Ellery beach house
Intimate Panel Discussions, Bonding over Lunch & Spa Hour
day 2
The second day the event has moved to the Ellery Beach House, a famous spa hotel in Stockholm archipelago. It was filled with intimate panel discussions that brought on a lot of emotions, followed by joyous lunch and finally a spa hour that the women appreciated so much!
It was truly fun to get to document how the day unfolded in such a beautiful venue. I wanted to accentuate the space so much and so I observed women and how they interacted with their surroundings even outside of the main event programme.
How to Document Heavy Emotions without Being Intrusive?
Panel Discussions that happened in the privacy of one of the smaller conference rooms in the hotel carried a lot of rather heavy emotions as women were sharing their life and career struggles with the group.
A lot of vulnerable moments happened and for me as the photographer it was important that the participants felt safe to share their thoughts without feeling like they're being intruded on.
In moments like these it is crucial to be moving quietly through the room, shooting from afar and staying away from flash that can disturb the moment! And most importantly, respecting the participants who do not want their emotions captured.
The Joy of Lunching
Sharing a table with like-minded women as good food was served was the kind of energy I couldn't let pass without documenting.
Even though the lunch hour wasn't necessarily discussed as something that I needed to capture, I knew that interactions and moments shared during this time could help the organiser to showcase the mood of familiarity and bonds that by Day 2 were flourishing among women. And that's exactly the point of event photos when it comes to future marketing.
Ad Hoc Portraits for The Participants
Here and there I was approached by some of the participants to take more "styled" portraits for them. A request I never refuse.
Let's be honest. Having a photographer at your event that is kind, flexible and cooperative makes such a difference in the impression your participants have of the entire event.
During each event I work as an extension to the organisers and so I take my reactions and what impression participants have of me as an important element to how they will judge your event and what impact it will have on them.
Of course the event is not an opportunity for a 30 min personal branding session by whoever approaches me as the event photos are the main focus and what I was hired for. But as an experienced photographer I am able to create the portraits on ad hoc requests without jeopardising my focus of the larger picture.
Time for Spa
Once it was time for spa it was important to me to again not be intrusive and let women enjoy their moments, even more so as they were walking around in bathrobes and swimming suits. I only photographed those who either had no problem with it or straight out requested a few memories to be captured for them.
Sometimes not much is needed in order to portray the mood.
