I have been photographing festivals and special events for the past 10 years and love the diverse nature of this type of photography. From within theatres to live performances to outdoor concerts, the challenge to capture each scenario at its best is what keeps me wanting to photograph more. Challenged by the different scenarios I encounter throughout events, I create striking and memorable photos to exceed my client’s expectations.
I Make You Look Good
You spend countless hours, days, weeks, and months preparing for your festival or special event so that every detail is not overlooked. Hundreds or maybe even thousands of people enjoy your festival, so why wouldn’t you want to keep those moments afterwards?
Whether for marketing or archival purposes, I make sure your festival or special event looks its best.
Services
- Large-scale, multi-day festival and event photography.
- Private events including conferences, theatres, birthday celebrations, concerts, proposals, and more.
- Documentary photography for use in promotional materials, social media, archival, and more.
- Architectural photography of venues.
- Create and conduct photography workshops for volunteer photographers.
Past Clients
Past clients have included a variety of organizations and festivals including:
- Luminato Festival
- Toronto International Film Festival
- Reel Asian Film Festival
- After Dark Film Festival
- HotDocs International Film Festival
- Langdon Hall
- Lifestyles Magazine
- The Stop
- PanAm Games
- Raffi Jewellers
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly do you do?
I am a festival and special event photographer that takes photos during your festival or special event.
Why would I need a photographer to do that?
There are many advantages to hiring a photographer to document your festival. Many of my photos have been used for the event’s marketing campaign whether it be for e-mailing newsletters, creating brochures and posters, or simply posting online on Facebook. They have also been used to send to the many sponsors of the festivals to prove that the sponsors are being recognized and their products are being used throughout the event.
Why should I hire you when I can get volunteer photographers?
Volunteers are a great asset to any organization. In fact, this is how I started my festival photography as well. However, more often than not, as volunteers, they may not be familiar with the ongoings of a large-scale and fast-paced festival/event operation—and more importantly may not understand the intricacies of photographing one. With the myriad of scenarios a festival or special event can present to the photographer, volunteers may not be capable of handling all of these situations. As a seasoned festival photogapher, I know what to look for and am well versed with a number of situations, allowing me to react and take photos naturally and professionally within busy festival environments.
In addition to the know-hows of photography, I use professional equipment, and produce visually attractive images through careful post-processing techniques that are unique to my editing style.
What’s all this talk about working alongside the festival’s volunteer program?
Some festivals and special events have a large volunteer program to help with the event—and some of these volunteer programs may even have a creative component to them. If you are interested in creating a photography component to your volunteer program, I can help you with this as well. With prior experience as a workshop creator and instructor, I am capable of teaching any sized groups in photography. I cater the lesson to beginner, intermediate, or advanced users and create a lesson plan that will be both educational and fun for the students. For more details on this, please feel free to email me.
Do you photograph smaller and/or private events too?
Yes, of course! Please feel free to email me about your event and we can discuss in more detail on how we can work together. I have been hired to photograph many private events including conferences, birthday celebrations, engagements, family portrait outings, and 7-5-3 (shichi-go-san) portraits too.
Tell me even more!
If you think your festival or special event can benefit from my photography, please feel free to email me. I always like to meet with the organizers first to get to know a little more about the festival or special event. Then we can discuss the finer details of what you are looking for.
Connect with Taku
Please feel free to email me at tkumabe [at] smaku [dot] com, or use the Contact Form on this website.
Sample Photography
