As a professional event photographer in New York City, capturing the essence of a full-day conference can be both exhilarating and challenging. Whether it’s a high-energy keynote address or an intimate breakout session, the key to successful conference photography lies in pre-event preparation, experience, technical know how, and adaptability.

For this conference, I had the privilege of photographing last year’s event featuring multiple speaker panels and breakout sessions, with a variety of formats ranging from small two-person discussions to larger panels with up to eight participants. This year, the event was more or less the same, but this format is often copy-pasted across clients. In this post, I’ll share my insights on how I photograph a full-day conference ensuring images that accurately represent the event and its key moments are captured.

Wide Shots vs. Candid Moments: Balancing the Big Picture and Details

While the large speaker panels require wide-angle shots to capture the entire stage, don’t forget the power of candid moments throughout the conference. These moments—whether it’s a speaker adjusting their microphone, a small group of attendees networking, or someone raising their hand to ask a question—bring an authentic touch to the gallery. I made sure to also keep my eyes peeled for moments of connection, like a smile shared between speakers or a deep conversation between attendees.

image delivery with efficiency and effectiveness

Quick turnarounds are often necessary in event photography, so I made sure to deliver a first batch of edited highlight photos same day to give the event organizers something to share on social media and for press use. The rest of the images were delivered within 7 days.