Hosting the perfect corporate event relies heavily on careful planning and preparation. Add this to your prep list: Hire a professional photographer.
Why?
Not only will professional images of your event give you a visual record of the event as it happened, event photos are a highly useful promotional tool for future events.
Why You Need a Corporate Event Photographer
The main benefit of professional event photography is all about the event itself. Whatever the purpose of your corporate event is, a professional photographer can help enhance and build on that purpose. For a product launch, it’s a great way to get professional-quality product shots. For a gala, banquet, or ceremony, professional corporate event photography enhances the excitement of the event and provides a record of important moments, such as speeches and award presentations.
Event photos also have a variety of promotional uses after the event is over.
3 Reasons to Hire a Professional Photographer
It can be tempting to try and save on photography, especially when there are many other items competing for budget consideration. If it turns out that a colleague’s brother is an amateur photographer, why not save a few hundred dollars and hire him instead of a professional?
Here’s why that’s a bad idea:
You get what you pay for. If you want a professional-looking job, hire a professional. There might be the rare amateur who’s naturally talented, but for the most part, an amateur photographer will deliver amateur event photos. If that’s what you want (and sometimes it is!), that’s fine. But if you want professional-looking photos, hire a pro.
Professionals know the job. Good professional photography requires a considerable amount of skill and experience. Great photography requires an instinctive knowledge that’s only attained with time on the job. Professionals don’t just know how to work a camera, how to get the right lighting, and how to edit photos. They also know how to get the right photos in the first place. Most importantly, they know how to blend in with the crowd and get the best shots without disrupting your event.
It’s not worth the gamble to hire an amateur. Hiring an amateur or beginner photographer sounds good on paper. They’re less expensive, and that’s great for your budget. The problem is, there’s no way to verify whether they’re any good at their job. If they don’t have professional experience, you can’t rely on their professionalism or portfolio. No matter how tight your event budget is, it’s not worth the gamble of hiring inexperienced vendors.
What Should Your Corporate Event Photographer Take Photos of?
For most corporate events, you’ll want your photographer to take several different kinds of photos throughout the event. These include:
- Highlights: Photos of important moments, such as the keynote speech, award presentations, or the “ribbon-cutting” moment of an opening ceremony. These are usually candid photos of the highlights as they happen.
- Special guest photos: Posed photos of keynote speakers, VIPs, and other special guests. Often these photos are posed against a sponsor wall or other themed background.
- Attendee photos: Once the posed guest shots are taken care of, the photographer will circulate through the event space, taking photos of candid moments, as well as posed shots of attendee groups. Here, their job is to capture interesting moments that catch their eye or moments you’ve specifically asked for and to get shots of a variety of people and locations.
- Even setup/organization: Photos of the venue as the event is being set up and/or photos of event organizers and volunteers in action. These kinds of images aren’t strictly necessary, but they can be a great addition to your social media coverage of the event. People love a behind-the-scenes moment!
Putting Professional Corporate Event Photos to Good Use
For all corporate events, professional photography gives you a way to save and share the highlights. It’s the most effective way to preserve the company’s record of important moments in its own history. But, of course, there’s more to professional photography than the historical record. There are several additional ways your company can benefit from having a visual record of the corporate events it holds.
Some ways to use professional corporate event photos include:
- Post the best images on social media, and tag the people in the photos. Make sure to share images that include speakers and other prominent guests.
- Publish a selection of images on your company or event website.
- Send out a post-event email blast that includes two or three pictures, with a link to your website for people who want to see more event photos.
- Provide your speakers and special guests with copies of shots of their speeches or posed shots that they can use for their own social media/publicity purposes.
- Feature selected images in promotional material for future events.
Corporate Event Photography Pricing: What to Expect
The price you pay for corporate photography will vary based mainly on factors relating to the photographer. You’ll typically pay a higher hourly or daily rate for an experienced professional, while the rate for a student or amateur photographer will be much lower. The pro photography website Fash lists 2022 average hourly rates as follows:
- Amateur/Student: $25 to $100 per hour
- Semi-professional: $75 to $150 per hour
- Professional: $100 to $300 per hour
- Expert: $200 to $500+ per hour
In addition, you can expect to pay more for a photographer in New York City or Los Angeles than you would for a photographer who’s based in a suburban city or town.
Most photographers also offer multiple pricing packages. Some possibilities may include:
- Hourly rates for shorter corporate events
- Day rates for half-day, full-day, or multi-day events
- Additional charges for photo retouching, printing, or digital downloads
Corporate Event Photography Captures Your Event Like Nothing Else Can
All corporate events serve a purpose in their own right. By hiring a professional corporate event photographer, you can add to that purpose in a number of different ways. Professional photography provides a record of the event and promotional material that’s useful in the moment and as an invaluable resource for marketing future events.