2024 was quite the whirlwind with one of our busiest years ever! Like many in the events industry there were so many amazing events we were a part of that we can’t speak about featuring Presidents, other world leaders and so many celebrities but some of the ones we can talk about include our local industry favorite educational event, MPINCC ACE which was held at Convene, a wonderful new events space downtown! It was great to check out this new, flexible space which offers plenty of natural light (something us event photographers really love) as well as a variety of spaces from the intimate tothe grand. The layout of the space is fantastic and being right near Union Square makes it a very convenient space to use as an extension to any large conferences at Moscone or just as a stand alone event space. Definitely a nice venue added into the mix of great spots we have here in San Francisco.
Another fun shoot we had was for Shōgun, the American historical drama based on the 1975 novel by James Clavell. We didn’t realize the show was being made and of course it earned multiple Emmys so it was fun to be involved with a promotional event for it as it launched and gained critical acclaim, checking out the show before it broke! We shot some promotional images for it for a special event they had around the country with one of the spots being here in the Bay Area in Palo Alto at Nobu.
We also photograph a lot of activations and other marketing events. This year we did something for DirecTV for the Nothing on the Roof campaign which featured San Francisco 49er George Kittle. As the 49ers are our local team, it was fun to work with the brand to bring the campaign to San Francisco and to the games where the activation was present at Levi’s Stadium. Legendary Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice was on hand as well as Frank Gore and other 49ers legends and the fan atmosphere was great!
For the past two years we’ve been the official photographers for TED AI and it’s been fun to work with the TED team again on these. Living in San Francisco, and probably everywhere else too, you really can’t avoid hearing about AI. So many of the billboards in SF and along the 101 towards Silicon Valley feature AI startups so photographing TED talks about AI from some of the top thinkers in the world is pretty interesting. Even as event photographers we are affected by AI. Mostly so far in a positive manner in that the tools we use to edit (and to some extent cull) are improved with AI-based intelligence. However, the photography industry has also been affected negatively by AI as several individuals we personally know have been laid off of their jobs as retouchers or commercial photographers. Event photographers haven’t been impacted as negatively nor the events industry as a whole, but AI is something that will touch all of us in various ways.
We also worked with San Francisco Design Week for the first Design Palo Alto which took place around Silicon Valley. The events focused on Interiors, Architecture, Landscape, Lighting and Art and as such was really fun to photograph. Whenever you get to shoot at an Eichler home it makes creating beautiful images even easier!
We also shot for new non-profits like Haiti Partners and the Duke Lemur Center this year too (as well as First Exposures, whom we’ve been working with for years!). For Haiti Partners we photographed their annual Stronger Together Haiti Scholarship Benefit which helps Haitians change Haiti through education and it’s always great to be a part of an event which supports such worth causes. As event photographers we often get to see and be a part of all kinds of events and supporting non-profits in reaching their goals is always something that we feel great about and seeing our images used to promote and raise funds for these organizations is quite rewarding. At the end of the year, many of these organizations are looking to round out their funding goals and if we can help that happen through our photography we feel like we’ve been able to help in a real sense. So if you’re looking for a local non-profit to support here in the Bay Area, here’s a link to support First Exposures who recently held their Envision event where they were able to create portraits for 100 groups, serving at least 400 PEOPLE (and pets 🐰🐾), creating lasting memories for everyone involved.
