Being Ready 'Before The Moment'
The majority of my photo gear is housed in ThinkTank bags and cases. No, I’m not a paid spokesperson of theirs, unless they want to start sending me bags to test (hint!), but I do like how reliable they have been for me. I know you're wondering where that came from, but I bring them up because of their slogan, Be Ready “Before The Moment.” Since the company is made up of several photographers, including a few Pulitzer Prize winners, I feel like they know what they are talking about. They want to make sure their equipment helps photographers be ready to capture the best work possible. That phrase sticks with me, and it made me think about my approach from a Dallas event photographers mindset.
Great photography is all about capturing great moments. Corporate event photography coverage is no different, as there are so many wonderful moments that tell the story of your event, whether it’s a convention with 7,000 people in an arena or a wine dinner with 10. In order to make sure you are ready, there is a lot of planning that needs to be done. A recent convention I covered is a great example.
Premier Designs is a direct-sales jewelry company based in the Dallas area, and every year they hold their national convention, known as Rally, in Fort Worth. There are several events throughout the week, I spoke about their Red Dress Gala in my previous post, and you can see it here. On Friday night they have their awards ceremony, which was quite an experience. Imagine an arena packed with thousands of very excited ladies and gentleman, it’s a place where photographers can feel the energy. I spent the first part of the night doing portraits backstage with one of my assistants, and then jumped over into event coverage as the awards ceremony went on. To ensure that things went as smoothly as possible, I did a walk through with the client to go over the various awards so that I had an idea for what was going on, and also sized up the stage for a massive group photo that they wanted to do once all of the winners were up on stage. They had a ladder that would be brought out for me once it was time, and if we hadn’t looked at it before the event, it could have been pretty crazy trying to find one.
However, the best part to my eye had to be when they had the crowning of their Premier Princess. The woman who was selected didn’t know in advance, and I had her pointed out to me earlier in the night. When the time came, I had to find a way to be close by to capture her reaction without tipping her off. Now I’m not exactly built for stealth, but I can be somewhat sneaky when I want to be. As they were gearing up to present the award, I casually made my way up the aisle near where she was, without making eye contact. I then staked out an empty seat that was about 4 or 5 rows ahead of where she was at, and started adjusting my equipment. I had also already come and gone from this exact seat earlier, so it just looked like I was returning to roost for a bit.
I made sure my cameras were set and ready to rock, and the second that spotlight hit, I was right there to capture her reaction. I flew up the aisle when her name was called, and got several great shots of her crying and hugging. I love capturing emotion, so this was wonderful!
I hope you all enjoy photos of the night, and remember to be ready ‘Before the Moment’!