Event photography Archives - Tim Gander, Photographer, Bristol

April 2, 2026April 21, 2026 by Tim Gander

When Not To Use AI

The other day LinkedIn served me up a post from a photo retoucher who made the perfectly valid point that while AI can’t fix an inherently bad photo, it can be used to rescue one from disaster. I’m kicking myself for not saving the post, because while it made some interesting points, it also reminded me that context and purpose matter as much as the content of the image.

Let me explain that a bit (ok, a lot) more.

Macaroongate

Their example was a photo sent to them by a client. It was a food photo of a macaroon on a bright pink background. There was a spatula sticking out from under the macaroon which needed to be removed, the depth of field was wrong (more of the product needed to be in focus) and the background needed to be plain white.

The retoucher said they’d used AI extensively to correct the flaws and created a commercially usable image. All good then, except the casual reader might have been left with the impression that it’s ok to do this kind of twiddling on any photo, regardless of the content or the purpose of the mage. However, here is where I would advise caution.

Content and Context

When considering where, how and why a photo is to be published, context becomes a critical consideration.

Photos which are intended to represent reality mustn’t be altered. It doesn’t matter if it’s for a newspaper or just a tweet, if the context is to illustrate a PR event or news story, alteration of the image beyond what the camera saw at the moment of capture is wrong. In the case of newspapers (and their associated websites and social media channels), image manipulation beyond certain specified basics are considered a breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice.

Even in the Wild West Frontier of social media, brand credibility can be trashed if images are manipulated. Adding logos to clothing or signage, moving or removing irritating background items or changing colours (amongst many other dodgy options) should all be considered no-nos when the purpose of the photography is to illustrate an event.

All of which brings me to a recent failing of my own.

Kicking Myself (for the second time in this article)

In the group photo below taken for University of Bath, what irritates me the most is the fan lurking at the back of the stage. I’d already shifted it as much as I could before the event kicked off so it didn’t show up behind speakers at the lectern. However when I had only a few seconds to get the group shot at the end (I needed to be quick, or risk making Sir Christ Whitty miss his train), I failed to notice it was now visible again.

A group of six people (three men, three women) standing in a row, wearing formal evening attire in an ornate room are looking to camera for a group photo. There are pop-up banners announcing the 60th anniversary of the University of Bath.

The University of Bath Adelard Lecture panel and speakers.

The simplest fix would have been to bring the pop-up banner (at left) forward. This would have hidden the fan and the table with the water glass, balanced the group and made the branding more prominent. One small action would have tidied the entire picture!

Thinking back I was rather preoccupied with organising six people into a tidy group under time pressure, simultaneously fretting about whether the poor stage lighting was going to give me a clean image, but it’s easy to make excuses after the event.

You might argue that since the photo was staged and therefore not ‘reality’, I could have used an AI service to move the banner and fix all the problems I’ve listed, but the thing is even a staged photo at a real event contains its own kind of reality.

What Is Reality Anyway?!

We could argue about the truth of any photograph, but while the viewer here would understand, without needing to be told, that this is a staged group photo, using software to tidy the scene after the fact would be deceptive.

Of course this isn’t a hard news photo, but it is a record of an event which took place and destined to be used to ‘report’ on that event. Therefore, manipulation would not have been a good idea.

Maybe I should start using sloppy background errors as a way of ensuring nobody thinks my work is manipulated, a sort of signature of authenticity if you like. No, I think I’ll just remind myself to always check the background first (one of my earliest lessons as a local news photographer).

When setting up a picture like this group, it would be acceptable to move elements and arrange people for the optimum photo before it’s taken; doing so in post-production harms our trust in what we see in media announcements.

What About Headshots?

It’s a little different when I’m doing corporate headshots or images for corporate websites and brochures where there is no pretence at representing a news story or event. The images on a business website are generally there to promote or sell a service. They effectively become advertising, where manipulation is fair(er) game.

