Toronto Conference Photography

A very long post with some suggestions for photographers planning on shooting business conferences, conventions and other similar corporate events. To save you time, there’s nothing here about cameras, lenses or how to take pictures.

Before the event

• Corporate events want a dependable, well-mannered, nicely dressed photographer who can produce decent pictures. They don’t want a photographer who produces wildly artistic images, always tilts their camera at a 45° angle or who can’t expose properly.

You have to know what the “bread and butter” pictures are and how to get them. Sure, go ahead and include some creative pictures but always make sure you have the expected pictures.

 

• You are *not* the most important person at the event. The food person carrying the tray of chicken skewers is more important and more popular than you. The people who paid hundreds of dollars to attend the conference are more important than you.

 

• Dress the same as the event’s presenters and not necessary like the audience. At the last Toronto conference I did, most presenters wore suit and tie while the audience ranged from suit and tie to T-shirt and jeans.

 

• For all-day events, ask the event organizer ahead of time about getting a meal(s). You might arrive at a venue at 7AM and leave at 10PM; you can’t be expected to survive on water and a few cookies.

Some events carefully control the number of sit-down meals they serve. Buffet-style meals aren’t usually an issue. You don’t need a seat at a guest table and some events have an area for staff meals. Also consider bringing a few energy bars, raisins or other quiet snacks.

 

• Know the event’s schedule of activities. Get a copy of the program e-mailed to you ahead of time and pick up a program at the event’s registration table.

Ask ahead of time if the event organizer has a shot list. If a shot list exists, determine if all the items are do-able and if not, discuss it with the organizer.

Some event organizers consider their shot list to be only a list of suggestions. But others view their list as being carved in stone and every photo is mandatory. Know what kind of shot list you’re working with.

If a shot list doesn’t exist, you must still confirm what the client expects.

 

• Always manage the customer’s expectation as to how many pictures will be delivered and when they will be delivered. Remember that it will take several days to edit a large number of images. These details should be included in your initial quote.

I’ve found that event organizers don’t expect a specific number of photos. They simply want some nice pictures of most of the event’s activities, all the speakers, the sponsors’ signage and any exhibitor displays.

Most customers can’t manage or use hundreds of photos. They don’t have the time to view them all and choosing which images to use becomes difficult for them.

You could post online proofs of everything and let the customer select what they want but this is usually a waste of time for everyone. I tell organizers that I will use my best judgment to select which pictures to deliver and that’s that. I then make a reasonably broad selection, for example: speaker looking left, speaker looking right, audience tight shot, audience wide shot, one picture of each display booth, etc.

 

At the event

• Treat every attendee as a VIP. Make a good impression on everyone, not just the suit-and-tie folks. It’s not uncommon for a CEO or president to show up at an event wearing a golf shirt and khakis.

 

• The refreshments and hors d’oeuvres are not there for you. Don’t eat or drink too much. But at longer events, do drink and eat something. Remember that some beverages, like coffee, tea and some soft drinks, are more diuretic than others. You don’t want to be running to the washroom too often.

 

• Bring a bottle of extra strength Advil or Tylenol.

 

• A package of cough drops or throat lozenges might come in handy.

 

• Be sure your camera bag is safe. Never take this for granted especially in a hotel, conference centre or other semi-public place. Conferences and conventions have very little, if any, anti-theft security.

Some conferences have a locked room for event staff (make sure you know who has access) and some events might have a “safe spot” behind an exhibitor’s table, behind the stage or under the registration desk. But remember that other people do *not* value your gear as much as you do. If you leave your camera bag under the registration desk, what happens when the registration people go for lunch?

Always lock your equipment case AND secure it to some sort of immovable object by using something like vinyl-coated steel cable and a padlock. The cute little locking cable built into some brands of roller cases doesn’t offer much security.

If you ask nicely, you might be able to keep your equipment case(s) at/under the audio-visual control desk which is usually staffed all day long.

 

• Again, do NOT leave any camera equipment unattended. It’s too much of a risk with hundreds or even thousands of people moving around. It’s well known that thieves target larger conferences, conventions and sports events.

Thieves also target the parking lots around convention centres and hotels. Do NOT leave anything on your car seats and be careful who sees you taking camera gear out of, or putting gear into, your car.

