During the last 20 years, I have gained a lot of experience in the event photography business. Let me share a few toughs that could help you to improve the quality of your work.
1. Ask for a proper brief, and additionally ask as many questions as you can before the event. You need to know what to expect during the event so you can prepare well.
2. Clarify what the client wants to communicate with the images. It's essential to understand and satisfy the clients' needs.
3. You need to know what the photos are going to be used for so you can shoot according to that. If its a website using specially cropped images, you need to compose the pictures to fit well. If the shots are going to be used on Instagram, you might want to shoot the photos in a 4:5 aspect ratio.
4. Try to be less disturbing as you can when taking photographs. You need to find the right balance between shooting many images but not to interrupt the ongoing event. This is especially important if shooting in a smaller room, during a business presentation or a lecture.
5. Capture real moments instead of shooting boring posed photos. An excellent facial expression of an event attendee can tell more than 100 words.
6. Show the very best moments of the event. Everyone loves seeing happy participants interacting with each other.
7. Avoid shooting empty spaces. It's crucial to show how good was the atmosphere at the conference, business meeting or a gala dinner, and showing empty spaces is not a good idea.
8. Don't forget to always be kind and patient, even if it's a long day or you are working under time pressure.
9. Shoot perfectly composed photographs using correct exposure. You save plenty of time if you need to make only slight adjustments when processing the images.
10. Never miss the chance to ask for some feedback. You can learn a lot from the comments that you get from the client and the audience.
I hope you have learned something while reading this article. Stay tuned for more useful tips and images.