Photography for Events and Business

 

September 10th, 2018.

Event and Business Portrait Photography

I’ve been photographing much more editorial work recently with the Press & Journal. From Golf, Football, business portraits and covering various events for their clients for advertising. I’ve met some really interesting people and I’ve been sent far and wide as 100 mile round trips to do portraits which you’re given 2 minutes to do because the VIP’s assistant says so. Instantly all the ideas you had are out the window. On the other hand when you ask the person you are photographing for a bit more time, they are all for it. Pro tip, you don’t ask you don’t get… Or is that a life tip?

The below pictures are from a couple of sessions I’ve had this month covering event and business portrait photography.

One thing I always get asked is “What gear do you use?” without fail, It’s a weekly occurrence. I don’t hide anything about what lighting or lenses I use to achieve a desired look, post processing in Lightroom is kept to a bare minimum with me usually adding a bit more contrast, or changing an image to black and white. See below…

I was contacted by Aurora Planning – Go check them out! To provide images for their site and PR use.

We agreed that we should incorporate Aberdeen in the photographs somehow, they are a planning company after all, so portraits outside near their office on what was a very sunny morning made for a great session. Aberdeen is hardly known for sunshine, which brings up another question I get asked on a weekly basis… “What if the weather is bad?” I work on client locations 100% of the time, if it’s pouring it down, we can improvise with umbrellas – Maybe they have your company logo on them? (It’s amazing what a well placed flashgun can bring to a session if its raining), we go inside, or we reschedule. Having worked on Editorial pieces where it is essential the picture tells the story come snow, wind and rain, improvising is part of what photographers do.

The kit used on this session:

70-200 2.8 L IS (On path with trees overhead pic), 50mm 1.8 STM (Close up Black and White pic), 17-40 f4 L (through the window pic)

I also used one off camera flash with a small soft box to diffuse the light, which gives off an incredibly soft and almost creamy tone to the images.

 

(AFCCT) Aberdeen FC Community Trust Event, Chester Hotel.

This was a great few hours at The Chester Hotel, Aberdeen. Photographing on behalf of AFCCT for their business lunch to raise funds to help people in the community through a variety of avenues. Pictured are BT Sport and BBC football pundit Chris Sutton. And Sheriff Lindsay Wood, who is a judge in Glasgow, and speaks at dinners and events. One of the funniest individuals I have ever had the pleasure of photographing.

Now, it’s dark in here, but we have this really bright projector providing the backdrop graphic, it is also the main light source which worked a treat illuminating the two speakers.

The best lens you can invest in is a 70-200 f2.8 IS. It is the most versatile bit of kit you will buy. It is my go to lens 90% of the time given what I mainly do and these were both photographed using this lens.