 

• Many business conferences are dark. Since many events use PowerPoint presentations, the tendency is to turn off the house lights leaving only the screen projector to provide the illumination.

Arrive early and ask the A/V folks to show you the lighting. You may need to raise the house lights so you can photograph the audience. You might also need to boost the stage lighting if possible.

If need be, ask to move any onstage plants or other obstructions out of the way. Move event signage into a better location. Sometimes the lectern can be moved a little bit but be careful because often the lectern is plugged into the floor. It might also be necessary to move any onstage chairs to a more photogenic position.

If the event is being recorded on video from a fixed camera position, check with the video folks before you move things around. Otherwise you may mess up their sight lines.

 

• Proper white balance can be very difficult when the event has mixed lighting: onstage tungsten spotlights, fluorescent ceiling lights, cyan-blue light from projectors and maybe even window daylight. Getting reasonably good skin tones is all that matters.

If it looks like the event will have crazy, mixed lighting then, before the event starts, I’ll temporarily place a grey card on the top of the lectern or tape it to a microphone stand. Then I’ll shoot the card from various locations in the room and use this later to grey balance in software. Sometimes this helps.

 

• In most cases, you can’t use flash to shoot onstage presentations. But in the rare time when you can use a flash, consider setting up a remote flash, or two, at the back of the room and trigger them via radio slave. This keeps the flash out of people’s eyes, it hopefully won’t distract the audience too much, the flash exposure will be consistent (i.e. place the flash at the back of the room and set it to manual output) and it’ll look much better than on-camera or ceiling-bounce flash. You may need a tungsten gel for your flash.

You might be able to clamp your flash to an existing light stand or truss at the back of the room. If you use your own light stands, you really, really need to use sand bags.

It may be unlikely but check to make sure that your radio slaves don’t interfere with any wireless microphones in the room.

 

• Be sure you know who’s who at the event or that the organizer will provide you with someone who knows exactly who needs to be photographed. It’s not uncommon at some events for a PR person or a company employee to accompany the photographer and point out the VIPs.

 

• The pictures you shoot have to create an overall positive image and enhance your client’s business message. You’re creating marketing images for your client. You’re not there to shoot goofy, social pictures unless your client specifically asks for this. Coffee break or reception pictures should show that people are enjoying the event but not to the point that they look drunk or out of control.

 

• Obviously try to be quiet and discreet while moving around the room. It’s impossible to be invisible if you’re shooting with a 400mm or 500mm lens on a monopod. Unless you have a silent mirrorless camera, don’t hold down the shutter button for extended 12fps bursts. Learn to anticipate. All you need is one frame here and maybe a couple of frames there.

 

Post-Processing and Delivery

• Some event photographers will say that you should always batch process and never edit individual images. Why? It’s faster and the customer will never notice the difference.

At the last four Toronto business conferences I did, the corporate customers with whom I worked each had at least a decade of experience in graphic design, journalism and/or working with photography. They knew what good photos should look like.

If you’re dealing with consumer-level events then maybe you can get away with quick batch processing. But I’m not trying to get away with anything. It’s the exact opposite. I’m trying to deliver as much as possible. So I process one by one.

 

• When, not if, you add an IPTC caption to the images, and this is often a generic batch caption, include the web site address of your client or the host company, and/or the email address of the appropriate PR person or other contact person, as applicable. Ask your client if they have any specific caption requirements.

 

• Image delivery is usually by Dropbox or WeTransfer. I’m happy to deliver files on CD or USB stick but the demand for these has dropped to zero.

 

• Never promise a delivery date that you can’t easily meet. Delivery time should be included in your initial quote.

It’s common to deliver finished pictures within five to ten business days depending on the volume of pictures. Photos from a short event might be delivered within one or two business days.

Ask ahead of time if your client needs a few pictures delivered the same day for their press releases or social media.

If a client wants a high volume of pictures delivered within one or two days, assuming this is even possible, then it’s common to charge extra for this rush work. A rush surcharge might run from 50% to 100% depending on the turnaround time. This should be mentioned in your initial quote.

If an event needs all pictures delivered the same day or first thing the next morning, hire someone to edit for you. Have this person at the event with you so they can continually edit throughout the day. Bill the customer extra for this service.

