In conversation with Thomas Jackson, Tynesight Media

Every event we create combines thousands of unique moments, all combining to create one shared experience. It is a real skill to notice, capture, and share those moments in a way that tells the story of the event long after delegates have gone, that’s why it’s important to partner with a photographer who understands what it means to capture an event engagingly and interestingly. We’ve worked with Thomas Jackson, founder of TyneSight Media, a creative content capture agency, for over eight years on a whole spectrum of different events. Over his career he’s photographed everyone from Michelle Obama to Prince Harry, so we thought it was time to pick his brains on what goes into creating great event photography (and why, no, you can’t just snap some pics on your iPhone)…

Hi Thomas! You’ve been capturing BeaconHouse events for over eight years now, how did that relationship start?

The first event I ever shot for BeaconHouse was the Dynamites Awards back in 2016, and we just worked together on the 2024 awards so it’s safe to say I think they liked what we produced! From there the relationship has flourished and I feel like part of the team. The majority of my work centers around capturing “people on stages”, whether that is at corporate events and conferences, live music events, or festivals, so it is a natural partnership with the team at BeaconHouse.

Capturing ‘people on stages” is what you do best – how is event photography different from other types of photography?

Event photography isn’t predictable. With studio or PR photography you have control over the location, lighting, and styling and you can pose your subjects to a certain extent. With event photography, you are capturing what is in front of you and you are tasked with making what is there look as good as possible. Often what is there on the day doesn’t translate into a great photo – I have a lot of friends who are lighting designers and we often joke that it is my job to make all of their hard work disappear to make the photos look better.

You don’t have control over the scene, you only have control over how you shoot it. That is one of the things that I enjoy most about it – the unpredictability keeps my work interesting and I have always enjoyed telling the story of a live event, rather than creating more clinical or standardised images.

How important is it for that unpredictability to be underpinned by a great photography brief?

A solid brief is hugely important at the start of a relationship with a new client, while you are learning what they want and how you work together. A brief gives clarity to what you are trying to achieve, and the timings and ensures that the client receives all the shots that they need. A great brief includes a must-have shot list, a realistic running time, and space for some flexibility in the agenda if things don’t run perfectly to schedule. Ideally, it is good to talk through the photography brief in advance and have a conversation about what is realistic and possible in the time that we have, it’s all about collaboration and listening to each other to get the best results.

The best event photography comes from a combination of a relationship with the client based on trust and a realistic and detailed brief to keep everyone right on the day.

How do you make sure you capture a variety of images across events?

It can be difficult to stop event photography from looking ‘samey’ if it is in a popular venue, or it is a traditional stage set up, but really comes down to experience and ‘working the room’ pre-event to make sure you have a variety of backdrops and angles. Each event has its nuances and it is our job to capture the individual moments that make that event unique, which comes down to planning and immersing yourself in what is going on around you.

When you are shooting a conference it is about watching how speakers react in real time and adapting your style to it; are they pinned to the lectern or walking around? Do they have certain mannerisms that would make a good shot or is the lighting hitting them in a certain way? It’s those details that tell the story of individual events and create interesting, unique images.

Talk to me about lighting!

Lighting is as important as music or venue dressing in creating the atmosphere that you want, both in real life and in content, so it should never be a last-minute thought. Lighting is crucial to our ability to get the best photographs and building a good relationship with the lighting director on site makes any photographer’s job much easier. A good lighting director makes a photographer’s job so much easier and being able to have honest conversations to discuss issues in real time saves a lot of time and energy later.

Organising an event is a busy time but be mindful of lighting when you are setting up at a venue. Take time to step back and take a look at the stage or the networking areas to see if it looks dark, if there are lots of shadows, or if a speaker is going to be backlit. We are all working together for the same goal, so speak to your photographer if you’re not sure or ask venue managers for their advice – if it looks weird in real life, chances are it will look a little odd in photos too.

A good photographer will arrive on-site early to walk around and check the lighting in each space, trust their process and if they ask for something to be tweaked it will usually be for a good reason.

How do you capture ‘in the moment’ shots without being intrusive?

A lot of it comes from judging the vibe of what is going on and making a judgment of how warm people are to photographs being taken. I’m quite visible as a photographer, which means it’s less about trying to covertly take photographs and more about being part of the moment so you can capture it from within. I always take time to have a chat with delegates or share a joke to make them feel comfortable, rather than trying to blend into shrubbery to get a candid shot.

There is a lot of crossover between great event photography and great street photography. The best street photographers don’t try to hide, they are there, front and center of what is happening on the ground. It comes down to having the confidence to know that you should be there, which relaxes delegates enough that those unique, candid moments come naturally.

You, of course, need to be unintrusive when people are speaking on stage, but again this comes down to taking the time to know the space and where you can get a good view without changing or damaging the audience experience.

How do you work with the event team to manage the consent of those being photographed?

It is important to have a process in place pre-event to know who can and can’t be photographed, whether that be different coloured lanyards or stickers etc. I don’t like the term ‘can’t’ be photographed, which implies a serious need to protect this person’s identity, simply that they don’t want to be is enough. There are always reluctant subjects, and I don’t need to know why someone doesn’t want to be in a photograph, maybe it is a bad hair day or they spilled coffee on their jacket on the way to the venue, I just need a way of identifying who those people are on site. If someone lets me know that they don’t want their picture taken, that’s not a problem at all, usually, I will just make a joke of it and delete the image.

Identifying people, especially children, who don’t wish to be photographed by giving them a certain colour lanyard to everyone else automatically makes them stand out and creates a point of difference which can be quite damaging. Try giving out a seemingly random selection of lanyards or stickers, where only the event planner and photographer know which colour means don’t photograph to avoid making a certain group of people stand out.

There is a gulf of practice between what you legally have to do and what is best practice and usually it is about finding somewhere in the middle that is not negatively going to impact the experience of attending the event. Blanket signage saying that there will be photography at the event is one end of the spectrum, all the way through to explicit consent from every attendee, both have their pros and cons.

Last but not least, how do you make sure that you tell a good story with your images?

Again it comes back to collaboration and understanding the purpose behind the event and how they will be using the images afterward; a lot of the time it is about creating FOMO in the people who couldn’t attend! Events are an amalgamation of lots of little moments, from the calibre and enthusiasm of the speakers to the water cooler conversations and little moments of delight that BeaconHouse Events do so well. A great photographer will be right there alongside the delegates, capturing those as they happen.

People worry about disturbing photographers, but I really welcome people telling me what is going on in other areas of the venue, or what they are enjoying about the event – it all helps to add layers to the images and creates something completely authentic and new.

To find out more about TyneSight Media visit www.tynesight.co.uk and to speak to the team at BeaconHouse Events about creating your next event email info@beaconhouse-events.co.uk or give us a call +44 (0)191 691 3456.