For corporate portraits I have a policy of cleaning up temporary blemishes and removing stray hairs, but the circumstances, context and purpose of such photos is very different. I’m not trying to say, “This is exactly what Sheila Jones looked like on this particular day.” The client (or Sheila) wants to give a representation of themselves as a real person who’s friendly, professional and approachable. As long as the image isn’t altered beyond recognition, some retouching is perfectly acceptable.

On occasions where an image isn’t destined for publication (perhaps it’s just a keepsake for the participants) it’s also acceptable to apply heavier editing. The problem here can be that once an image is “out in the wild,” it’s also harder to control where it might end up.

Which Leaves Me Where?

Back to my own example, of course there are things I could have tidied up, but having made the picture I made I accept it for what it is; a quick group photo, a record of a moment, where no one but me (and now anyone reading this article) will even notice the shortcomings of the result.

I don’t have to be fine with that, but neither will I beat myself up over it. I can be comfortable with the knowledge that I haven’t used AI to hide my mistake.

Just to say, the evening itself was fascinating and I highly recommend watching Sir Chris Whitty’s lecture via this link.

March 2, 2026 by Tim Gander

The Rise (and Downsides) of LEDs

On a ‘lighter’ note from my previous post, this week I wanted to bring up one of the daily scourges of the working photographer; that of LED lighting.

Of course I’m a huge fan of energy-saving devices, and I appreciate the part LED lighting plays in this (though I do have some questions around that – perhaps best saved for another day), but they can cause issues for photographers.

What most people don’t realise is that LEDs are not constant lights in the way halogen lamps are/were. LEDs have a frequency, that is to say they pulse on and off. For the most part the human eye cannot detect this, but cameras, because of the way they work, can.

Each frame is 1/800th of a second, but slowed down here so you can see the changes more easily.

The Invisible Flicker

If you look at the video above, it shows a sequence of images taken at high speed over the course of a few seconds. This is not a light being dimmed up and down, it’s the LED effect. The camera settings haven’t changed from one frame to the next, but you can see how the light dims on a cycle. You wouldn’t see this when you look at the light, but the camera’s sensor is recording the variable output of this light source.

What you’ll also notice is that the ‘bulb’ isn’t changing all at once. That’s because these LED bulbs consist of clusters of LEDs, each with their own frequency. If they’re not in sync with each other you get this wave effect of light brightening and dimming.

The issue this can cause to photographers is seen as banding in images (see image below) where horizontal strips of the image are darker than the rest of the picture. It looks horrible and can’t be corrected in post-production, at least not easily. The effect in the example here is exacerbated by my use of the electronic shutter function of the camera.*

Two young male school students are seated in blue lecture theatre seats. They are casually dressed and looking towards something or someone we cannot see. One has his hands in his lap, the other is resting his chin on a hand. They both look thoughtful. The photo shows the 'banding' of lighter and paler areas caused by the LED lighting on the camera's sensor.

Heavy banding ruined a few of these images.

Note how the banding affects the background wall, the seats and bench in front of the students. It’s less visible in the subjects, even so I rejected it.

LEDs Everywhere

LEDs are now ubiquitous in our everyday lives. They’re in all our workplaces, shops, homes, cars; basically, they light our lives. Better quality LED lamps will cause fewer problems than cheaper ones. However, even expensive LEDs can cause issues, especially if they’re dim-able.

When an LED light is dimmed, it isn’t actually dimmed, so much as its frequency is extended. In other words, the moments when the LED is off are extended. We’re talking microsecond differences here, which is why the human eye doesn’t see more flicker, just a dimmer light.

As of writing this article, I believe there is still only one photo-centric (not video-centric) camera with a sensor design which eliminates this issue completely, and that costs almost £6,000.00 just for the body. Other slightly cheaper cameras use faster processors to try to mitigate the effect, but it’s still an issue to be aware of.

My cameras don’t show banding when I’m using the default Mechanical Shutter mode. In some situations it would be preferable to have the camera operating completely silently (by using the Electronic Shutter setting), but if banding is ruining the photo then there’s no choice but to allow the shutter to click. It’s not exactly loud, but can be noticeable in certain situations.

