“I was amazed by Vicki’s photography! Exceptional quality” Sushma Bragg
Perhaps ‘conference’ isn’t a collective noun, but it certainly seems appropriate for this commercial photography job of 150 corporate headshots, when I was recently commissioned by business consultant Ginny Harrop to photograph delegates at a Forever Living event.
Focus 16 Training, organised by Louise and Ashley Riley of The Infinet Group, was held at the Everyday Champions Centre in Newark, which was the perfect venue for over 150 delegates to enjoy the conference and benefit from the guests speakers, who included Ulf Oscarson and Jeanette Magnusson from Sweden. There was a great energy and atmosphere throughout the day and some inspirational talks.
I set up a studio in the Champions Suite and photographed a steady stream of delegates all day. Whenever I had the opportunity I went through to the auditorium to capture the key speakers addressing the conference. This provided the organisers with documentary photography of the day, perfect for using to promote future events, in addition to the new business head shots that all the delegates could haven taken. When I am photographing people at an event like this it is quite different from standard portrait shoots which allows much more time per person. In this situation, in order for me to get great imagery that shows everyone at their best, I need to make every subject feel relaxed and at ease very quickly. It is not merely just pointing a camera at them and snapping their image, I ensure that they are beautifully lit and spend time advising them how to pose and creating a connection, which shines out of the images.
I had some lovely feedback during the day and in messages afterwards. The default setting of so many people is to dislike having their photograph taken normally, so it is lovely when person after person after person, expressed their delight with their images and how they enjoyed the experience. And it is wonderful to see the pictures being put to good use, as a barrage of new profile pictures appeared across websites and social media.
If you have a business event coming up which would benefit from some commercial photography please get in touch.
“At last I have a really good quality image to use on my Facebook and Web page” Robert Ferguson
Louise and Ashley Riley, and Ginny Harrop
Ulf Oscarson and Jeanette Magnusson
