The Invisible Wounds Foundation was founded with a mission: “to accelerate how we diagnose and treat military brain injury among our service members and veterans, with a particular focus on Special Operations Forces.”
I was hired to document their annual state of the organization formal event – An Evening of Honor. This event brought together brain injury researchers, clinicians, policymakers, government agencies, and funders at a stunning Chicago area event venue – The Morton Arboretum.
Invisible Wounds Communication Director Dr. Caitlin Scarano shared several points of emphasis with me. The organization wanted engaging candid imagery to showcase the brain health community coming together. They wanted the lovely natural settings to shine.
On the day of the event Dr. Scarano pointed out key presenters to feature and provided me with the full timeline. I took my 19 years of event documentary experience and went from there.
“We just rebuilt our website. I thought you might want to see how amazing your photography looks…”
Dr. Caitlin Scarano, Director of Strategic Communications, Invisible Wounds Foundation
I was excited for the location – The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL. I’m a member there and photograph numerous events there annually. My familiarity with the space allows me to work decisively, capturing every angle and featuring all Morton’s unique qualities.
Taking Dr Scarano’s art direction, I intentionally found vignettes in the crowd which let me showcase both guests having fun and the unique nature of the venue. I made wide establishing images to showcase the entire space filled with animated characters. I came in for closer feature shots of individuals engaged in animated conversation or reuniting with hugs and smiles.
Later I captured numerous angles of the presenters as well as the guests taking in the information shared. A huge shout out goes to Fusion Productions who conducted the A/V set up including stage lighting so I didn’t have to set up much additional lighting.
Between presentations there were requests from organizers for various informal portraits of groups. I call these “grab and grins.”
Through a healthy blend of wide angle establishing shots, emotional close up shots, and celebratory group portraits – I was able to roundly and fully capture the feeling of the event. Check out this gallery of some of the photographs that IWF shared on their site.
Get in touch with Wes Craft Creative to richly capture your organization’s annual event at Morton Arboretum or anywhere else in the Chicago area.
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