LEDs Triggering Issues

The flicker of LEDs can have other detrimental effects too. If I’m setting up portable studio lighting for a photo session, I’ll often use a handheld flash meter to set the output (brightness) of my flash units. To do this, I press a button on my flash meter which is then waiting for my flash to fire so it can measure the intensity of the flash. But the flicker of an LED light is often enough to fool the meter into thinking it’s detected the flash, when all it’s detected is the pulse of an LED light.

This can make it incredibly difficult to get an accurate flash meter reading. I can try shielding the flash meter from the LED light source, or I can plug the flash meter into the flash unit and not use the non-cabled setting (apologies if this is getting technical!) Unfortunately, not all modern flash units have a flash cable socket, so this often rules that option out. It’s also not always possible or desirable to switch off all the LED lights in a space to prevent the interference.

There have been occasions where I’ve just had to set the flash output by taking a series of test shots until I’ve got the correct exposure. It’s not ideal, but it gets job done eventually.

Irritation and Mitigation

I say the human eye can’t detect the flicker of LEDs, but that isn’t always true. I used to work in an office which had LED strip lights, and they irritated my vision and fatigued my eyes. Some people are more sensitive than others and you can even buy special glasses to counteract LED lighting.

The trickiest thing about LEDs is you can’t easily predict when they’ll be a problem. I’ll take test shots or look through the electronic viewfinder of my camera, but neither of these is a 100% reliable predictor of when banding will wreck a photo. A different angle, moving from one location to another or someone making changes to the lighting can all have an impact.

Many audio visual engineers have moved to LED stage lighting and this can be brilliant or a disaster depending on their system.

So next time you’re at an event and the photographer’s camera is clicking away, even if you know they have a silent function on their camera, perhaps now you’ll understand why they might not be using it.

Sorry about the length of this article, but I do hope it’s shed some light (see what I did there?) on a mostly invisible issue.

*Electronic shutter setting means the camera is completely silent, however the imaging chip is more prone to recording banding because it exposes the sensor by scanning in lines from top to bottom. The example photo I’ve used was shot at 1/200th of a second which shows just how fast the frequency of the LED cycles is.

in Event photography / Event Photography / Industry Comment / photographer / Point of View / Uncategorized 2 comments

September 23, 2025September 24, 2025 by Tim Gander

A Couple of Pointers

Many of my photographic jobs involve covering conferences, seminars and general get-togethers of science and industry leaders. The brief will usually involve fly-on-the-wall photography of delegates networking and exchanging ideas during the registration and coffee reception, followed by shots of the key speakers presenting their thoughts.

The spaces I’m working in can range from big lecture theatres with a capacity of 300+ to rooms barely large enough to hold 20 people, which can be a challenge when I’m trying to be discrete.

Lighting will also be mixed – it’s almost always terrible! I rarely get sufficient soft daylight to make the shots easy to edit, so I work with whatever is there. Then I go into battle at the edit stage to ensure skin tones don’t, at the very least, leave people looking ill. Sometimes I’ll use flash, but this can open a whole new can of worms and is often best avoided.

Regardless of the nature of the event, the size of the room or the lighting I’m working with, this work always boils down to ensuring I capture the speakers in a flattering and/or engaging way. One of the keys to this is the gestures people use as they speak.

My preference is to spend a minute observing the speaker to work out which area of the room they tend to address (there’s no point me taking a position to the speaker’s right when they only ever look left). I’ll try to work out if there is a pattern to when they look up and with their eyes open. And I’ll be watching to see if they make interesting hand gestures; again, I’ll look to position myself to capture this the best way possible.

A slim white male in a fine plaid shirt gesticulates with open hand towards a screen the viewer cannot see.

This tight space limited my options.

A young male academic in glasses, dark T shirt with pale green shirt over the top points as he looks to the top left of the image.

A nice strong pointing shot.

A balding white male in navy blue shirt speaks at a lectern while is image is mirrored by a large TV monitor to his side.

Using reflection to create interest.

A Japanese man in dark blue suit gesticulates with his hands up, palms forward in front of his face, towards a projection screen in a lecture theatre.

