When UCISA where looking for conference and event photographers in Glasgow, they approached us as we have a lot of experience in photographing events and have worked in most of the main venues in Glasgow, Edinburgh and throughout Scotland.
Most speakers use displays which can make for interesting backgrounds.
As photographers, the main objective is to capture the events of the day, or in the case of this conference, 3 days. The photography ranged from photographing the main speakers and the audience to the exhibitions, workshops and evening events. We have a lot of experience in photographing theatre and in many ways a conference speaker is very similar as you have to capture the movements and expressions. This is crucial, as there’s nothing worse than shots of people speaking at conference podiums either looking bored or caught mid sentence with their lips in an awkward position.
The challenge is to capture those interesting moments when they happen but without taking too many shots and becoming a distraction for the speaker and the audience. Generally, when we feel we have enough shots we stand back for a while. This is also a good time to go and capture other aspects of the event, such as the exhibition stands.
We always look for interesting gestures which help animate shots of people speaking at podiums.
UCISA also had a requirement for some video. Usually, if this is capturing the same events as the photography, we would have a separate photographer and videographer but on this occasion what they wanted was some vox-pop style interviews, which could be used at a later stage on their website. This meant that a room could be set up with a video camera and lights for people to pop in at set times for the interviews.
We like to capture audience interaction which can help tell the story of the day.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of photographing a conference or event is listing to some of the speakers. We have learned everything from the latest medical and science developments to new and emerging technologies, construction and engineering projects, housing policy and the arts.
We were even asked to photograph a conference for the Ministry of Defence but we had to sign the official secrets act for that so I’m afraid we can’t say any more!
If you are looking for conference and events photographers in Glasgow, Edinburgh or further afield then please drop us an email or call us on 0131 363 0013 to chat about your requirements.
We take lots of candid shots during the conference or event such as this one of some exhibitors.