Conference photography consists of various stages starting from planning, events and culminating with selecting and / or editing and conclusions.

The first step is of planning. This includes consent or non-consent to be photographed. Then, it is to be decided whether audio and video recording can be done as per the registration procedure.

The second step is of events. Events like conferences and seminars come under this category and the photography can include an entire spectrum of the conference required to be covered for future reference or to be circulated among the company. The photographs can consist of individual speeches or of meetings and discussions held in the conference. During the event there may be problems like camera problems, recording tape problems and missing the shot problems. This can be avoided by careful planning and strategy.

The third step is of staffing. Taking photographs of a conference can’t be thought to be a hobby. It is serious work and most likely paid work. The level of effort that has to be taken to have good visible results is quite considerable. It is not practically possible to attend and photograph a conference at the same time. Only one thing can be done at a time. If there are multiple breakout workshops, it is physically not possible to be in many places at the same time. If there are huge sessions in a large auditorium, some advance set up would be useful. However, taking photographs across many rooms and floors includes a group or a professional activity. There may also be different lighting situations in the varying places. Thus, there must be many persons located at the various places to photograph the different activities being carried out at the different places.

The fourth step is of the presenters. A majority of the presenters are hams. They are in search of attention and publicity. For this reason, they liked to be photographed. However, they insist that the photograph must be taken in a good manner. At times it may happen that the presenters could become aware of the camera. The best thing to happen would be the presenters are in their natural flair and then this could be captured by the camera.

The fifth step is of lighting. It is always very difficult to ensure correct lighting in a room. If a flash is used, other people are disturbed by it. As there is low light and a zoom up it is essential to get the close-up of the presenter, this is indeed a very arduous task. The photographer must have reserved seating in the front so that there is no need to walk into the middle of the presentation.

The sixth step is that of caution. Most of the conference locations have a reflective screen behind the presenter. This can throw off any automatic lightning adjustment. This is true usually with a digital camera. In some other places, there may be lighting on the wall just behind the people whom the photographer is trying to capture. This lighting must be adjusted in advance before the photograph.

The seventh step is of the audience. Although attendees are the people who make a conference, they are not very keen in getting photographed or recorded.

The eighth step is of the funding. Photographs and recordings are a good proof of the event. The memory may fade off but after seeing the photograph all the conferences could be brought back into the memory. So, the funding done for a conference is very essential.

The last step is of selecting and editing photographs. This is a very important step as the viewer of the photographs may not be interested in all the detailed photographs of the event.