Enthusiastic gesticulation.

A white male academic speaks in front of a projected slide about his research. He is looking up and making a circle with the fingers of one hand. He wears glasses and a pale blue shirt under a dark blue sweater.

That hand gesture...

A white male with curly hair, a light beard and moustache wearing a mid-blue sweater lifts his hands, palms-up, as he speaks to his audience which we can't see.

Another expression.

Some people aren’t so easy to capture: They might only read from notes with their head down, or they might only look up with their eyes shut. If they move around a lot in a space that is dimly lit, keeping focus on them can be a challenge.

When it all comes together though, the speaker shots can work really well. They might never qualify as art, but since they’ve been taken to support on-going amplification of the event, they really should be as interesting and engaging as possible. Reaching and grabbing audience attention after the event is one of the hardest tasks for the communications manager, but it’s made all the more dispiriting if the photos are poor.

One other thing I try to ensure is that across the set there will be a variety of shots with emphasis to left and right of the frame, as well as some with design space should the client wish to drop text or a graphic into the image. It’s also important to have a mixture of upright and landscape formats for different publications and platforms.

So while this isn’t the most glamorous genre of photography, it’s interesting for me precisely because good results rely on some quick thinking and problem-solving. Sometimes an image will have an additional spark, which is usually down to the speaker’s gesticulation in the split second that I captured the image. That’s when I know all my calculations have paid off.

in Case Studies / corporate communications / coverage / Event photography / Event Photography / photography 0 comments

August 5, 2025 by Tim Gander

A New Perspective and a Sad Farewell

Way back in September 2024 I talked about a camera I’d bought which straddled the Tool and Toy categories of photographic kit.

To recap what I said then, the Lumix GX9 is a compact camera with interchangeable lenses. It acts as a useful third body in my kit bag for work as well as being a fun carry-everywhere camera when I’m not working.

The Excuse for a New Lens

With University of Bath Summer Graduations looming, I decided to invest in an ultra-wide angle lens for the GX9. I could have just got an ultra-wide lens for one of my work bodies, but the cost and weight meant this was the less attractive option. Besides which, ultra-wide isn’t a focal length I use for work very often so I didn’t fancy forking out a fortune.

My thinking was that such a lens could offer some alternative options for shots inside Bath Abbey where the graduation ceremonies take place. In the event it also gave me one or two corkers outside the abbey too.

The lens I bought is a Laowa 6mm f/2, the focal length being equivalent to 12mm on a 35mm camera. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a budget-friendly (£520.00) lens, but I have to say I was impressed!

It’s designed to give a very wide view, while keeping horizontals and verticals as straight as possible – not the fish-eye distortion you might normally expect from this focal length.

I’m posting a handful of examples here. Whether the university ever uses these for corporate communications remains to be seen, but I see no technical or qualitative reason not to. And they certainly offer a different perspective on an event which, given it was 17 ceremonies over 5 days, can risk becoming a bit repetitive in photographic terms.

A procession of academics in colourful gowns and black caps passes by Bath Abbey. The photo is taken on a very wide-angle lens from a low angle looking up from the ground.

Academics process past Bath Abbey prior to a ceremony.

Academics process inside Bath Abbey onto a stage covered in blue cloth while families of graduands watch from the seats.

The procession mounts the stage inside Bath Abbey.

A very wide view taken upright shows the back of a graduand as he mounts the stage to graduate. He is doffing his cap to the presiding officer of the university.

An ultra-wide view taken in upright format makes for another interesting option.

Photo of the Week

This next photo was shot using one of my ‘professional’ bodies and is, I think, my favourite photo from the week. Taken in relatively low light on a drizzly afternoon, I was pleased to have spotted this student as he bolted from Bath Abbey door to embrace his girlfriend waiting outside. It sums up the release and joy of having graduated.

A university graduate in cap and gown is seen side-on running towards a group of people standing in the rain. He is smiling with one arm outstretched and is blurred by his motion.

Perhaps my favourite photo of the week.

