I was honoured to be asked back to photograph the reSHAPE: Investing for Impact at Scale event at the RSA this year. The choice to have images in black and white was really inspired and suits the creative nature of the event.
Freelance events manager Sarah Umar was my main point of contact with Sean Farran for Aspect overseeing the whole event, and clearly knew how to put on a good multi-track, multi-faceted event and make it all run smoothly, which is no mean feat!
It was a joy to be asked back by Gabriel Scott to photograph another panel discussion event and networking opportunity at their showroom in Mayfair, London.
Gabriel Scott led a discussion on high-end hotel design, for which they design and create lighting and furniture worldwide. You can see more photographs by me, a sought-after corporate event photographer in London, and a more detailed article at Hotel Designs.
THE BRIEF
The brief was to arrive a little earlier than the talk was scheduled, to first take a photo of the bar installation. I also couldn’t resist photographing a few close ups of their light fixtures which adorned the space. From there, I photographed people arriving, mingling, and engaging with the panel discussion. The main guidance that I received was to make sure at least some of the images had their product in the background, but the main focus was really on the people. The images were delivered within a couple of days of the event.
PHOTOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES
The staff at Gabriel Scott are really fantastic to work with. Following the brief given via email, things were clear from the start. With the fairly straightforward brief in mind, I was left to photograph the event as I saw fit.
One of the main challenges when photographing decorative lights as part of the atmosphere of the room is the large difference between the brightest and darkest areas of the photo. For interiors photography without people, we would take a few pictures and blend them together (like HDR but very subtle). But people move in event photography so I have to use the very best cameras to make sure the details are retained, without using flash. Fortunately I have a lot of experience as an event photographer in dark or challenging conditions, so I can work out the best exposure to then tweak in my software afterwards.
DID THEY LIKE THE PHOTOS?
Yes, they were as complimentary as always. It’s great to have such a nice client!
You can see my LinkedIn article here.
A big thank you to Digital Leaders for asking me back to photograph their highly successful Impact Awards, now in its 6th year. The event took place at Ministry Venues in Elephant and Castle.
The whole team at Digital Leaders were incredibly helpful for both me the photographer, and the venue itself. The professionalism and experience is immediately obvious when working with these guys.
Here are a few screenshots from their website, so you can see an example of how they were used.
PHOTOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES
Of all the interesting challenges of working in such an atmospheric venue, one that I was not expecting was during the award ceremony itself. The stage had great lighting, and I had been given the opportunity to test my flash and settings before the event took place (this is a rare treat). However, the test-run and the actual show was quite different as the atmospheric haze (a theatre/club trick used to make light beams more visually appealing) was much stronger on the night. It took me a few clicks of the first winner to realise that my flash was actually bouncing off of the haze and causing the images to look misty! So, counterintuitively, I had to quickly switch off the flash and increase my camera exposure to get a clearer image. I must admit that my photographer’s brain had to run at 100% capacity to work out that turning off the flash would produce a cleaner image. Thankfully I was quick enough that nobody realised my tiny crisis, and everybody got nice clear shots of them receiving their awards.
Thanks again to the team at Digital Leaders, particularly Ellie who was the first to struggle with the branded banner with me before others got involved! We got there in the end! Hope to see you all again soon!
It was a pleasure to photograph for reSHAPE at The Royal Society of Arts in London, which was a joint venture between Aspect, The British Academy, ARC and Aspect Angels. My point of contact was freelance events manager Sarah Umar, as well as Sean Farran (Head of Communications at Aspect).
BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS FOR A CORPORATE EVENT? GREAT IDEA!
I was asked to shoot in black and white for this event. I think this is a fantastic idea as it really helps logos and corporate colours to stand out on the page. It’s also rather interesting to see black and white photography for a corporate event in 2022, so the imagery feels quietly confident next to the competition. I have included some red and pink bars to show you how reSHAPE’s colours stand out against the monochrome.
WHAT DOES reSHAPE MEAN?
SHAPE (Social Sciences Humanities & the Arts for People and the Economy). The talks, fireside chats and lightning pitches all fell under this umbrella. You can find a much better explanation on Aspect’s newsfeed!
DID THEY LIKE THE PHOTOS?
Yes they loved them - so much so that I was asked to work on another project before the event had even finished.
Thank you to Digi Leaders for asking me back to photograph The Digital Leaders 100 Awards Ceremony 2022, at Aqua Shard (near London Bridge).
THE VENUE
Aqua Shard is a fantastic space to hire for a corporate event. Guests can enjoy the views, and staff at the venue are very well set up to work with these kinds of events. I’ve worked at The Shard a lot as an event photographer, and have experienced only positive things from the staff there. The canapés and bowl food have always looked (and when I get a chance, tasted) great. I have also photographed Hutong for a private banking firm, which was really quite special.
PHOTOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES
The Shard is beautiful of course, but from a photographer’s point of view there are plenty of complexities when shooting there. In the daytime, the glass walls are super bright compared to the light on the people indoors. To work around this, it’s good to use considerate angles and have a fairly deep knowledge of the camera’s dynamic range and post processing capabilities to get the most out of the venue. Also, there is nowhere to bounce flash in the main area where people tend to network, which means that if I’m using flash (which is rare but it does happen at The Shard), it needs to point directly at whatever I’m photographing. I use some extra techniques to make sure this kind of flash does not appear too harsh in the photos, or shock the guests by being too powerful.
DID THEY LIKE THE PHOTOS?
Yes they did! They received a few images on the same night as requested (before I even left the venue), and the rest the next day.
Thanks again Digi Leaders!
