Freshers...

When I'm asked to work on event style photography I jump at the chance. I was contacted by the PR Officer of Plymouth University to cover their Freshers events held on Plymouth Hoe at the beginning of the academic year. As with all event photography it's worked on in a documentary style. The advent of digital has given the photographer a wider scope and is far more forgiving than film.

©Matt Elliott 2013

This isn't to say you should shoot wildly. Personally I like to compose and capture in camera. This only goes to help with the quality of the work and saves from viewing hundreds of files in post process. I believe quality control is something which takes a long time to learn, but once you've got it, it makes life a lot easier!

The location was a marque on Plymouth Hoe which had low sloping material, ideal to bounce flash from! I was asked in the brief to capture the event, people, entertainers and speeches without focusing too much on the drinking aspect. Not that easy as most of the guests had a drink in their hands.

©Matt Elliott 2013

The atmosphere was a happy one with the majority of people happy to have their picture taken, and of course I was asked ''will these be on Facebook?'' all the time. As I was working for a client these images were still under my © however during post-process I had to add the University logo which is easy to do in Lightroom.

©Matt Elliott 2013

After evaluating the evening I was happy with the work I produced and got great feedback from the client. I now have my business up and running and looking back at the opportunities I am going to research a new potential market regarding new students in Plymouth, one to keep quiet for the minute though.

©Matt Elliott 2013