Maximize Your Event Photography Coverage

In the above video and proceeding outline, I will discuss how to maximize your event photography coverage.

All of these tips and approaches to event photography come from over 13 years of experience as a professional event photographer in Los Angeles.

Event Photography Tips: How to Properly Cover an Event (Maximum Coverage!)

Here is what will be covered:

• What your objective is, overall.

• How it changes from event to event.

• Lastly, How you can maximize your event photography coverage throug: 

• Logistical and practical event photography tips

• Technical event photography tips

• and Philosophical tips and exploration

The first thing to understand is what your objective is DEPENDING on the type of event you’re photographing:

• This will OF COURSE vary vastly depending on the job and

• It is important to understand Intended use

Corporate and political event photography clients will likely use your images for :

• Marketing and promotion

• Their Website

• Or simply documentation for internal use

But with private event photography, intended use will likely include:

• Documentation, of course

• Social media posts

• Framed prints

• And things of that nature

With a firm understanding of intended use, you should of course...

Balance this, with your personal objective as a photographer.

As a professional event photographer in Los Angeles, for me, at every event, I: 

• love capturing meaningful, emotion filled moments far more than “cool shots”

• want my event photography images to be windows to what it was like to be there

• want to create visual reminders of how people felt in those moments at the event

But additionally, I have ever changing goals when it comes to how I work and what I want to achieve.

And lastly, I have a career goal as a professional event photographer in Los Angeles, which is: 

To raise the bar, and challenge people’s notion of what event photography is, and what an event photographer can be. 

So let's move onto a discussion of what maximum event photography coverage is, exactly.

• Maximum Coverage vs more photos: Its about creating images, shot with intent, that are about something, that serve your clients needs- not getting more photos!

• It is about finding a balance between focussing on VIPs and covering as many moments and participants as possible.

• It's about capturing a wide variety of images of varying shot types at an event... In order to tell a well rounded visual story.

• I’ve created a video on the shot types at your disposal that I encourage you to check out if you haven't already since This video is about getting as many of those shots as possible, not what those shots are.

• But on top of that special focus, it's important to occasionally scan the room when photographing an event and keep a toll on who you’ve already photographed. But remember, while you want to get a shot of as many people as possible in attendance, you want to balance that with shooting with intent and making meaningful images. So don’t over linger on one person as you may end up missing other potential shots.

VIPs at various events often include:

• Guest speakers

• MCs

• The Birthday boy or girl

• Family members

• And possibly Celebrities (I photograph a lot of these as a Los Angeles event photographer
  

Logistical and practical tips for maximizing your event photography coverage.

As a professional event photographer, you want to show up to a job ready to shoot. So what this means is:

• Prep your gear in advance and have your:

  • Your lenses already cleaned

  • Your cameras tested

  • Your memory cards formatted

  • And your file formats checked (necessary for me since I teach and kids shoot jpegs)

• Have your camera set up in a way in which you won't have to fumble around in menus. 

• Find a convenient spot for your equipment that you can easily return to it throughout the night. I personally only shoot with two camera bodies when necessary and swap lenses often throughout an event so it is important that in doing so I miss as few shots as possible.

• BREAKS: I personally don't take many, but if not taking a break will affect your performance, TAKE A BREAK. Be wise.

• You want to be friendly- this matters - But Learn how to politely exit conversations- especially uncle bob asking about your camera. You do not want to get bogged down in unnecessary conversation.

• Stay fit, learn to fast and avoid blood sugar spikes. 

My last Logistical tips for maximizing your event photography coverage

• On top of that special focus on VIPS, as I have discussed, it's important to occasionally scan the room and keep a toll on who you’ve already photographed. But remember, while you want to get a shot of as many people as possible in attendance, you want to balance that with shooting with intent and making meaningful images. So don’t over linger on one person as you may end up missing other potential shots.

My philosophical tips for maximizing your event photography coverage

• Stay present

  • Ego is a buffer between perception and reaction- don't be in your head

• Clear your mind / meditate in the car before starting the job

  • I use this time to clear my mind and set intentions.

• Engage with your senses, Listen for the life of the party. 

Technical tips for maximizing your event photography coverage

• Setup your camera in a way in which you never have to open menus

• Pre Select Your Focal Point.

• Time Your Shot Ahead of the Peak of Action.

• Shoot with both eyes to be able to spot alternative moments while waiting for a shot.

Los Angeles Event Photography: Shooting Detail Shots with a 400mm Lens

If you’ve been reading my event photography blog or following my Youtube channel on event photography, you probably know how important I believe it is to stay engaged with your craft, and to try new things in order to keep things interesting and avoid burnout. At a recent event in Malibu California, I did just that.

Using my Canon m50, a vintage 400 millimeter lens as well as a Minolta MC Rokkor - PF f1.4 lens and a Canon FD 50mmm macro lens, I decided to challenge myself to not only use vintage, manual focus lenses to make interesting detail shots, but to also to also use a Canon m50, a non professional grade camera.

As always, I showed up to my job early- very early. This allowed me to get all of my “safe” detail shots, with plenty of time to experiment after.

I use a variety of lenses when shooting detail shots, but usually I use the Canon 24-70mm f2.8, Canon 135mm f2, and the Canon 85mm 1.8. Like I said, I shoot “safe” first and only use available light or a single strobe. In this case, there was plenty of beautiful diffused light to work with.

After getting all the safe shots, first I switched over to the Canon FD 50mm Macro. This has been an incredibly fun lens for me to use. I don’t actually own a modern macro lens. Honestly, as an event photographer, I don’t really need to. But I have found that it has allowed me to really open up my mind to new possibilities when it comes to shooting detail shots: the ability to get really close allowed me to shoot details of the details, which I quite enjoyed. A quick note: you do not need to shoot close up with a macro lens. They can of course be used as a regular old lens if you choose.

Next I decided to try using my Minolta mount 400mm telephoto lens. Adjusting for the Canon M50’s crop, this is a 600mm lens… without image stabilization. Because of this, and my desire to shoot wide open, I found it an incredibly difficult lens to pull focus with. But when I was able to pull it off, it definitely created a unique look due to its compression.

Lastly, I shot with an old school Minolta MC Rokkor - PF f1.4 lens. I love this lens. In all honesty it’s not super sharp wide open, but I honestly don’t mind it. I love making images that have a unique look. I’m not one for arbitrarily stylizing my images just to make them look different, but using vintage lenses to get a different look works for me.

Interested in seeing some vintage glass compared?

Comparing Vintage Lenses on the Canon M50

I have been a professional Los Angeles event photographer and photography instructor for over 10 years. Follow the links below to see my work and be sure to subscribe to my channel on Youtube for more videos

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