I barely planned the shot, just kept my wits about me as the graduates started to exit the abbey, and locked onto him as I saw him dash forward. I’m glad it worked out.

The week was incredibly hot and humid, and pretty tiring, but I managed to get interesting angles and moments from every ceremony I covered (11 in all as I was alternating with the university’s staff photographer). Often the emotional moments as graduates hugged friends and family in Abby Churchyard would make my eyes prickle, the relief and joy being palpable, but I managed to concentrate on getting the shots needed.

Farewell

I can’t write this post without saying farewell to one of my favourite subscribers, my mum, who passed away on July 25th. This is the last decent photo I took of her as she peels the potatoes for Christmas Dinner, December 2024. I won’t say too much more here, but amongst many other things, I’ll miss her saying, “I read your blog post this week. I’m not sure I understood what it was about.”

An elderly woman with white hair sits at a large wooden table peeling potatoes. There is a window to the right, a potted plant to the left and a bright yellow wall behind her.

Edelgard Gander 1935 - 2025

in Case Studies / corporate communications / event photographic / Event photography / My News / Personal Work 0 comments

June 17, 2025June 17, 2025 by Tim Gander

Another (Almost) Anniversary

Apart from a break for the Covid-19 pandemic, this is an event I’ve photographed for 10 consecutive years!

It’s a bit of an outlier in terms of the work I do, but it’s always interesting and rewarding.

The Event

And what is it I hear you ask? Well of course it’s the annual IRTE Bus & Coach Skills Challenge, operated through the Society of Operations Engineers and hosted at S&B Automotive Academy in Bristol.

Yes, that’s all a bit of an eyeful of info, so I’ll attempt explain it more simply. Basically, it’s a chance for bus and coach mechanics (the people who keep our public service vehicles running safely) to test their knowledge and skills and to learn new processes and approaches in a competitive environment.

This year’s skills challenge spanned four days, each with fresh teams arriving at S&B from all over the country, with mechanics and engineers registered to compete in mechanical, electrical and bodywork challenges.

Each day was a hive of activity with welding, cutting and panel beating in the body workshop, and electrical fault diagnostics, tappet measuring, vehicle safety and roadworthiness inspection and for the second year running, a test of an engineer’s approach to testing a high voltage circuit; increasingly important as road vehicles switch to battery power. There are too many sections to list, but suffice to say it’s a long and busy day for all involved.

The Job

My job every year is to capture each competitor in action so that should they win, there’s a good clear photo of them for the awards ceremony and souvenir brochure. The images also get used across the SOE website, printed materials and promotional assets (posters, banners etc). Because of this, I work to ensure there’s a good spread of library images from each day.

I also aim to ensure sponsors get coverage too, with at the very least a photo showing their presence and ideally working their branding into an action shot or two.

By the end of the four days, I aim to have achieved a mixture of team shots, fly-on-the-wall documentary-style action images and a few posed shots too. At lunchtime I’ll send a few rush pics to the client for immediate social media posts, delivering the full edit before I go to bed.

The First Year

I remember the first day I ever shot this event; I hadn’t been particularly well briefed, and it wasn’t until part way through the day that I was told I’d need to get a shot of every competitor. That spiced things up a bit, but I got it all done.

Another regular challenge for me is that many of the activities involve engineers working with their heads down, often measuring or looking at something. I need faces, not tops of heads, so if I can’t find an angle that works, I will often pose a competitor once they’ve completed the challenge they’re working on. This year, on the whole, I was able to get what I needed mid-action.

The Next Ten?

I somehow doubt I’ll be doing this job for another ten years – it’s a lot of running around, bending and holding awkward positions for periods of time, but I’ll do it for as long as I can and for as long as SOE wants me to do it.

In the meantime, for this year, the past 10 years and however many years to come, I’d like to thank SOE for engaging me on this one and to express my gratitude to all the patient mechanics who have to put up with me in a stressful situation. Special thanks also to Richard Belton at S&B Automotive Academy for his seemingly never-ending willingness to help and for listening to my terrible jokes for four days solid.