London conference photography: Become at St Ermin’s

What did Joseph want the photographs and videos to achieve?

Joseph wanted prospective clients to get a better sense of Become and what it's like to spend time with its coaching community.

The photographs could show people listening, contributing, laughing and connecting. The interviews would give participants space to talk about their experiences in their own words.

That purpose shaped the coverage. Speakers were part of the story, but so were the expressions around the tables and the conversations between sessions.

If you’re planning similar coverage, my conference photography checklist explains how to turn your priorities into a practical brief.

Photographing the conference at St Ermin’s Hotel

The conference took place in the Crystal Ballroom at St Ermin’s Hotel, a beautiful space with plenty of character.

It looked lovely in person, although the lighting was challenging for photography. There were noticeable colour casts, so getting the finished photographs looking natural required some careful adjustment afterwards.

I mainly worked with the ambient light. I prefer to photograph conferences this way, keeping the feel of the room while letting people carry on with what they’re doing.

How do I photograph conversations without interrupting them?

I move quietly and look for natural interactions: someone smiling as they listen, a burst of laughter, or an animated conversation around a table.

For the candid photographs, I want people’s attention to stay with each other. My job is to find a useful position and capture what’s happening without making myself the focus.

Composition matters here too. For some photographs, I place myself where the view feels like that of another attendee. Including people in the foreground can bring the viewer into the conversation, rather than leaving them looking in from the outside.

I don’t use that approach for every photograph. Wider views establish the room, while closer photographs show expressions and individual contributions. Together, they give the collection variety.

That balance is central to my event and conference photography.

Working with ambient light and trying flash again

I used two cameras, a Canon R5 and R6, with a 70–200mm as my main lens and a 24–105mm f/2.8 alongside it.

The longer lens helped me capture expressions and interactions from a little further away, while the wider zoom gave me options to show more of the room and the people around each table.

During the smaller breakout groups, I also tried some on-camera flash.

It had been a long time since I’d used flash for this kind of coverage. I’d moved away from it because I often find that flash has a recognisable look, but I wanted to give it another go.

I liked the results. Even so, I still preferred the ambient-light photographs for this event.

In the edit, I used the temperature controls to correct the colour casts, adjusting by eye until the colour looked right. It took some trial and error.

For a more detailed explanation of working in challenging conference lighting, I’ve written a separate low-light conference photography guide.