Hi Everyone

Today, in this quick blog I will be looking at whether photographers should specialise in one area of work, or pretty much carry out all types of photography.  As a conference and event photographer in Edinburgh and Glasgow, I am always asked if I specialise in conference and corporate photography Edinburgh and Scotland and whilst this is my specialist area, I also do fine art infrared and landscape photography in Scotland and a few years back I was a newspaper and PR photographer in Edinburgh and East Lothian.  Event photography also means i photograph sports, birthday parties, weddings, university graduations and general award ceremonies etc, so even though I specialise, this covers a wide range of photography.  However, I am wary of photographers who say they will do any kind of photography.  

looking for a commercial photographer in Edinburgh Glasgow or Scotland, which kind is best for you.

There are 2 kinds of photographer, those who thrive on a controlled environment, where they set up the lighting, usually in studio and the photoshoot is organised prior to the event, usually with little surprises on the day.  Then there are uncontrolled environment photographers who deal with the conditions on the day, there is often very little control over the lighting and unexpected things can happen on the day.  This very much applies to sport and can also apply to other other events such as conference photography and awards ceremonies.  I put myself in the second category and while I can and will take posed photographs, I prefer not to do this in a studio environment and like to get the best out of the natural light where possible in a normal environment.  In contrast to this, I am an infrared and fine art photographer, although this is also in an uncontrolled environment and the weather can play a large part over the success of the photoshoot. Most photographers in Scotland will do various types of work, but beware of those who say they can do everything and its always best to work with someone who regularly specialises in one area and has plenty of experience.  Another example of this is still life photography, very much a controlled environment genre and not for me to be honest, I like the element of surprise.

Anyway hope this helps.  Until next time.

Kind Regards

Colin

Hi Everyone 

So what equipment do you need as an event photographer in Edinburgh or Glasgow.  Well you are going to have to try and keep it light.  I personally don’t like to see photographers with enormous telephoto lenses at conferences, it both intimidates the delegates and can be physically impossible for you to be mobile.  So here is my top 5 tips for conference photographers in Scotland.

Equipment Tips for corporate event photographers in Scotland:

1. An all purpose lens would be useful ie something like 70-200mm for instance, it’s better for the lens to work well in low light than say a longer telephoto.  You can get relatively close anyway as the official conference photographer.

2. Take plenty of batteries and 2 cameras in case one packs in.

3. I suggest keeping flash simple and portable, unless you are taking a lot of posed portrait photos, then you may want to have a separate area with a portable flask and an umbrella or soft box.  Otherwise flash with a light modifier would be sufficient but don’t use it all the time.

4. It may be worth taking a wide angled lens for shits of the whole venue, outdoors and indoors.  

5. You may want to use a tripod if you are taking official portrait shots but otherwise a monopod my be more appropriate due to space constraints.

Anyway, hope this helps.

Until next time.

Kind Regards

Colin

Hi Everyone 

Today I am going to briefly look at some editing tips for the event photographer in Scotland.  Of course a lot is dependant on the timescales for completion of the photos by the client, but there are still some basic rules that would help any corporate and conference photographer Scotland.  So here we go:

1. Don’t try any new software or routine when you are editing a corporate photoshoot. Practice on any new systems prior to any commissioned work.

2. Make sure your equipment is all ready prior to the event ie lots of hard drive memory, pc or Mac working fast enough, internet ok, software updated.

3. Go through all the photos and work through images that could be included in the final batch for the client but don’t do any complicated editing yet, just keep the hopeful ones in a folder.  Then you want to do some basic editing ie exposure,  colour balance, crop.

4. The next stage is identifying any specific photos from your conference photography in Edinburgh and carry out the more complicated edits ie black and white conversions, removal of any unwanted objects, enhancing the portraits etc.

5. Check your final batch and remove any images that are similar or not good enough, then sharpen images if required.  I use Photoshop, Nik filters by DXO and Canon software, but it’s important that you establish a routine.  You also need to try and limit the time you spend editing.  Time is money and the object should be to get it right when you take the photo.  You can’t spend hours and hours editing and it’s not necessary if you are organised enough.

Hope all the helps your corporate event photography in Scotland.  Until next time.

Kind Regards

Colin