Focusing On Getting The Perfect Images On A Staff Day Out... Brisbane Event and Commercial Photography
Call me an old petrol head, but nothing quite gets the old heart pumping as the sound of a race car engine screaming from its low rumbling base to its high revving fury.
So when our Sunshine Coast-based high-tech aerospace engineering client Helimods asked me if I could do some documentary and event photography of their team spending the day with a GT3 Race car they sponsor (with their intern Harri Jones as the driver!)… how could I say no!
On a blistering hot Queensland summer day with the track temperature in the mid to high 50’s we all got together for an exciting day of roaring engines and exhaust fumes.
Internal events like these are all about building that feeling of camaraderie between staff, boosting morale and about rewarding and giving back to staff for all their hard work by giving them an experience they otherwise would not have.
Helimods excels in this area. They are an incredibly hard-working company where performance is critical. Their work goes sometimes quite literally on the front line in the worlds of defence, rescue and emergency services. But despite the never-ending pressure of performance there are few companies I have worked with or visited where every member of staff seems to be on board for the challenge and where professional and non-professional camaraderie is shared across departments to create a very focussed and happy working environment.
It’s one of the reasons we love taking professional advertising, marketing and social media images for Helimods. They are incredible clients and simply do things properly.
But for the photographer at internal staff events it is really critical not to get lazy or underestimate the images being taken. It’s about so much more than just taking quick snaps of people having fun.
When undertaking event photography for internal events, for any client it’s very important to understand how the images will be used and that knowledge must then shape how you photograph the day.
Yes of course you are there to take professional quality photographs for the team, recording their day and the fun and excitement. But the images will also be used by the business in their social media feeds to present themselves; perhaps as a great place to work with friendly happy staff to help in recruitment and staff retention; as a go getter business promoting in a soft way its links back to the original sponsorship and the aspirational qualities of that sponsorship; underlining it’s core values to a wider business community; showing both competitors and potential clients that this is a company that treats it’s staff right and is a good company to be doing business with;… and so on.
Beyond that though, the individual staff members will also use those images in their own social media channels showing what a great and exciting day they had…. the classic “this was my office today…” post or just in excited outbursts to friends and family.
In a world of ever-expanding social networking you never know where your photographs will end up, with, or who they will be put in front of. As photographers we have to be mindful of this to ensure the business or company and it’s values are represented correctly. A poorly structured image with staff not appropriately dressed, safely issues being present or even having the wrong PPE can easily end up in the wrong hands and have some serious consequences.
As a result, it’s not enough for a photographer to think: “oh it is just an internal event so let’s just get some nice shots of everyone having fun” we have to treat all events with an eye for attention to detail.
Yes it is all about staff having fun, but the clients brand equity and values must be reflected in every shot so how are the staff in your images having fun and is the behaviour acceptable, are the images showing safe behaviour with appropriate PPE or other procedures being followed despite the team having fun. Is there branding in the shots, are staff presented in clean cut fashion if that is important to the brand. All these factors and more have to be taken into account to produce a set of images that not only capture a great fun day out for the team, reflect the photographers style, creativity and quality but also provide real marketing image value for the client.
Andy
