Must-Have Shots: A Guide to Hiring an Event Photographer to Capture Your Event
Planning an event is a very time-consuming and tedious process. From securing a venue, to catering, lighting, decorations, invitations, etc. there are many aspects that require your attention to host a successful event. One aspect that often gets overlooked, is hiring a professional event photographer in your area to properly capture your event. A skilled event photographer will go beyond simply delivering attractive images. They will tell the story of the day, using a variety of shots. But what are the shots your should ensure they will capture to achieve this? In this blog, we’ll go over the must-have photos that will work together to capture the essence of your event to preserve cherished memories or market your business/future events. This info will help you be confident that you are hiring the right photographer for the job.
Photos You Will Want
Candid Moments: Candid photographs are those that are not pose or pre-planned. They are essential for capturing raw emotions and genuine moments that are completely unique to your event. A professional photographer will know how to move stealthily through the event space without disrupting the event or guests to be in the right place at the right time and capture these moments that only happen once. Candid photos of emotional moments or interactions will preserve those feelings for people to hold onto and relive.
Group Portraits: Group portraits are a great way for guests to commemorate the quality time they spent together at your event. This can be formal group photos at a photo station, or impromptu shots as the photographer moves throughout the space. This will also allow guests to express themselves and feel like you prioritize giving them a great experience when attending your event. A skilled event photographer should be experienced in setting up and posing group photos, quickly adapting to the energy of the group, location of the photo, and number of people. These are the photos guests are most often taking on their phones, so giving them these photos taken by a professional is a wonderful gift!
Venue Details: A lot of work goes into venue selection and decoration. It is the backdrop of the event that sets the mood and atmosphere. Having venue detail shots will do the same thing for the final gallery of photos. These photos can quickly put viewers back into the headspace they were in at the event, making other photos in the gallery that much more impactful. Whether it is the names of the bride and groom beautifully displayed at the venue entrance, or your business’s logo prominently featured throughout the space for new potential customers to see, venue details are an important piece of the puzzle when photographing an event.
Key Moments: Every event is full of key moments that only happen once. Ensuring these are properly identified and captured is very important since these are often the very reasons for the event being held in the first place. If venue details are the photos that set the stage, then key moments are the main event. A skilled photographer will ask for any key moments happening during the event and will have a game plan for ensuring they get captured. Make sure to communicate when and where you anticipate these will take place so these are not left up to chance.
Guest interactions: Similarly to candid moments, capturing guest interactions will showcase the emotions your guests felt and good times they experience with one another. These also are a powerful tool to document the success of an event. Those who did not attend the event will see that the guests who did were connecting with one another and enjoying themselves. Make sure to communicate any VIPs or specific interactions that should be prioritized. This could be family members seeing each other for the first time in a long time at a reunion, or the CEO of the company having heartfelt conversations with their employees, just to name a couple.
Speeches and Performances: It should be obvious that these are important shots to have (when applicable) when photographing your event, but it is important to take a moment to ensure your photographer knows everything they need to by communicating key details surrounding speeches and performances. Beyond just when and where they are happening, your photographer should know a general layout of the space including paths of travel they can take to get angles of the speeches/performances. Other potential details to consider providing include but are not limited to, how many people are performing/speaking, how long is each performance/speech, where on stage will the podium be located, what will the lighting conditions be in the space, and what do you anticipate audience members will be doing during the performances/speeches. Any details you can provide will help ensure the best possible photos. A professional photographer will know what to ask for and how to use the provided information to be prepared with contingencies.
Parting Moments: Leaving an event you enjoyed is a bittersweet moment. Your photographer should be prepared to stay until the end of your event to capture the hugs, goodbyes, and lingering conversations. This can serve as a great conclusion to the photo gallery and remind attendees that they did and still do want more of your fantastic events!
Photos are the Pieces, The Gallery is the Puzzle
Each of these photos are a piece of the story that the final gallery tells. Ensuring all of these shots are captured will give viewers a complete picture of the event and the emotions of the day. A venue detail shot may not be very impactful all on its own, but will add to the impact of all of the other photos that are viewed with it. This goes for each type of shot. Depending on your intended use for the photos, you may only be showing one or two at a time, which is fine. A skilled photographer will be able to provide great photos that can stand on their own. However, when possible, think about ways you might be able to utilize a larger portion or even the entire gallery. Viewing the photos this way will be more memorable. This could be in the form of an album, article, or online gallery. Knowing these must-have shots and how they all work together to immortalize your event will allow you to confidently select the right photographer for the job and give you piece of mind that you’ll be getting amazing photos and memories to hold onto forever.
Event Photography in Denver Colorado
If you have an upcoming event in the Denver are and value the storytelling and emotions professional photography can capture, then you’re in the right place! At Stone’s Throw Productions, we specialize in photographing events and have a deep understanding of using the above mentioned shots to provide amazing memories through our galleries. Fill out or contact form to get the conversation started to see if we are the right fit to photograph your event!
