At an esports event, a brand has a problem it does not have at a conference. Its logo hangs in the hall next to dozens of others, and visitors are looking at the screens, the players and each other. In esports event photography, the usable shots show the brand in what people are doing, not on an empty booth.
From 7 to 9 February 2025 I photographed IEM Katowice 2025 for Predator, Acer’s gaming brand. Three days in the Expo hall and in the Spodek arena, with a focus on the brand zone, hardware in gamers’ hands and the atmosphere of the event the brand is part of. The client received 1239 photos.
Brand zone: hardware in hands, not on a shelf
A laptop on a booth is not a photo yet. It becomes one when the screen shows a game and the player’s hands are on the keyboard. That is why in the Predator zone I shot mostly from station level: a controller in hand, a mouse, a screen with gameplay.
The strongest frames come from people visitors recognise. Champions ran a training session on racing simulators at the booth, and jerseys with the brand’s logo are visible during autographs and conversations with fans.
The Spodek: the brand in the event’s stage design
In the arena the brand has no booth, but it is in the stage design, on the screens and in the fans’ hands. Wide shots show the scale, tight ones catch the reactions in the stands. The trophy on its pedestal and the pyrotechnics as the teams walk out come back in the brand’s content all year, not just on the event weekend.
Expo hall: PCs, simulators and cosplay
I started the second day with details: a Predator Orion PC with processor boxes, a simulator steering wheel, models and modded cases at neighbouring exhibitors. This is material the brand’s marketing team uses in product posts, because it shows the hardware in the context of the event, not on a white background.
Cosplayers and hosts on the exhibitors’ stages complete the picture of the hall. Their role is public, so they can be in the foreground. Regular visitors I show from a distance or at flattering moments, with no readable badges.
Matches and fans
Fans with banners, thundersticks with the organiser’s logo, hands in the air after a play. Shots like these look great in a recap, but in brand photography they have one more job: they show the audience the brand was present in front of.
Sunday: the queue outside the Spodek and the final
The last day starts with the queue outside the Spodek and with the hall at its busiest before the final. In the zone of Intel, Predator’s partner, visitors held a plank for time, and in the Predator zone they kept coming back to the gaming stations.
In the evening, the final: the teams walking out, fire, phone lights in the stands, interviews from the audience and confetti over the winners. A few strong frames are enough to close the coverage, but with a stage this big it is worth having a choice.
How brand photography differs from trade show coverage
Trade show coverage shows the event. Brand photography shows the event through the brand’s presence: where the logo stands, who holds its hardware, when the brand is naturally in the frame. A year earlier, at the same event, I did classic trade show coverage for an exhibitor. You can compare the two in the post from IEM Katowice 2024.
Is your brand exhibiting at an event or partnering with it? See my trade show photography services or send me the date, venue and approximate hours.
