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!
