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Working as a Miami corporate event photographer I have gained a few insights.

There are several very good reasons why Miami is such a popular place for Special Events.  First while the rest of North America is freezing cold in the winter, here in South Florida the weather is fantastic.  In addition South Florida is one of the most popular vacation spots in the world.  This means that while a person who is attending a Miami corporate or special event the rest of the family can still have fun and enjoy Miami and South Florida. All too often corporate events take place in a location that either isn’t kid friendly or just doesn’t have much to offer in the way of family entertainment.  When working as a Miami corporate event photographer, I often while shooting a special event I hear attendees talk about how their family is also visiting South Florida and either sight seeing or visiting a museum of hanging on the beach.  Because of all the sights and entertainment here in Miami and Southern Florida the entire family can enjoy the time here.

ABOVE:

It’s great when the person speaking at the lecture takes a second to look at the camera giving the photographer the opportunity to get a nice photo.  Doing this is not only great for the photographer, it’s also works for the speaker as a corporate action headshot.  I wish more speakers would take the couple of seconds to do this.  It’s important to me to get several images of the speaker looking good.  What I consider looking good is a normal speaking expression with no tongue handing out or one eye closed.  When I’m hired to cover a corporate event in either Miami, Fort Lauderdale or Palm Beach, my client expects good clean speaker photos.  This means I need to find the perfect position to get my shot while not being too intrusive.  

BELOW:

Sometimes during a corporate event there will be a break away meeting.  This meeting of product engineers, marketing experts and designer took place in a room away from the event. Being able to shoot product related images with people is important  because I conveys the hard work and effort that goes into product design.

About Miami Events,  In addition to all fun stuff that attracts people to Miami and South Florida, corporations have the support of some of the largest and most sophisticated hotels in the world here. Often when I’m shooting events here, I’m amazed at the huge multi-media systems many of the hotels here have. Huge multi screen video walls, high-end lighting and laser lighting systems and the best in video production is also available here in South Florida.  By the way, the most awesome photographer also makes his home here in South Florida!  If you would like his phone number it’s (561) 737-5561 his name is Jeff, Call him.

15 years ago I decided to leave Los Angeles and move to South Florida in part because I was impressed by all the high-end Hotel and Venues in this area.  While working in Los Angeles, a corporate client of mine had an on-going project that required me to visit Miami several times per year. Having been here so often I realized that this area is a huge draw for high-end wedding and corporate clients.

ABOVE AND BELOW:

Speakers presenting is one of the main things a special or corporate event photographer needs to shoot.  During this time the photographer is somewhat limited with regards to camera position.  It’s important to get a good shot of the presenters face and hand gestures.  However, since the presenter is standing in the same place the only option is to change camera position and lens selection.  From the back of the room your photographer can use s telephoto lens to capture the speakers face.  I always make it a point to get some photos that show what is being shown on the screen as well.

Not wanting to rush into anything drastic I decided to get an apartment in Fort Lauderdale.  I rented an apartment on the beach just 2 buildings away form the Diplomat Hotel.  This is a great decision.  I ended up having clients hire me for jobs at the Dipomat!  I was able to wake-up, Get ready and walk right over the the hotel and start working.  EASY-PEASY!!!   After about a year of flying back and forth between South Florida and LA we purchased a home in Palm Beach County.   I’m close enough to Broward and Dade counties that shooting weddings and special events here is no problem.  I also shoot events in the Florida Keys.   Being a corporate event photographer in South Florida I’m expected to shoot all types of pictures.  Often corporate or special event clients will consider their event an opportunity to get many headshots taken. I have found that often companies want all their headshots to look the same.  Same background, same lighting. A Miami corporate event is the perfect time to get headshots of the entire staff.  If more on headshots taken in South Florida read my article. South Florida headshots.

ABOVE: Notice how you could read the Rose sign in one photo but not the other?  This client had a custom photo booth at their outdoor event.  Since part of the sign was made from plexiglass it was highly reflective and made the text difficult to read.  By using photoshop I was able to retouch and enhance this image so that the signage read more clearly.  Being skilled in photo retouch is helpful because sometimes the photographer has no control over how some things photograph.  In this photo I also retouched the models faces and enhanced the color of the image.  Because I’m a Miami corporate event photographer I get to see everything.  I have shot pictures in a nightclub made from blocks of ice,  I have shot pictures of synchronized swimmers performing some of the most creative dance moves in the water.

ABOVE: Because I have lots of experience with product photography, I was able to shoot a quick product photo. During this event they were giving out these drinks in bags. It was very unique and received lot’s of attention.  I happen to have a lot of experience with food photography.  This comes in handy when the host of a special event is a food or beverage company.  Here are some links to a few of my food photographs.  Cuisine of El Agave Azul. If you love Mexican food this is an amazing small place in Broward County.    I shot this delicious food photo of a scrumptious dessert at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach.  This tasty apple dish was created by the Breakers as well.   Here is another mouth watering bite which was served at the Boca Raton Resort and Club.

Being able to produce all these various types of images is a huge plus for any client seeking a Miami corporate event photographer.  By having the ability to cover all these photographic disciplines a event host doesn’t need to hire several different photographers to cover a single event.

