We were thrilled to capture business professionals and award recipients in an editorial way that hasn’t been done before. We weren’t looking for cheesy smiles, we wanted drama and personality. Capitalizing on the black tie gala, we endeavored to give everyone a show and images worthy of a glossy fashion magazine.

For this event I hand-painted three new backdrops to give a luxurious look to the portraits. A sage green color was used in three different historic hues and applied with various water-based techniques to create depth and texture. We created a set that had gravity, an elevated look to offer something beyond the traditional event photography you see at corporate events.

We packed 90% of our Midtown Sacramento Portrait studio, brought it to the Hyatt, and set up just past registration. Within a few hours we photographed over 60 groups, couples, and solos. A highlight for me was working with total strangers in a setting not constrained by corporate creative concept. This was a chance to let loose a bit.

A big thank you to everyone who played along with our idea and hopefully walked away with a cool image of themselves. Thank you to the participants who trusted us to make images that were unique. We hope we captured your humanity and personality.

A huge thank you to Susan Harris Brazelton at the Sacramento Metro Chamber for believing in this vision and trusting my team to deliver. 

If you see your image and like it, right click to save it and use however you wish. Drop a note in the Contact page to keep the conversation going or follow along on my Instagram for more highlights from this night.