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Event Photography - Probably the best business in the world - part 3 of 1 2 3 4 5

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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.

You must firstly bear in mind that you will be working long and unsocial hours as you will be working while others are playing. You will be mostly working Friday and Saturday evenings, with some weekday evenings as well, if you specialise in 'black-tie' type event photography and if you are looking for equestrian, motor-sport or team-sport work then be prepared to be working all weekend from early mornings to late afternoons.

You will need patience for dealing both with your strange and varied clientele and with the vagaries of your equipment, which will misbehave at the most inconvenient moments. You must be able to keep a professional and courteous demeanour at ALL times if you want to make a success of the business of event photography. The absolute last thing you want to do is to be rude or get flustered, even if you have a queue of 20 people, the head of the queue is drunk and your printer has decided not to co-operate! Your 'raison d'être' must, at all times, be to make money by making a sale, which is where thinking outside the box when things go wrong becomes a necessity. Be creative and deal with the situation.

An example of this occurred last year when my assistant and I turned up to photograph a black tie dinner dance at Southampton Football Club's St Mary's Stadium. Now, having been there many times before, I knew that we would be setting up a mini-studio in 'our' bay window in the 'Mick Channon' Suite. When we arrived, we were told that because there were 480 people attending the event, the tables had overflowed into the bay window and therefore we could not set up there!

"No problem, we'll set up in the 'Terry Payne' Suite opposite," I said to the harassed official. "Ah no, that's where the drinks reception for 480 people is taking place," was the reply. We could set up in there, after everyone had sat down for their meal but that meant that not only would we lose the substantial 'arrivals' sales but the guests would also be unaware that we were at the event at all!

My assistant was all for going home at that point but the only result of that would be an early night with no sales. Not good! Being used to coping with things going wrong and thinking outside the box, we did set up in the alternative room offered and by strategically placing a series of signs (yes - part of my 'essential equipment' list) pointing to where we were and 'bribing' the DJ to constantly mention our presence, with some free photos and a glass of his favourite beverage, we were eventually able to take over £700 at the end of the evening.

The final thing you need to be a successful event photographer is to take into account what the customer wants - not what you want to do. Now, you may want to print 12x8 pictures because you like the large size but the customer wants 7x5s because they are only buying a memento of the day and that size is convenient to carry round. It is easy, as a photographer, to become blinded by our own preferences and prejudices and to offer what we like or are used to, whether the customer wants it or not.

A well-known example of this is the Nottingham boot manufacturer whose long-established family business was failing as a result of cheap imports from the Far East. A business advisor suggested he consider changing his product to cater for the growing demand for 'women's style boots' in men's sizes for the cross-dressing market. Initially appalled, he quickly realised that this was a road he had to go down to prevent his business from becoming insolvent and, to cut a long story short, his business thrived by dint of his taking into account what the customer wanted and not what he wanted himself. Incidentally, this true story was turned into a popular film, titled Kinky Boots (2005).

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