By Theomien Viljoen
Event photography is a tricky one. Photographers need to be able to get the shots that the client has requested, while still adding their personal touch, writes Theomien Viljoen.
The entrance to the party should evoke a mood, a personality or a branded message that the client is trying to convey. Great photographers will be able to do this – they create stories and narratives in all their photos.
TRENDS
Event planners want photographers to capture candid or natural photographs that convey a mood. Long gone are the days of orchestrated shots. There is a focus on natural, in the moment, narrative.
CREATING MOMENTS
A corporate client spends thousands if not hundreds of thousands on an event and they definitely want to have memories that are well photographed. Good photographers will make suggestions to event planners before the event on what they think will work well. It is important that the event planner and photographer work together in order to not only meet the client needs but exceed their expectations.
Besides satisfying the client, having a great working relationship is beneficial for both. It means repeat business for the photographer and the event planner can use photographs as a selling point. At times, clients can’t envision an event, even if the event planner uses descriptive language. Photographs can evoke a mood and convince a potential client to hire them.
Karl Lagerfeld said it best, ‘What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.’
