Why does event photography matter and what makes a ‘good one’?

You’ve spent months preparing for your event, meticulously planning every detail. I’m no event planner but I can imagine there is a lot of careful crafting, shaping and co-ordinating (and umpteen lists) amongst many other parts, that go into delivering a successful event. The event itself is like the proud unveiling of a precious jewel - you want it to stand out, be enjoyed, admired and remembered. You don’t get chance to pause because whilst the event is happening you’re carefully conducting things behind the scenes to make sure everything happens exactly as it should. How are you going to show what happened at your event though and let people see the end result of all that work? Would you rely on phone photos that colleagues might have taken across the evening, from a whole host of angles (and if you’re anything like my mum’s photography cut out at least 2/3rds of people’s heads)? Or would you choose to invest in a professional event photographer who can deliver a cohesive set of images that are unique to your event and that perfectly document what happened - the details, the atmosphere, key moments, people’s reactions and interactions, behind the scenes…

It’s obvious which one I’d suggest going for but here’s why it’s important to get a professional to take those photos for you. After all, you wouldn’t ask one of your colleagues to do the event catering just because they can cook.

Event photos perfectly capture the story of what happened and give anyone who looks at them either a feel for the event if they weren’t there or a reminder of what they experienced.  A cohesive set of images are an important marketing tool for promoting your work, your company values and brand. They capture the ‘small’ moments - those you won’t realise were even happening but are just as much an important part of the story as those bigger more obvious moments. An experienced event photographer will photograph all the things you didn’t even know you needed without you even noticing. They’ll have understood exactly what you need - sweep in, on time and quietly weave their way around the event and everyone there without disturbing or interrupting, yet with senses as sharp as a cat so they see and hear everything and know exactly where to position themselves to get that ‘moment’. You won’t need to guide them. Then, in the blink of an eye, you’ll have a carefully curated set of professional images that are exactly what you need to show what happened and how good it was.

That’s exactly the person you need and what you should expect from a professional event photographer. Consider them just as important a part of your event as the venue, the catering, the marketing tools. The images will prove their worth way after the event has come to a close and will be the one thing you can keep coming back to and re-purposing.