 

Pricing and Licensing

• Generally price all in. Build in usage, post-processing, any delivery fees, and assistant fees if applicable. Mileage and parking expenses could either be included (if it’s not too much) or listed separately. If you have larger expenses like hotel, airfare or any other unique expenses, list them as separate line items.

 

• In Toronto and other large cities, it’s not uncommon to charge $180 to $350 per event hour. If charge something like $75/hour, you will regret it. Always have a minimum charge of perhaps two, three or even four hours. Mention your minimum rate in your initial quote.

You could offer a discount for a multi-day event but remember that there’s no economy of scale for you. A two-day event will double your workload. A three-day event will triple your workload.

 

• Some events can run longer than planned. Always have an overtime rate and mention this in your quote just in case the event runs long.

There’s little reason to discount overtime hours. You should charge more for overtime because that’s what all other businesses do.

 

• Some conference days are intentionally long. The day(s) might be 10 hours, 12 hours, maybe even 15 hours long. You might have your overtime rate start after eight or nine hours. Or you could quote for a long day(s). For example, if you normally charge $200 per hour (up to eight hours) and $225 for overtime hours, then for a 12-hour day you would quote the customer (8 x $200) + (4 x $225) = $2,500. Yes that number will scare many customers so quote the number as “$2,500 for 12-hour day” just to remind the customer.

If a three-day event is, let’s say, 7 hours, 12 hours, and 10 hours, then quote each day separately. If you quote as one big number, it might scare away the customer. But if you quote, let’s say, $1400 (7-hour opening day), $2500 (12-hour main conference day), and $2050 (10-hour closing day), it might look more reasonable than just $5950. In any case, still include your overtime rate in case any day runs even longer.

There’s little reason to discount overtime hours. You should charge more for overtime because that’s what all other businesses do.

 

• Don’t forget, and never let the customer forget, that you’re not being hired just for X-number of hours to shoot an event. You’re not selling your time.

You’re being hired to document an event, (yes that sounds a bit pretentious), and then to provide several days of editing in order to produce many good marketing images for their business.

If a customer is concerned about your price, let them know that the cost per delivered image is actually quite low. Your total photo fee will usually be less than the cost of one or two coffee breaks at the event.

 

• If a customer wants a lower price for their event, your only negotiation point is to cut hours. Less money to you means less photography for them. Do they really need you every day of a multi-day event? Is it necessary for you to be there all day long? They need to decide what photography is really necessary and it is not for you to lower your rates.

If they decide to hire you for only part of a business event, you did not lose anything because you’re still working at your full rate. But if you lower your price for the same work, then you did lose – both money and time.

 

• Non-profit organizations don’t usually have the same budget that for-profit companies have. The events I’ve done for non-profits had registration fees ranging from $0 to $150. Some of the conferences run by for-profit companies had registration fees of $400 to $2,000 (for a one-day event). By looking at the conference organizer, the registration fee and what venue is being used, you can get a feel for the overall conference budget.

 

• You might deal directly with the company behind the conference or you might work with a third-party event planner. I’ve found that third-party planners tend to expect lower photography fees. My guess is they have an overall event budget and the less they spend on photography, the more they keep for themselves.

 

• For out-of-town event organizers and especially those who are out-of-country, get a deposit and/or full payment before pictures are delivered. Otherwise if they don’t pay, it’s extremely difficult to chase an out-of-country customer.

 

• Corporate event photos are mostly used for press releases, social media, corporate web site and other marketing collateral. Rarely are they used for advertising. Usage rights should be included in your initial quote.

The usage rights I licence are for any media, in perpetuity (conference photos tend to have a natural shelf life of a year or two), in context of the event only. The usage is for editorial use, non-paid publicity, the company’s own web site, any social media channels that it controls, press releases and any of that company’s other marketing collateral.

I specifically state that the licence does not include paid placements (i.e., paid advertising) nor any third-party distribution except for a newswire service. There’s no distribution to any of the event’s suppliers, sponsors or exhibitors unless it falls under editorial use in context of the event. For example, an exhibitor or sponsor might want to use a photo on its blog or social media to talk about its participation at the conference. Although most exhibitors will use their smartphone to take their own social media photos.

 

• Always specifically state that you’re not supplying any model or property releases.

Finally

Smile and be happy that you’re being paid to take pictures and you’re not digging ditches.