Questions
Frequently asked
The questions that come up most when someone is booking event photography for the first time.
Booking and delivery
- How quickly do I get the images?
- A same-day hero set of 15 to 20 edited images each evening, as standard - so your comms team can post while the event is still news. The full edited gallery follows within five working days. If you need it faster than that, a 48-hour turnaround is an add-on rather than a favour.
- How many photographs will I get?
- Up to 150 edited images per day of coverage, plus the same-day hero set. That is a deliberate ceiling rather than a dump of everything that moved - what you get is an edit. For reference, a five-day conference came to around twelve hundred frames in the final gallery.
- What usage rights do I get?
- Full commercial, PR and marketing usage. You can use the images on your website, in press releases, in decks, on social and in print, without asking again and without a licence fee per use. I retain copyright and the right to show the work in my own portfolio, which is standard.
- Can you photograph an event outside Newcastle?
- Yes. Travel within Newcastle city centre is included; beyond that, travel and accommodation are added at cost and agreed before booking rather than folded into the day rate. Hackathons and developer events I will travel across the UK for.
- Do you work with other photographers on larger events?
- For events with genuinely concurrent sessions in multiple rooms, one camera is not enough and I will say so rather than take the booking and under-deliver. I can bring in a second photographer and match the edit so the gallery reads as one consistent set.
- What happens if I need to cancel or move the date?
- Moving a date is usually fine if there is reasonable notice and my diary allows it. Cancellation terms are set out in the booking confirmation before you commit to anything, and I would rather they be boring than buried.
On the day
- Do you use flash?
- Rarely, and never through a keynote. The work is available-light - it keeps the room looking like the room, and it means nobody on stage is being strobed while they present. If a venue is genuinely too dark for a usable frame I will tell you in advance rather than surprise you on the day.
- Will delegates notice you?
- Less than you would expect. The style is documentary, which means being in the room a long time and interrupting it as little as possible. Group photographs and any posed portraits are the exceptions, and those get scheduled.
- How do you handle people who do not want to be photographed?
- Organisers usually flag this at registration, often with a lanyard or sticker system, and I work to whatever you have in place. If someone tells me directly on the day, that is the end of it and the frames come out of the edit.
- What about GDPR and consent?
- For a professional event, the organiser is the data controller and normally handles notice at registration - a line in the joining instructions and signage at the door. I will work to your process and can talk through what other conferences have done, but I am not a substitute for your own legal advice on it.
Working with the images
- What is face search and do delegates need an account?
- The gallery lets a delegate find the photographs they appear in rather than scrolling the whole set. No account is needed - they get a link. It is optional, and if you would rather not run it on a particular event, say so.
- Can you shoot to a brand guideline?
- Within reason, yes - and better than that, sponsor and brand elements can be built into the composition rather than added afterwards. What I will not do is relight an event so it stops looking like itself.
- Do you do video as well?
- Video is in active development as a commercial offer rather than something I will overstate. Ask me about it and you will get a straight answer about where it currently stands.
Something not answered here?
Ask directly - it is a short reply and it probably belongs on this page anyway.
contact@harbium.studio