Frankfurt frenzy: Melon Photo & Video goes international
When most people hear "business trip to Frankfurt," they imagine relaxing at the spa in the hotel, fine German cuisine, and leisurely strolls along the Main River between photoshoots. Let me shatter that illusion for you right now.
Our recent trip to Frankfurt for a corporate event shoot was about as glamorous as trying to fit an overstuffed bag full of ‘delicate’ lenses and cameras into economy overhead storage. (Spoiler: it’s heavy and you need to elbow everybody else out of the way so you get a space, as it isn’t going in the hold, no matter what…)
The journey began at a surprisingly reasonable time with an Uber ride to Heathrow. Nothing says "professional photographer" quite like hauling a very heavy bag through the security line and - of course - having it selected for a manual check. Still, we caught an hour of poor sleep on the flight.
Upon landing, we hit the mother of all rush hours (“An hour? It took us 15 minutes to get from the airport…”). But we had a chance to unpack and prepare, so all is well.
The hotel was a fine business hotel. As ever, we got a bedroom on the lowest possible floor; but that being the 28th floor, we did get a view for a change. And we did find five minutes to pop outside to snap precisely one photo of it on our phone before working out our exposure settings for the venue's pinky purple-tinted lighting. That single phone snap will have to serve as evidence that we were, in fact, in Frankfurt and not just in a windowless conference room that could have been anywhere on Earth.
Our entire "Frankfurt experience" consisted of:
The airport
The inside of a taxi
A conference room, then another conference room, and back to the first (rinse and repeat)
A hotel room where we (i) did a quick edit for a next-day slide show and (ii) collapsed after hours of shooting
The same conference room (day 2)
The airport again
So why did our London-based team get the call instead of a local photographer? Because we deliver: we understand the brief. We plan. We create and capture the shots that are needed. We’re positive, can-do people. And the extra travel costs are worth it for the consistency and quality.
That's the thing about international corporate photography — it's never about seeing the sights. It's about delivering the same exceptional results we provide in London, just with the added challenge of different power outlets and trying to find a decent coffee at silly o’clock in the morning.
Would we do it again? Yes. In a couple of weeks. But this time we won’t be seeing any of Berlin, for the same client. Because they know the value we provide…