Corporate event photography gigs are entertaining to work for and enriching experiences if you are a professional photographer. This document will guide budding photographers and help them provide quality event photography services for their clients.
Dubai Expo 2020 is a grand extravaganza attended by 191 countries and international organisations.
The event venue and the surrounding paraphernalia is visually a treat for any photographer.
If you are a budding photographer, a mid-career freelancer, or even an established agency, then this document is for you. And if you are not any of these, don’t worry! Only being a photo enthusiast will do!
Contract for a Photo Project at the Expo
The Dubai Expo is an expression of grandeur and scale and will exhibit products, services and, more importantly, cultures from 191 countries. Sample this: there will be 60+ daily shows,200+ restaurants,191 country pavilions and 200+ pavilions. It will be a visual buffet for any photographer.
Our recommendations for an Event Photo Project are
- Don’t ask for a budget from your client. Could you give them a price? The more you charge, the chances are they will hire you. Corporate clients serious about event photography have deep pockets, and they are only sensitive to quality. So, if there is an interactive meeting with them, show your event photography portfolio. Prior showreel videos of similar events work wonderfully here.
- Once you have mutually agreed on a price, get it in writing and freeze the terms and conditions.
- Clearly explain your day rate, your work timings during the event and what you will be doing in that time.
- People during such significant events approach photographers for headshots if they see that you are free for 5 min. Please mention in your contract that these services don’t come under this contract, but you will be happy to take such snaps to post the event activities for the day for an extra fee. Good clients generally respect and understand these things if you mention them beforehand.
- Get your client to pay for your stay at a hotel close to the event location. Clients generally have a corporate rate with people in charge of booking it for you.
- Include lunch and dinner allowances in your contract. However, if you are having lunch with your client’s staff, only include a dinner allowance.
- Be frank with money in the contract: professional clients respect that! Negotiate for a 50% deposit as a confirmation-if they are serious; they will pay you. Start working on your project once your client has paid the advance. It is business, after all, and serious companies understand that!
- Would you please ask for a week’s notice from your client if they want to terminate your services?
- By this point in time, you will already have 50% of the money. It is unrealistic for anyone to expect that you will get more work after cancelling the contract within a week. So the client should pay the total agreed amount.
- Pack your bag before the event and check and recheck for essentials like cameras, lenses, batteries, hard drives and memory cards. It is imperative as it will be super unprofessional not to be able to complete the job.
- During corporate events, as in Expos, it is always advisable to bring a tripod. It allows the photographer to compose a snap during the break, mark it and come back to it when it’s time to take a photo.
If you want to commission a Corporate Photo Event project for the Dubai Expo 2020,
please visit https://studio52.tv/photography/corporate-product.
