Photos of conferences could easily become monotonous if they’re primarily focused on people talking on a stage. As a business, you can create more interest and engagement with your brand by following this advice on the type of photography you can create from your events and conferences. To illustrate my points, images center around one day of an event I did in Washington DC.
Images should capture unique perspectives and elements that give a sense of time and place. Giving life, energy, and movement to images draws readers/viewers into your content, whether in print or online. There are typically great interactions before, between and after events. Taking photos like this that can live past the specific event makes your marketing dollar go further as well.
Photos with the title of the event that’s not simply a straight-on shot of a sign can work well as a title page highlighting the event in an annual report, or a cover photo for a web gallery. These types of images can also stand alone on social media to draw people into a post to get more information.
These types of images can be beneficial for multiple reasons: The negative space can be used for graphic elements in design. An image that can be cropped into a strong horizontal is useful for web & social media banners. Photos that don’t highlight a particular person or event can be used to promote many types of future events.
This photo combines a number of elements that make an image both visually interesting and helpful to an organization: the business name, strong lighting, personal interactions, negative space to allow for cropping or text overlay.
Watching for speakers outside of their time on stage gives additional opportunities to highlight featured speakers in a different background. It’s also a great way to show VIPs interacting with each other and with conference-goers. This photo features International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (left) and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
While it is important to have a few tight, clear shots of speakers, it’s also helpful to step back and have a wider view of the room. Being able to see the size of the crowd and the presence of media can illustrate the influence and reach of your events.
The bottom line is that there’s no reason marketing photos from events can’t have both content and an artistic aesthetic to them. If photos aren’t drawing the viewer in and creating engagement with your brand, then they’re just filler. Don’t settle for less!
