standing from each other (personally I feel the closer the better though, myself). If there's a handshake or such though, like in the above picture, try to include it as best you can (I often see photos where the hands are shaking, but you can't really tell as the photo has been cropped too tightly and the hands are falling out of the frame).


If you're the only one taking photographs, you should be grand and can relax. If there's another photographer there, then you'll have to compete with him/her for photographs if you shoot at the same time, so the best thing to do is to approach the photographer and try to work a little system out between ye.

If you're both shooting at the same time, you'll both have photographs where the people in the photo are looking at the wrong camera. So if you agree to take turns (ie; he goes first, you go second, etc.) then you're both more likely to get better shots.


EDIT: And charge your boss. If you're taking photographs you can't enjoy the event and if you decide you'll be editing you'll spend hours at the PC afterward. If he's able to organise this event, he's able to pay you for taking photographs at it!

kfish2oo2

Deleted User wrote: »

EDIT: And charge your boss. If you're taking photographs you can't enjoy the event and if you decide you'll be editing you'll spend hours at the PC afterward. If he's able to organise this event, he's able to pay you for taking photographs at it!

Just to reiterate this: photography may be an enjoyable hobby for you, but this is more than just your normal back garden experimenting. There's pressure on you to take consistently good pictures for an entire evening, and thats hard work. You should be compensated, especially if you're doing post work.

Some advice: carry an extra battery (or 7) and your battery charger. Also make sure you have extra memory cards or a sufficiently large hard drive to regularly dump photos onto. Bring a tripod (you never know), flash if you have one (and spare batteries) and a nice portrait lens (if you have one).

shemwhistler

Thanks everyone for the input, I feel more prepared for Friday, although you're right, it certainly does create a feeling of pressure.

When I'm out on my own there's no expectation, this is different.

Thanks again, and I'll let you know how it goes.