Planning this year's family-day photographs from last year's gaps

Most companies repeat their family day year after year. That gives you a rare advantage in event photography: you have a real gallery to learn from. It shows what the previous plan produced, and where it fell short. This page sits within our guide to corporate family-day photography.

Start with an honest review

Open last year's gallery next to last year's programme. Go through the day activity by activity and ask a few plain questions. Was this activity photographed? Were the right people in the frame? Were there enough images from the morning and the afternoon?

Then speak to the people who organised the day. They know what staff and families said afterwards, such as "we have no photo of the grandparents" or "the games corner was never covered". That feedback is as valuable as the gallery.

A simple gap table

Area	What the gallery shows	Gap	Likely cause
Opening	Many images	None	Fixed position
Children's games	Few images	Under-covered	Crew stayed on stage
Grandparents	Almost none	Missing group	Not on the priority list
Afternoon	Thin	Quiet period	Coverage ended early
Team portraits	None	Not planned	No slot in programme

Use your own rows. The causes tell you what to change. A missing group suggests a change in priorities. A thin afternoon suggests a change in hours.

What can change, and what may not

Some gaps can be fixed with a better plan. A named priority for grandparents, a portrait window and a longer coverage window are all planning decisions.

Other limits are harder to remove. If last year was very hot, the quietest hours may be hot this year too. If the venue is crowded, sight lines will be difficult again. Our guide to venue conditions that affect event photography explains typical constraints. Be honest in the plan about which gaps you will address and which you will manage as best you can.

Using a past gallery as a reference

A past gallery is a good way to explain what you want. Our guide to using reference photographs in an event brief shows how to point to examples without asking for exact copies. Use the gallery to show what worked well and what did not.

If the gallery was made by another photographer, check the terms under which it was delivered before sharing it. Where you want to show it publicly, such as in a presentation, confirm that the permissions allow it, and credit the photographer. We will not use another photographer's work as our own, and we do not describe past jobs we did not do.

An example

For example, imagine a company family day where the organiser notes that last year's gallery had plenty of stage photographs but almost no pictures of families together. The organiser also says the afternoon felt empty, as coverage ended at 1pm.

This year the plan adds a family portrait window, extends the coverage hours into the afternoon and gives the children's activities a named priority. The organiser accepts that if it rains again, some outdoor sequences will still be limited.

Reviewing the whole series

If your family day recurs, a yearly review becomes a habit. Photography for a recurring event series explains how to keep a consistent approach while improving each time.

Keep the review short and honest

A one-page summary is enough: what worked, what was missing and what you want changed. Avoid blaming individuals. The aim is a better plan, and a short note is more likely to be read by everyone involved, including the crew.

What to tell us

Send last year's gallery or a few representative samples, the programme and your gap list. Also tell us what you would like families and staff to say after this year's day. That gives us a target, and we can say honestly how far the plan can go.

We confirm the crew, hours and deliverables in writing, so the changes you agreed are part of the plan the crew follows. If you want help judging the final result, our guide to judging a complete event gallery lists what to look for.