NHS Sustainability Conference and Awards - Corporate Photography Wales

I have been trying to get the NHS on my client roster for a while and that day finally came! I was asked by the awesome Sarah and Hayley to photograph the first ever Sustainability Conference and Awards at The Vale Resort, Hensol.

Photographing people speaking to an audience can be tricky, hitting the vowel movements of the mouth when someone is speaking quickly can be the ultimate challenge and working with very minimal lighting can equally be fun… but these images came out really well! Corporate Photography brings its trials and errors but these images are some of the best I’ve done at this type of event yet!

See below!

Bat Mitzvah - Cardiff Event Photographer

Being an event photographer means that sometimes you take on bookings for events of all kinds! Yes, I am known for doing the corporate photography but generally I’ll take any event that comes my way!

I was asked by the lovely Kelly and her husband to photograph their daughters Bat Mitzvah at Ten Degrees at Market Street - Caerphilly, South Wales and it has been a while since I had done any Jewish related event. So I was really looking forward to this one!

Evie and her friends made for excellent and smiley subjects and it was certainly enjoyed by all! Including me! We had really tricky lighting to deal with, with it being an evening event and minimal natural light but with a bit of perseverance we managed to get the job done! AND! everyone looks so happy too!

How to do corporate photography correctly - Cardiff Corporate Photographer

I was recently booked to photograph a corporate sit down dinner for Cabot Corp Oil & Gas at Voco St Davids in the heart of Cardiff Bay! A venue I have photographed many times before! It’s such a stunning location and they were a really welcoming group of people!

What makes a good corporate set of images though you might wonder? Well, for me it’s quite simple… PROVIDE WHAT THE CLIENT WANTS! Every single time it is the same thing over and over, just with different people in a different setting. Firstly, they want to look happy and approachable - they want a good brand image and a heightened display of a good work environment in all respects! Even in their own press release or social media content.

Secondly, they want key moments of the event to be photographed. This could be the boss man’s speech, the award ceremony and also they always want what I call ‘Champagne Mingling’ candid images of people talking amongst themselves holding glasses of champagne. Believe me… you will do a lot of that! But it is wise to ask specifically what the client wants BEFORE the event. I’m an experienced photographer with nearly 15 years of photographing events under my belt. But it is so easy to get it wrong when you are not prepared. Call it ‘setting yourself a brief’ I don’t even complicate it… use the notes app on your phone and write a few bullet points or just use the email you’ve sent to the client and have it available on your phone. It really doesn’t need to be complicated.

Thirdly they always want DETAILS, the little decorations on the table - the flowers around the room and even the gifts they present to each other. Oh! and also the awards themselves if there are any, they have put time and effort in to making the space look good - so capture it so they can brag about it to their colleagues… that is easy word of mouth advertising for you!

Before we get to the last bit - SIDE NOTE! I shot the images below using only natural light, this is a stylistic choice on my part. However, I perhaps could have utilised flash a bit better here. Use your discretion with flash however, you don’t want to annoy your clients. But some venues don’t provide natural light consistently so you may have to use it. A basic understanding of flash is all you need!

Most importantly though and last of all - THE BOSS MAN / WOMAN - It is vital you make them look good… after all they are likely the one who’s paid you. Even if someone else has booked you and sorted out your invoice. Even if they know whether they’ve paid you or not (again believe me this happens often). They are the brand, the face of the company and the one doing all the deals so it is important that you photograph them and keep them happy. Even if they don’t like it!

Below you can see a few examples of all of the above… enjoy!

CITB - Corporate Photography - The Senedd, Cardiff.

This February has been manic! We are only on the second week of the month so far and already I’ve turned out six different bookings for some rather awesome clients!

I was approached by PS London to shoot an event at our very own Welsh Parliament - The Senedd! Of course, if you have seen my corporate section of my website then you will know that it is a venue all to familiar for me. But this time, in the day time photographing a construction organisation’ apprenticeship event. Giving members of the Senedd an opportunity to get their hands dirty with construction examples! AND!!!! Virtual reality technology developments! It was truly awesome to photograph this type of event at the heart of Welsh politics in Cardiff and the whole of Wales!

See images below!

Rotolight - Smoke Ninja with Riannah | Cardiff Portrait Photography

I was lucky enough to be sent a Rotolight Smoke Ninja to test and play with and so I ventured out into Cardiff city centre with my right hand man Stewart (on video) for Camera Centre UK. We shot some low light portraits with Emkai Models very own Riannah and the results were just awesome!

Being able to use the AEOS 2 Pro for lighting save an amazing rembrant style of atmosphere alongside some really cool smoke effects! THIS IS WHY I LOVE PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY SO MUCH!!!! It was a really simple set up, using the Aeos 2 as a main light and working with the smoke machine in the best way we could whilst battling with the wind and getting the direction of the smoke to sit where we wanted.

Shooting on a roof terrace first and then moving on to shot some more dynamic full length shots in an underpass during the dark! This time, putting the light behind the model to create more of a car headlight effect. We truly improvised this shoot and worked freely to create some spontaneous photographs in our home town!

See the full gallery below…

Start Up Awards 2023 - Cardiff, South Wales - Corporate Event Photography

For the second year running I was asked to photograph the Start Up Awards in Cardiff and this time we hit the brand new DEPOT venue in the heart of the city centre. It was a fabulous event and it allowed me to really flex some new equipment in the corporate photography field! This booking had all of the expectations, people gathering, sitting down for food, hosts presenting the nominees and the winners receiving their awards! AND!!!!! One big group shot at the end to top it all off!

John Henry Flowers - Business Headshot - Cardiff, South Wales

It was a great pleasure to be asked to photograph John Henry Flowers’ business headshots right in the heart of Cardiff, South Wales. The images came out exactly how they wanted and they made a fine addition to my portfolio! Both owners John and Myky were up for being photographed and they look great. John Henry Flowers is a florist based not far from Albany Road in the capital, see them below! https://www.johnhenryflowers.co.uk/