I hope you recognized that one of the headshots above does not really belong. One of the attendees from this event asked me to give him a horrible image that he could send to his wife as a prank, explaining to her, babe, they rushed me in and this is what I came away with. Coincidentally, his facial expression would match mine before the end of the conference.
This was the busiest week of the year so far. This event was scheduled at the beginning of the year, before Google messed with my online business profile. The assignment was for event photography for award ceremonies, dining receptions, and headshots for any of the 1500 attendees over 4 days at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
The biggest concern for the client was to ensure that I had a process to deliver headshots immediately. The photographer they hired last year had a QR cade he printed and handed to each person after their headshot. I was able to eliminate the print outs and utilize the app I use for all my billing, scheduling, and gallery posting for clients — Pixieset. I found that I can select the images I want to share and Pixieset was able to generate an exclusive link to just those images.
The actual event photography was easy to capture. For the more candid photos you have to get people used to your presence to behave as if you’re not there at all. A telephoto lens often helps too. The trials for this session occurred during the instant headshots.
Capturing, editing, and loading the images to Pixieset then sending the link to their email address went smoothly for the most part. People were responsive to my posing direction. My camera was tethered to my laptop and communicated just fine. I used my phone as a hotspot for a fast and stable connection. We were stationed in an open corridor with lighting I had no control over, but I still managed to output great photos with the lighting I brought. I fought through a few obstacles inputting correct email addresses for everyone. The real problem was my gear.
After I arrived and set up on the first day of headshots, ready to go at 7am, I was relieved. I was ready to go early. I didn’t leave any items behind. Everything was working as it should. And then, my camera fell to the ground, breaking my lens. I kept my composure and reached for a second lens, convincing myself all was going to be fine. It is insured and will just be out of commission for a few weeks. I managed to make this work for three and a half hours with no issues until a conference attendee got too close and dropped my camera again, breaking the back up lens. I am fortunate the camera did not break, but I didn’t have another spare with me. I had to go home for another lens. After an hour away from my station, I was ready to go again, albeit rattled. I felt bad for the person who bumped my gear because they never came back for their headshot. I guess I wouldn’t have either. I wanted to let them know, it was okay to get their photo still.
I lost track of how many people came through for their headshot, but eventually became so comfortable with the process, that I started making edits in photoshop in front of each person before sending out their files.
Overall, I’m grateful for how it turned out. The experience was a huge learning opportunity. If it had not been requested, I would not have known I can take headshots, edit them and have them back to the client within minutes. This might be a new addition to the studio headshot process. Of course watching two $3000 lenses break off my camera body could have ended better, but it could have also been far worse. it can honestly be avoided in the future too.