Event Photography

I have been doing various event photo shoots over the last year or two. These event photography assignments are often used for newsletters and community newspapers promoting certain  issues and organizations. Usually the shoot includes some posed shots of the "important" people with a mix of what I call ambiance shots that try to capture the atmosphere or the "story" behind the event. 

Here is an example of a posed image, and what can go wrong, where the New York City Mayor Bloomberg was posed with some teachers at a 100 anniversary celebration of an elementary school.

There were several fellow teachers trying to get the same shot that I posed so I ended up with the subjects looking at the other cameras. Make sure the subjects are looking at you and pay attention to the backgrounds.

One problem for me personally is that I don't always feel comfortable trying to take control of the set up, because I feel it somehow interferes with the "spontaneity" of the moment. But of course, once you intercede and pose the subjects, the spontaneity of the moment is gone.

What to do? You want to capture the atmosphere of the event, but you need to make a strong visual. So here's an image of teachers enjoying some historical photographs taken over the course of the school's 100-year history. 

Looks like they're having a lot of fun. This image was used in the organization's newspaper. It was posed.