How do you take perfect photos, what tricks are there? We asked our favorite photographer: Andreas Schebesta, The Event Photographer, in a short interview:
Dim lighting and yet, the photos of the guests, speakers, hostesses and location look perfect even with one-sided lighting.
Turn 10 into 100: Even with just a few visitors, the hall looks full in the pictures afterwards ... We as Recruitment agency for promoters, hostesses and Service staff know how important photos are. Our customers want to see photos, both of our Personnel as well as the locations and advertising materials used. Andreas Schebesta reveals a few photographic ticks that we didn't know ...
Know one know them all ... Capture the specialness of the moment by ...?
... I pay attention to the eyes. I rely on the charisma of the speakers in my recordings. If their eyes are shining, this has an effect on the whole picture. If a keynote speaker starts by presenting facts and figures, I photograph that, but wait for the moment when he gets personal, for example. If he mentions his family or his passion for the subject matter, I know I should shoot it now. These five minutes photographically carry the entire presentation.
Detailed briefing is part of our service. You too?
(Laughs) I hear 75 percent of the time: 'You know what you have to do!' and thanks to my experience, I know that too: my job is to show the event in its entirety. In other words, to document the location, speakers, guests and branding. This also includes details such as give-aways and decorations. I usually do without the buffet, unless it is important to the organizer. I prepare the images for my clients for documentation and publication.
How do you set the scene for the audience or the guests of honor?
I am the silent observer. Only those who don't notice me are also natural. I observe the audience while networking. And photograph the relaxed moment. So not when they're eating, not when they're yawning and not when they're tired ...
But if the aim is to show how enthusiastically people are listening to the keynote speaker, I have to change the perspective. Simply photographing from the stage into the room would be a disaster in terms of lighting. We Photographers say 'it's going down the drain'. That's why I'm always moving around the room.
Of course, the timing is also important. The rows empty out in the afternoon. I can no longer take pictures of half the room, but shoot between a few heads ... and voilà, I have a lot of heads and the impression of a packed room.
Video killed the radio star ... Is video the new photography?
Not at all. Video serves to document the content. I get atmosphere through photography by engaging with motifs and people.
They can complement each other, but not replace each other. Of course I can shoot videos, but my medium remains the photo. My special feature is that the client receives a narrow selection of my many photos afterwards and therefore doesn't lose any time. So one photo per subject and four to five photos of the speaker from different perspectives.
You're always at events. Your dream event?
As soon as an event or an event frees itself from the framework of standards, new perspectives open up. For the participants in a figurative sense - for me in a literal sense. Action at a driving experience or an incentive dinner in Portugal - I benefit from the fantastic light, the enthusiasm of the people, the great clothes. A photographer's dream.
