Worth School Speech Day Photography
Worth Abbey is one of the most beautiful spaces I shoot in. It’s also one of the trickiest. The light is low, it has a particular quality that needs managing, and on Speech Day the procession of staff in their academic gowns down the centre aisle happens exactly once. You know where you’re going to be before it starts or you’ve missed it. This year, the packed Abbey Church hosted the formal speeches and prize-giving for Worth School, which included a talk from guest speaker and former student Christopher Lamb, now CNN’s Vatican correspondent
Speech Day at Worth is the biggest day of the school year and the brief reflects that. Formal portraits of the Head Boy and Head Girl before the abbey, staff gathering in their gowns on the piazza, the procession, prize-giving, Mass, then a complete change of gear for the afternoon. Drinks reception, family picnics on the lawn, art and DT exhibitions, a summer concert. Different locations, different light, different types of photography, all in one day.
Technical Challenges: From Low Light to Midday Sun
Days like Speech Day don’t really work unless you’ve done the preparation properly before you arrive. Three cameras, two working and an emergency backup, clean cards, freshly charged batteries and spares for everything. I work through the timetable beforehand so I know exactly where I need to be before things start moving. I always aim to get there a little early to catch up with Howard, the digital marketing manager and check for any last minute changes before things kick off. On this occasion I was glad it was sunny, not quite so glad it was the hottest day of the year, but you can’t always order cloud cover.
Inside the abbey the challenge during prize-giving is keeping the images varied, slightly shifting position and lenses helps stop everything looking too repetitive. The daylight coming through on a bright May day helps considerably. The same job on a dark winter evening is a harder problem.
After Mass the day opens right up. Out of the abbey and into a very hot afternoon on the front quad. We don’t get too many extreme heatwaves but it can prove a real issue for the gear. Lithium batteries already heat up when you use them so when the ambient temperature spikes too, they need a little attention to stop them from cutting out. The light outside is harsher than the abbey but the atmosphere shifts completely. Families on the lawn, students out of formal mode, the exhibitions giving people something to look at and talk about. It’s looser and more documentary style and after a morning of ceremony work.
Delivering School Assets That Last Beyond the Day
The summer concert rounded the day off. Outdoor performance photography in afternoon sun is its own thing. You’re watching for expression and movement, looking for moments between the notes as much as during them, and making sure you’re not coming back with a set of images where everyone is squinting into the light.
What Worth ended up with was coverage of the full day. Formal portraits, the procession, prize-giving, group photographs, candid family moments, the exhibitions, the concert. Consistent enough to work together, varied enough to be genuinely useful across their website, news pages and commercial school marketing.
Their digital marketing manager put it simply: “Pictures are excellent and show Worth in a great light.”
That’s what a day like this is about. Not just being there, but coming back with something the school can actually use.
Getting the right shots on a busy school day just takes a bit of preparation. If you’re looking for an experienced school event photographer in Sussex to cover your next speech day, open day, or anniversary, get in touch today to check availability for the upcoming term.