EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY (PART 1)

• Event Photography (Part 1) –
Event photography is news, but it's not new. It has a long history. Photographers have been doing event photography almost since photography was invented. The famous society photographer Lafayette established the vogue at the 1897 Devonshire House Ball, where he shot high-society and royalty in fancy dress.

This week, PhotoWeek! starts a short series of weekly articles explaining the basic concepts of event photography. [expand story >>>]

Late in the century following the 1897 Devonshire House ball – nearly a hundred years later, in fact – photographers realized they could sell more prints, at a higher price, if they could actually show them at the event. By then we had minilabs capable of developing and printing in less than an hour. Event photographers began whizzing film round to local labs during their events, and whizzing prints back to sell to their customers. Not everybody did this, because it wasn't easy, but it was a way to make more money.

Then along came instant digital photo printing, using heavy-duty commercial dye sub printers, and event photography boomed. Instant digital photo printing enabled more eventers to make their prints at the events. It's immediate. You can shoot a group of revelers at a ball, and less than a minute later sell them their photograph. This immediacy makes them far more likely to buy, and willing to pay more for the prints. It can make a big difference to your takings.

The heavy-duty commercial photo printers that event photographers make their instant digital prints on have their origins in photo kiosks. Essentially, they're chopped down kiosks. Although they are also marketed as stand-alone printers, they were all originally designed for kiosks.

Next week, in Part 2, we look at the features of these printers that make them, rather than any other kind of printer, the ideal event machines.
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