A day in the life of an Event Pro | Shane O’Neill

What does a typical day in the life of one of our industry’s top event photographers look like? This week we are delighted to get an insider glimpse at how Shane O’Neill, Creative Director / Principal Photographer at Oneill Photographics goes about his day. If his morning commute is anything to go by (it includes a golf buggy, a boat and a car), it’s anything but standard… So strap yourself in and join us as we experience a day in the life of Shane Oneill…

6.00am | Best part of the day

Being a morning person, I love to get up at sunrise to catch the morning light.  Living on Scotland Island, a typical morning for me involves reading the daily news and linkedIn updates, followed by making sure the kids are up and that I’ve actually remembered to have their breakfast and lunches made before they run down to catch the school ferry/ bus.

By 7.30am I am normally bouncing down the hill on our golf buggy to Tennis Wharf, untying our boat to zip around the island to the mainland.  The trip from home to my car can take anywhere from 20 mins to an hour depending on how many people I bump into along the way.  One needs to leave with plenty of time to spare, ‘tis a very social, wee community that I live in! 😉

8.30am | Head to Studio for Team meeting

I head into our studio, the central hub for Oneill Photographics, Australia wide, to meet with our studio team. We go through the photography and video production projects we have on for the day ahead.  We also need to double-check logistics for the location shoot I have on in the city today and ensure my assistant has all camera kit packed and ready to go.

9.30am | Coffee and Brunch

Grabbing an Almond Latte and breakfast from my fave spot, ‘3 Doors Down Café’ (seriously the best coffee and breakfast menu in town!), also gives me some time to stop and mentally prepare for my shoot day ahead.

11.30 | Meet Client and Crew on location

I always like to arrive early onsite as it gives me time to do another run through on everything with the client, and also in this instance with the stylist to check all clothing and how the models look before we head down to the first location by the pool.

Today I am shooting a marketing campaign for a global lens wear brand. Starting at the Skye Suites as our first location and as our base camp for models, hair and makeup, and stylist before we head to the Streets of Barangaroo to shoot some of the rest of the looks.

All hands on deck as we head down from the room into lifts and to poolside, lighting and camera ready to go!

12.30pm | Shoot time

All crew set up poolside to photograph 4 looks, with the model in position, playing with a few variations on lighting setup before chatting to my client to confirm the look and lighting.  We also have our own video crew on hand today to capture behind the scenes footage.

2.30pm | Streets of Barangaroo

After a re-group with the crew and time to grab some scooby snacks and more coffee, I am set for the next location.  Timing is critical today as we have planned this shoot around the light and the architecture lines at the set locations in Barangaroo. Thankfully we have the perfect Sydney day!

5.30pm It’s a wrap

It’s a wrap, a great collection of images were captured and as the crew pack up, I head off to the nearest bottle shop to grab some Guinness and a good bottle of French champagne for all the crew!

7.00pm Back to the island

Taking the boat back around the island, the smell of the ocean and wind in the hair – there is no better way to end the day. Back to make dinner with Natalie, that is, if she is home, with our busy schedules one of us is normally away somewhere.  To get together over a glass of red wine and dinner with the kids is always a treat, lots of banter as we all catch up on the day that it was.

9.30pm | Winding down the day

I love trying to find a good movie or UK drama series to watch, and once I do am normally contently snoring away on the lounge by 10.00pm!