Conference Photographer secrets!

Conference and Events photography is not as easy as it looks, and we discus why.
When you see a photographer wandering around at conference looking calm and care free, you can bet they are working like mad under the surface.
With so much happening so quickly, speed is of the essence.
Award winning events photographers Phil Riley and Stewart Writtle sit down to talk about what conference organisers expect from a photographer or videographer, and re-call stories from events they have covered in the past.

[@jeffkernen1554]

Great to hear photographers talking about this genre of photography. Very refreshing. I've shot conferences and events for almost 20 years with my Nikons. Thanks for the video.

[@deec2245]

Conferences are one of the aspects of my career that I love. As a Military photographer, they are my calm. Happy shooting.

[@andrewcroft2570]

Great insight into what's involved in doing that type of photography.

[@michaelspilotro3237]

This was part of my job for the nearly 20 years as the in-house staff photographer for a large institution. On average the institution would do about 30-40 of these per year which is nearly one a week. In other words the day could be grueling. I used Nikons, I had to wear a suit everyday as you never knew when/if a high level individual(s) would show up, but most of the individuals attending were usually leaders in their fields. Tons of editing, short deadlines as I needed to supply the press photos and multiple social media postings during the day. My shooting mantra.....wides, mediums, and tights....good facial expressions of the speakers and presenters with the background in sight to get the event info and branding into the frame. Thankfully.......eventually Nikon had built-in Wi-Fi in some cameras and the Social Media Team was able to pull images off of my camera for the imagery that needed to go up on Social ASAP relieving me of the stress of stopping my shooting to edit in camera to get images out and perhaps missing a key moment during a speech or presentation. Another great video guys.

[@rileyphotos]

Thank you Michael, sounds like you already know how busy shooting a conference is. That’s a very accurate account of a regular shoot/edit day at an event. Thanks for adding those to the comments section, it’s really useful for people to see how it’s done. Cheers 👏📷👍🏻

[@davemorse8511]

Thanks Boys, interesting. 👍🍻

[@rileyphotos]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@daisyriley140]

Very informative, thank you.

[@rileyphotos]

Thank you Daisy 📷😊👏

[@FroggEater]

So it’s just about you speaking about all the cool things you did…. Didn’t learn many secrets there.

[@rileyphotos]

Hi, thanks for watching and your comment. You’re right, maybe the chatting style of this video isn’t clear in sharing some of the skills required to be proficient in conference photography. Maybe I should have put some graphics in to re-enforce key points. If it helps here are some of the points we made during the video: Scout out the venue Look for shortcuts between rooms Try and work methodically Manage expectations Look for participant reactions Don’t stand out Learn the venue- don’t get lost Learn to handle mixed lighting Problem solving - staying calm Logistics planning is key Be able to switch between stills and video Prepare for long days Eat and drink when you can and often Stay positive and upbeat Teamwork will make life easier Learn to multitask Be able to shoot quickly Understand the brief Know where VIPs are Be prepared for things to change These are just some of the things we’ve learned to make conference and events easier to photograph, and if they are helpful to others then that’s great. Thanks again for watching and commenting, and I’ll think about adding some text next time to make sure everything a bit clearer, cheers Phil 📷👏😊

[@medievil2]

@@rileyphotosI believe some pictures also would help some of the slower viewers , but basically all the text on this comment is what’s in the video great job .

[@justinarchiquette7591]

cramming for my first conference event now. Thanks for the great video!

[@rileyphotos]

Good luck!! Have fun 📷