Flow Charts and Flamenco
First Corporate event of the year. Contacted again by a Madrid based agency so I guess I must be doing something right; this being my third job for them.
However I was greeted with words I don’t particularly like to hear; they did not want any lights set up.
Lighting stuff can be a pain in the arse but it also makes it more fun to take the photos and the images are almost certainly going to be better for it.
If you have people doing interminable PowerPoint lighting, lit by weak overhead spots it not going to look pretty.
Ok… so be it.
I did realise the colours could be used/souped up in post and also it was in post that I managed to alleviate some of the ugly lighting.
Also they were using a giant LCD screen which is usually going to be brighter than a projector.
The trick to shooting people in this kind of environment is to try and not shoot just for the sake of it.
You will end up wasting time editing a ton of images that were never going to be worth a damn.
Better to treat it like a hunt and watch the person, learn their habits, and make it your goal to capture the interesting moment.
The other thing to do is not be afraid to take up spots that are less than discreet; if people are aware of you it will pass, assuming the Powerpoint is interesting enough.
Also if you get better images it will likely be those they remember more than occasionally being aware of your existence.
And if possible try to find a spot where you can take the weight off your feet, you may well be there for several hours.
Part 2 was more fun and what’s more, we workers got fed.
And I was able to set up lights.
The thing to watch out for at dinner events and the like is having the lights situated where no one will trip over them.
I usually aim for them to be roughly facing each other across whatever space you decide will be where the action is.
Flamenco was the night’s action. I would love to one day shoot flamenco in a controlled environment with coloured backdrops or something.
Mixing flash with extended exposures can yield interesting results and can also sometimes blur out distractions.
That did not work so well for the flamenco but the waiters running around with plates definitely looked more interesting.
This kind of lighting can make anything look dramatic and theatrical. Woolworth the extra effort.
