How to book an event photographer: price, planning and checklist

What does an event photographer cost?

The price follows the number of hours on site and how fast you want the pictures. This is the Stockholm market in 2026, excluding VAT.

Evening or reception, 2 to 3 hours

4,000 to 9,000 kr

Half day, up to 4 hours

6,000 to 15,000 kr

Full day, up to 8 hours

12,000 to 25,000 kr

Multi-day event, per day

10,000 to 20,000 kr

Selection the same evening

Often included, otherwise 1,500 to 3,000 kr

Travel outside Stockholm

Travel time and accommodation added

Book in time

Two to four weeks ahead is usually enough for an event in Stockholm. For the big weeks, Almedalen at the end of June and the conference season from September to November, photographers are booked months ahead. If you have a recurring event, book next year's date right after this year's.

Get in touch even at short notice. An event on Friday booked on Tuesday can often be arranged.

What the photographer needs before the event

• The programme with times and rooms. Then I know when the speakers are on stage and when the reception starts.
• Names and ideally photos of people who must be in the pictures: CEO, speakers, award winners, guests you want to show.
• A contact person on site with a phone number, who can point people out and tell me when something changes.
• What the pictures are for: press the same evening, social channels, next year's invitation, the intranet.
• Your brand guidelines or examples of pictures you like, if you have a clear tone.
• Practicalities: where the photographer can leave the bag, whether there is food, and whether accreditation is needed.

How to plan the programme for good pictures

Light on stage. Ask the technicians to light the speaker's face, not just the screen behind. A dark stage with a bright presentation gives pictures where the speaker is a silhouette.

Schedule the group picture when everyone is there and nobody has left, usually right after the last session before dinner. Put it in the programme, so nobody disappears.

Give the reception time. The best event pictures are taken in the breaks: the conversations, the laughter, the handshakes. A twenty-minute break gives better pictures than ten.

The logo in the picture. Roll-ups, signs and name badges let the pictures tell where they were taken. Place them where people actually stand, not in a corner.

Pictures the same evening: how it works

If you want to publish while the event is still live in the feeds, say so when you book. Then I edit a first selection on site, usually ten to twenty pictures, and send them to your contact person during the evening or right after. The communications team can post them the same evening, and the press gets pictures for tomorrow's article.

The full gallery follows edited within a few working days, in a private online gallery where you download in formats for web and print.

Photography and GDPR

Pictures of people are personal data. The usual approach at events is to inform guests in the invitation and with a sign at the entrance that the event is being photographed and where the pictures may be used. Anyone who does not want to be in the pictures can tell the photographer or the contact person, and I respect that.

For pictures that will be used in marketing of individual, identifiable people, for example a portrait of a guest in an advertisement, you should have clear consent. Consult your legal adviser if unsure. This is not legal advice, only what tends to work in practice.

After the event: how to use the pictures

Most people use ten pictures the week after and forget the rest. That is a pity, because the gallery is material for a whole year.

• Press release and news item on the website the day after.
• Social channels during the week: one post a day keeps the event alive.
• Thank-yous to speakers and partners, with pictures of them.
• Next year's invitation and registration page.
• Recruitment and employer branding: pictures of colleagues laughing at work are hard to stage, easy to take at an event.
• The annual report.

Checklist to pass on

• Date, times and venue confirmed with the photographer.
• Programme sent, with stage times.
• List of people who must be in the pictures.
• Contact person on site appointed.
• Decided what the pictures are for.
• Same-evening selection ordered, if you want it.
• Group picture put in the programme.
• Guests informed that the event is being photographed.
• Stage lighting agreed with the technicians.
• Plan for how the pictures will be used the week after.