Prepare.

You've booked a photographer for an event you are holding. He turns up half an hour late. Gingerly, he makes his way through the crowd towards, well, he's not sure where. Finds a spot, fiddles with his camera for 20 minutes, in which time the main activity of the night that he's there to cover is going on. In a totally different room. He spends the next hour taking photos of people, walls, the bar, everything. Except none of it is particularly relevant. Unfortunately, he never did make it to that back room with one of your main exhibits in it, although he did walk by it several times. He didn't even know it was there.

Now you have to consider how to approach writing him a tactfully worded thank you email. Dear photographer, many thanks for all the pictures of people talking to each other. It really put across the sense that there were people at the event. And that they were talking to each other. I enjoyed your interesting take on the colours you saw in our building, too. I never knew everything was so orange. Not to worry about turning up late, missing the main point of the evening and then leaving early because you hadn't charged your camera battery - it could happen to anyone.

Anyone who isn't fully prepared.

OK, so that's what could be classed as an extreme example. That said, I do not doubt for a second that there are photographers out there that follow this exact practice, time after time.

Although true of any photography, preparation is vital when covering events. A well prepared photographer will get the shots that truly document the night. Here's a little list of things I do or keep in mind with regards to event photography:

•  Figure out the lighting levels in each room / area, making a note of how to achieve the best exposure in each room. You won't always be looking to achieve a "perfect" exposure, depending on the room and the event itself. If you're in a room with a particular atmosphere and that is the intention of the room, you will want to match that atmosphere in order to correctly communicate the feel of the event.
  

•  To help achieve this, ensure you get a chance to speak to the organiser for at least 10 minutes before the event begins, ideally also by email prior to the day of the event. You will set yourself in good stead if you find out what is happening when and where, what the desired efffect of the photographs is to be (e.g. get a sense of the place being busy to document the success of the evening) and any shots in particular the organiser has in mind.
  

•  It seems like a small point, but making sure your white balance is as accurate as possible is also important for most reportage and coverage. Event coverage is, essentially, a photographic document. You want to reproduce the event as accurately as possible. Of course, there is much more to this than getting the colours correct in your image, but every little helps.
  

•  Reportage doesn't just require you to take a photo of what's there, therefore proving it was there that night. Anyone could do that. Good reportage and event coverage should focus on trying to get a sense of the evening across.
  

•  Make sure you know your way around the event area physically. Where you can and can't go, how best to traverse the space whilst remaining unobtrusive. I find that I get the best images when I remain inconspicuous. You do, of course, sometimes need to get directly involved and ask people to do certain things for you for a shot you have in mind, but try to make it fun for the participants, if at all possible. This is, in a way, another form of preparation; preparing your subjects prior to a staged shot.
  

•  Remember to bring your own personal style to the images, whatever that may be, whilst respecting and fulfilling the requests of the event organiser.

• Oh, and remember to enjoy yourself!
  

If you do all this, you are totally prepared. You know your light, you know what the organiser wants from the shoot, you know what is happening where and when, you know your way around. As a result, you know you will take better photographs and end up with a happier client.

I suppose you want to see some examples, do you? Here are examples of two contrasting event types.

LDN Wrestling is a fantastic professional wrestling company I have the pleasure of working with on a regular basis. Although we undertake a variety of projects together, the most demanding are, without a doubt, coverage of matches themselves. The best moments last for less than a second.

The trick is getting the shot without the ropes in the picture; dealing with a shaking canvas alongside the low light conditions; getting as close as possible to the action whilst avoiding flying limbs. It's exhausting over a 3 hour period but just about the most fun you can have covering an event. As before, click on the images for large versions.

John Jones are an excellent art framing company who are keen to support emerging artists. They hold regular nights of art installations and music. Being surrounded by art and music while you work can be incredbly inspiring; you feel part of a bigger creative atmosphere.

That's all for this update. I'm not sure how it got so enormous. Sorry about that. Go and have a cup of tea and a choccy bar, you've earned it.

Next time, I'll be easing off the business side of things and tackling one of my favourite kinds of photography - portraits. Faces. People.



For more images and info, be sure to visit www.garethdutton.com