Event Photography - Probably the best business in the world

"The term ‘Event Photography’ covers a multitude of sins…"

“So… what is this event photography, then?” The question was asked by Stuart Morley, MD of a company called System Insight and I was visiting them because my Kodak dye-sublimation printer had inconveniently ‘died’ in the middle of a charity dinner-dance the previous Saturday and I needed an urgent repair or replacement.

Having explained what it was and what I did, I was provided with a replacement product much better suited to my needs and my conversation with Stuart culminated in my being retained as ‘consultant photographer’ to advise existing and would-be event photographers on how System Insight could help them, and also to give feedback on photographers’ requirements to the guys in the company.

The term ‘Event Photography’ covers a multitude of sins and I have been involved in it for at least the last 10 of my 25 years in the photography industry. My own short definition is that it is ANY on-location photo shoot of ANY size group of subjects doing ANYTHING. The objective is to make as much money as possible in the shortest possible time while giving the customer the best possible product and service.

Now a number of photographers disagree with me about the last part of the objective, saying that they must give their customers the BEST product and service, not the best possible and they are right for most aspects of photography. But Event Photography is more akin to selling hot-dogs as against gourmet meals, in that the customers want a quick ‘snack’, tasty and reasonably priced. The majority of photographers are, by inclination and training, ‘gourmet chefs’ who want to spend time and effort on their creation to get as near to their view of perfection as possible.

A prime example of successful event photography in action can be found at any theme park or attraction where an automatic camera will ‘snap’ your moment of terror as you drop down the flume in a spray of water. You then view the picture on a monitor as you leave the ride and purchase it if you want. Just look at the numbers of people buying their souvenir pictures to see how lucrative a business this is! As a trained and experienced photographer, you can provide a much better picture than this but you must remember you are producing a memento of the event and not an award-winning wall portrait.

I am convinced that event photography is probably the finest business in the world for a number of reasons:

1. There can be relatively low start-up costs (you could be up, running and earning money for less than £1,000) compared with other businesses.
2. You are your own boss and not subject to the control of the owner of a franchise.
3. The work you take on is entirely your own choice – you can accept or decline work as you choose.
4. The job is finished on the night (compare with the time taken to complete wedding photography).
5. There is a massive mark-up, typically 900% - ie a print and mount costing £1 in total can very easily sell for £10.
6. It is a virtually unlimited market where your income is only limited by the amount of effort you are prepared to put in.
7. It’s a product and service that the customers like. 8. It’s FUN!

Now going back to the bad old days of film (or good old days depending on your point of view!), event photography could be a bit of a nightmare as there were only a couple of options to make any money on the night. You could (as I have done) pay a local lab to stay open for you, race round with your unprocessed film and race back to the venue with the damp prints; or try to sell ‘blind’ on the night – “Yes madam, I have taken a wonderful photograph of you. Please give me £10 and your address and you will be able to see it when I post it to you.”

Needless to say, neither of these was very satisfactory although, strange as it may seem now, we did manage to make a reasonable profit from the work. Things then moved on to digital cameras, laptops and inkjet printers which still gave a nightmare workflow, as anyone who had tried to print nine copies of “…that wonderful picture” on an inkjet while a small queue is getting progressively impatient will know only too well!

The emergence of quality dye-sublimation printers changed everything almost overnight, as it was now possible to print photographicquality images almost instantly, thereby providing the opportunity to dramatically increase sales by appealing to the ‘instant gratification’ mentality of the buying public.

Although the right sales mentality, equipment and training can put anyone in the driving seat as far as event photography is concerned, there are several factors to take into consideration when deciding if this lucrative business is for you.

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Photo Quote: All I wanted was to connect my moods with those of Paris. Beauty pains and when it pained most, I shot. - Ernst Haas