Favorite Los Angeles Event Venues
After many years of event photography shooting at many different venues, here are my top favorites.
Little City Farm LA
- Mid-City -
Little City Farm LA is an organic farm and zero waste event space. With animals, crops, and a Spanish-style farm house in the middle of Los Angeles, this space is as beautiful as it is eco friendly.
SmogShoppe
- Mid-City -
The SmogShoppe offers the perfect blend of inside and outside event space with a cool, industrial vibe. Perfect for fire-side chats or products launches, you have enough space for it all.
https://marvimon.com/smogshoppe/
La Peer Hotel
- West Hollywood -
Who wouldnt want to go to an event with a rooftop Pickleball court? LouLou offers a full Pickleball court with bar and an extra side space for mingling or dancing with amazing views of Los Angeles.
LouLou
- West Hollywood -
The La Peer Hotel offers a quaint event space, but the island feel makes your event feel special and unique, like a little island getaway.
Casita Hollywood
- Hollywood -
Event Photography Tips and Tricks
After years of working as an event photographer, I have learned countless lessons from my peers and from all the mistakes I made along the way. Here are just a few of those tips to get you started.
- Preparation -
Preparation is key to ensuring a successful shoot, and part of that prep is to have a quick chat with the client about the details of the event. This includes and is not limited to:
The Event Schedule - Going over key moments throughout the event is vital to making sure the day runs smoothly. Also, it allows you to take the best pictures possible as you will have time to get ready for these moments. Going over when and if there will be speakers, when dinner is served, any performances that will happen, and everything else in between.
The Artistic Vision - Clients usually trust the professional when it comes to the artistic vision for the photos, but sometimes there are specific needs they have. This can include prioritizing candid photos over posed group shots or vice versa. Also, if there are key activations or moments they would like more heavily covered.
Dress Appropriately - Dressing black isn’t the end all be all for photographers. I like to dress elevated and to look like I belong in that space with the guests. Dress professionally and you won’t have an issue.
- Have the right gear -
This is where the client call will come in handy. Will there be speakers? Dancing? Will there be multiple rooms to cover? Knowing what you need to cover will determine the equipment you bring. Personally, I bring it all — you never know what could happen! Overall, two camera bodies with two external flashes, a 24-70mm lens range and a 70-200mm range. Don’t forget plenty of flash batteries, camera batteries, and SD cards. If you haven’t used your equipment before, make sure to go over everything the day before to really understand every button. This will come in handy as events are extremely fast paced and you need to know what to do in an instant.
- Show up early -
Always arrive at least 30 minutes early. You never know what parking will be like and how far/difficult it will be to find the venue. Also, showing up early allows you to meet the client in person and take the very important walk through to get comfortable with the space. Once that happens, this is your time to get empty room shots and product shots once the setting up is all done and none of the guests have arrived yet.
- How to shoot -
First things first, always shoot raw. It gives you the most flexibility when you’re editing if you haven’t nailed your lighting yet, or if some environments are harder than others. This leads to the next tip - know when and how to use flash. If you’re in a room with low ceilings - put your flash up and back as it gives a wonderful, natural feel. If you’re outside, it’s always best to put the flash facing forward. Never have the flash too bright or it drowns out all the surrounding light of the event! Last tip is never be afraid to get up close and personal, you want the event to feel full and fun, which means the more people in the shot the merrier!
This information is just a starting point to event photography. I go more in depth with the ins and outs of event photographer here.
how to shoot an event
Earlier we went over information to get you started shooting events, but now we will dive a little deeper so you can have the utmost confidence when walking into your first job.
How to find work as an event photographer
There are two tried and true ways to start getting work in event photography. The first is to tap into your circle and tell people that you want to start shooting events. There are bound to be birthday parties or community events that would love to have a photographer. In the beginning, you shouldn’t charge for your services, as you are arguably getting more out of the experience than your client. During this time of working for free, it is important to have perspective and know that all this work will pay off soon. You need to grow your portfolio so people know they can trust you and so you can trust yourself while working. The better your photos become, the better equipment you get, the more you can charge. This process wont take long, as long as you’re diligent and continue to learn and grow in this field.
The second way of getting into event photography is email and reach out to all the working event photographers in your area. It obviously helps to have a portfolio already to show them that you are serious and know at least a little about photography. This way will get you money faster, as the lead photographer will pay you to help them with jobs. You will also learn invaluable lessons during this time and grow exponentially. Being open to learning from someone else and being open to learning from your mistakes is the best way possible to grow, and growing means making more money.
From here, working on your website and growing its SEO is your next step when you have reached a point to venture out on your own. This process will inevitably take longer as both of these things are completely different than event photography and you will have to learn whole new skills for this process.
How I got into event photography
I love event photography, I really do. Before this became my career, I had two certainties in my life that had a huge impact on what kind of work I can do. One, I didn’t go to college, that seriously impacted my options within the full time sphere (even though that was never my intention) and two, my job had to do something with photography. I was working in the film industry at the time, and while I love and cherish that moment in my life, I was searching for something more for myself. I was shooting portraits and practically anything else I could, and I just knew I had to figure out how to make photography work for me. So I researched, and researched a ton. I was living in LA in an apartment so money was a concern, I can’t just quit my current job to start a freelance job in a photography niche that doesn’t make money. In my eyes I had two options. I loved portrait and fashion photography, so one of the options would be to assist for some photographers to learn from them and make money that way. The second option would be get in the event sphere and second shoot for photographers or shoot my own. I chose to do both. I worked as an assistant to many photographers in the fashion and product world, really learning how other photographers work and how they shoot and light. I also started second shooting for other event photographers in LA who gave me a shot after they saw my other photography work. Splitting my time between these multiple avenues gave me huge insight to how I wanted my career to look, and I knew I wanted to focus my time on event photography.
My decision was made for economic reasons and personal ones. You can make money much faster with event photography as there are events at every level of your skill set. Yes, you will get paid less, but you’re paid nonetheless. Another reason was I didn’t like how working in the fashion world killed my inspiration and motivation to shoot portraits anymore. For me trying to monetize my passion was the worst decision. It took away my creativity and made me worried about what other people would think of my work and what brands would think of my work and it put so much pressure on me that I could never plan a shoot or follow through with it. That took a toll on me as I was also working long grueling hours helping other photographers achieve their vision, and I just wanted more control and freedom in my life. Event photography gave me that life I wanted. I could be my own boss, use everything I have learned from other fashion and product photographers, have plenty of off time, and be around happy people that want to have fun. Realizing just how amazing my job really is just solidified everything. It uses my observation skills, my people skills, my quick thinking and fast reaction time, it really feels like event photography is made for me and I am made for it. I love my job so much and I can’t wait to continue down this journey.