Tips to help your event run smoothly

There have been times when I’m photographing an event and think, “If they had just done XYZ, this event would have been even better.” Well, I’m sharing some of my tips to a great corporate event:

Release form – If you are planning on using the images at all, have all participants sign a media release form upon registration. This ensures that you can use your images in marketing materials without issue.

Award presentations – During awards ceremonies, most recipients are excited and often don’t know where to stand to get their picture taken. Tape down a line on the stage so that they know exactly where to stand.

Live editing – Often times, organizations want to share their images immediately. For this, we highly recommend adding live editing to your event. We are able to get those images turned around so your social media manager can post them as the event is in progress.

Step and repeat – Step and repeats are one of the best ways to easily brand your event and have key VIPs photographed. Order them larger than you think, both height and width. Remember that group photos of 4+ people require much more room than expected. Also, go for the cloth step and repeats that are pull taught, instead of the plastic ones. That way, you can steam the wrinkles out.

Provide t-shirts to photo/video – If you are providing branded t-shirts to attendees and/or staff (example: at a 5K or service project), provide one to your photo and video team, too. Both end up being in the middle of crowds to get interesting shots and if you have a team larger than one, that means the other may at some point be in the shot. The branded t-shirt allows for the team to blend in.

Distribution of images – We often get asked where attendees will find pictures of themselves. Locate a place (either on a website or via email) so that attendees know where to go. Tell your team or post them at registration with hashtags and/or event tags so folks know the direct location.