BELOW: Often during keynote speakers the attendees are asked to participate in some team building activities.  Here the were given a situation to analyze and deliver responses to questions.  Even though this image is in black and white I also have this photo in color.  Sometimes the special event client will want an image in black and white for certain reasons.  However, I alway make sure I have a color option as well.

BELOW: Photographing corporate headshots is something is very common when I’m covering Miami Corporate events.  My method for taking headshots always results in pictures that convey the person in the picture is warm and friendly.  Ok – once in a while I’ll photograph someone who doesn’t want to look friendly.  I recently shot a bunch of headshots for corporate lawyers who told me that they want to look nice but not too friendly because they want to come across as serious professionals.  With that said everyone wants to look good.  By using the correct lens and lighting I could make anyone look great.  In addition to the picture taking process, I’m also a highly skilled retoucher.  If someone needs a blemish removed, of wrinkles toned down I can easily do that.  I also do face contouring which includes reshaping noses and other body parts.  Really, consider me a plastic surgeon with a camera.  Of course my goal is to provide finished images that look natural as well.  I recently wrote an article on corporate headshots and photographing people at corporate events.  If you are having a Miami Corporate event and plan on having a headshots taken, this is a good read.  Here is the link:  Miami Headshot photography Article

BELOW:

This event photo was taken at a fashion charity show in Miami.   Because I have a wide range of photographic skills, I am able to shift gears and cover a wide range of special events.  Shooting a fashion show requires the ability to capture action in a somewhat dark ballroom.  While the models look perfectly lit, the fact is that the bright lighting on the runway model is relative to the lighting in the room.  The human eye can register the difference in exposure, however a camera doesn’t have a brain that is as sophisticated as a human brain.  This means that the camera’s exposure setting needs to include a shutter speed that is fast enough to stop the action, yet still render a sharp perfectly exposed image.  In addition the photographer also needs to consider the quality of light hitting the face.  Generally a spot light pointing directly at the model does not result in the best looking beauty photo.   As a South Florida photographer who has a huge amount of experience photographing weddings, special events, charity events, corporate events and all types of other events, I can handle all types of funky lighting situations.  When analyzing photographs of women, I aim to produce images that have nice soft facial lighting.  One of the statements I alway say is that, if a man has a shadow or harsh lighting on his face, its considered character.  However, it its a woman’s face, its a wrinkle.  Being that I was hired as a Miami corporate event photographer to cover this charity function, there was no room for returning images of women with bad lighting on their faces.  So what is the solution?  The solution is to use a flash which will fill in the shadows and result in pretty lighting.  My flash of choice is the Quantum Instruments Qflash TRIO There is so much to love about this flash.  First, it packs a punch.  This unit is so powerful that it can bounce the light off of a wall far behind the model, and still light the runway model with enough light to make a great exposure.  It doesn’t matter what type of event I am shooting, for me the goal when photographing woman, is to get that great soft lighting.  During this Miami photoshoot I was given free rein to shoot from whatever angle or location I desired.  So being a creative photographer, I changed things up.  So of the images were taken from the point of view of the audience, other images I shot in the opposite direction.  By shooting the fashion model on her way back down the runway, I was able to turn the spotlight into a beautiful hair light.  The bounce flash gave me that wonderful lighting.

UPDATED ON 11-2020

I got this shot!,   When Colin Cowie designed this South Florida event space, he had a photographic vision.  If course I was not aware of this vision until well after dark.  Actually he told me his vision toward the end of the evening.  What was his vision?  Take a picture of my living room styled event space, but show the metal sculpture through the glass window.  Not an easy trick.  However, if you know me.  I’m not about to go home without getting the money shot.  So I pulled out my tripod, mounted my camera. Then shot a time exposure with my camera set for the living room.  The fact that that metal sculpture was about 40 feet away, and through a highly reflective glass window, presented lot’s of challenges.  First, how do I keep focus on both?  This was done by shooting two separate shots. One shot was for the room, the second shot was for the sculpture.  I also had to light each shot separately.  At this point in the evening, the sculpture was in the dark.  There was no extra light lighting the sculpture.  This was done with a second, hot light which was placed in a table sitting outside by the sculpture.  Once I was back in the production studio, I was able to remove the reflective lights which were kicking back in the window. Then I over lapped both shots and cut out the area where to sculpture was sitting.  This gave me a photo that showed the event space and the sculpture.   Working as a Miami Corporate Event Photographer I find myself being asked to produce a wide range of “special creative photos.”  I often see special event photography as problem solving.  By thinking about this situation, experimenting and fixing the issues a photographer will eventually arrive at the final image.  Of course an event photographer doesn’t always have to time to shoot an image, then problem solve and shoot another.  In this case, the photographer, needs to use the skills achieved from past experience to shoot the image on the fly. 

BELOW: Here’s the guy.  The famous Colin Cowie is a world renowned event planner and event designer.  If you have not heard of him, he’s a celebrity of the special event industry.  During the event, his staff asked me to take some quick portraits of him with his room designs in the background.  I didn’t get to spend much time photographing him, only about two minutes.  The hotel hired him to do the design of their newly renovated lobby and lounge areas.

If you The reader” happens to be a event planner, art director and anyone who would hire a photographer, I would be thrilled if you have me a call for your next or current project.  While this event took place in Miami, I also work in all of Dade County, Broward County & Palm Beach County.  My phone number is (561) 737-5561. Give me a call and let’s talk about your next photographic assignment.