InterContinental San Diego Event Photographer
Corporate event photography at the InterContinental San Diego, on the bayfront north of the cruise terminal near the Gaslamp and the convention center. Pacific Ballroom general sessions, board dinners, receptions and staffed headshot stations, with same-day selects for social and a full color-graded gallery in 24 to 48 hours. No travel fee.
Real coverage from San Diego events. See the full corporate events gallery.
A program that runs from registration to the last toast
The InterContinental books the kind of day that starts with badge pickup in the lobby and ends with a board dinner overlooking the marina. I shoot the whole arc: the general session and breakout coverage in the Pacific Ballroom, sponsor tables and exhibitor moments in the pre-function space, a headshot station near registration for attendees who want a finished portrait before lunch, then the reception once the sun drops over the bay. Same-day selects go out when your social team needs something before the room clears, and the full color-graded gallery lands in 24 to 48 hours, licensed for your website, social, press and sales decks.
Fully Edited Photos in Real Time
Most photographers deliver in weeks to months. Live Delivery keeps your social team posting during the program. Photos stream from camera to editor in near real time, get fully edited, then land in a shared gallery on a typical 45-60-minute delay.
You still get the full product: finished, full-resolution photography, a live editor on the stream, wireless transfer as I shoot, and a gallery built for teams posting while sessions, awards, and networking are still on the clock. This speed of delivery is unique to Encore. No other photographer in the San Diego market offers this level of service.
Add Live Delivery to your event~60-minute streams
Typical gallery delay from shutter to shared feed, not days
Near real-time to editor
Frames transmit wirelessly from camera as I shoot
Fully edited
Finished, full-resolution photos, not unedited phone grabs
Feeds the moment
Built for social teams posting during the event
22 Years of Event Photography Experience
I'm Chris Terry, and for 22 years I've photographed conferences, galas, and corporate events for brands of every size. I know what you actually need out of the day: the speaker at the moment the room leans in, the handshake that means something, the unguarded laugh between sessions that a posed shot never catches.
I'm based in San Diego, ten minutes from the InterContinental and the rest of the Embarcadero.On site I keep a light footprint: no rearranging your run-of-show around my camera, no flash in anyone's face mid-conversation. From 40-person board dinners to keynotes with thousands in the seats, the approach holds. 1,157 events later, 98% of my clients book me again.
100%
of our local clients over the past 6 years have booked us for another event
97%
of our out-of-town clients who first hired us in San Diego have hired us to travel to their events across the country
1,157
events covered, from 40-person board dinners to keynotes with 20,000 in the seats
22 years
shooting events. We have seen some things, and most of it has not fazed us for a second
We are professional, clean and recently showered
We also dress like we were invited rather than subpoenaed. Three of those should go without saying. You have hired photographers before, so we say them out loud.
We are easy to work with
Last minute changes and timeline shifts are normal at a conference this size. A general session runs long, a breakout swaps rooms, someone decides over lunch that the leadership group photo should happen today. None of that is a problem. We roll with it.
Our pricing is fair and straightforward
No gimmicks, no random fees, no line item that shows up after the fact. The number in the quote is the number on the invoice unless you ask us to add something, and if you do, you see that price before we shoot it.
That second number is not theoretical. In August alone we are flying out to cover events in Oakland, California, Columbus, Ohio, and Tampa, Florida.
Local to the Embarcadero
The hotel sits at 901 Bayfront Court on Lane Field, at the north end of the Embarcadero by the cruise terminal, with about 95,000 square feet of meeting and event space anchored by the roughly 12,000-square-foot Pacific Ballroom. What makes it work for a planner is the walk. It is a short stroll from the San Diego Convention Center and the Gaslamp beyond it, so an exhibit-floor day and a hotel-ballroom evening share one photographer and one shot list instead of two. Every other downtown option, including the Hilton Bayfront, sits on the San Diego conference venues page for comparison.
Pricing
Most event photographers make you email them to learn what they cost. Here are the actual numbers, so you can budget without a discovery call.
Half Day
Up to 4 hours
$1,195
- Single photographer
- 200+ edited images (typically)
- Online gallery
- 48h delivery
- Commercial license
Full Day
8 hours
$1,980
- Single photographer
- 350+ edited images (typically)
- Same-day social edits
- Online gallery
- 48h delivery
- Commercial license
Two Day
8 hours each day
$3,960
- Single photographer
- 600+ edited images (typically)
- Daily social edits
- Online gallery
- 48h delivery
- Commercial license
Add ons
Live Delivery
Per event day
$650
Live Delivery allows your social team to post professionally edited photos in near real time. A photo feed is uploaded directly from our cameras to the editor. He color-corrects and does some final retouching, then uploads the images to a live gallery your team has access to. This takes your event social media to the next level.
Add it to your dateHeadshot Station
Half day / full day
$2,450 / $3,950
We bring the photography studio to your event. Beautiful headshots for your guests delivered instantly via email. Branded web delivery and email integration is available. This is the most popular event add-on we have ever seen.
See the headshot station
Let's talk.
Tell me about your event and I'll get back to you within one business day with availability and a tailored quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have you worked events at the InterContinental San Diego?
Yes, I have shot programs at the property. Bayfront corporate work, Pacific Ballroom sessions and headshot stations along the Embarcadero are a regular part of my downtown calendar.
What are your rates for a program at the InterContinental?
Published rates: $1,195 for a half day of up to 4 hours, $1,980 for a full day of up to 8, commercial license included. A staffed headshot station is $2,450 half day or $3,950 full day at 20 to 30 finished portraits an hour. A program that runs across the hotel and the convention center on the same day is quoted as one job, not two. Full detail is on the pricing page.
Do you charge extra to travel to the bayfront?
No. I am ten minutes from the Embarcadero. No travel line on the invoice, no hotel night, and no scramble if the load-in call moves earlier. A second shooter for the evening reception is a phone call, not a flight.
How big is the InterContinental's meeting space?
About 95,000 square feet of meeting and event space, with the Pacific Ballroom at roughly 12,000 square feet handling general sessions and dinners. Several of the smaller rooms run floor-to-ceiling glass on the water side.
Can one photographer cover a convention center day and an InterContinental evening?
That is a common pattern here, not a special request. The hotel is a short walk from the San Diego Convention Center along the Embarcadero, so the exhibit floor and the evening board dinner both land in one gallery with one editing pass instead of two separate hand-offs.
Do you offer Live Delivery or a headshot station for this venue?
Yes. Live Delivery moves finished frames into a shared gallery on about a 60-minute delay. The headshot station is a self-contained setup, backdrop and lighting and an operator, delivering branded files. The glass-walled foyers here photograph well but change light hour by hour, which is exactly why the station carries its own.
What insurance does the hotel require from a photographer?
Bayfront hotels typically ask outside vendors for a certificate of insurance naming the property, and some programs route photographers through the show's general contractor instead. I carry $2M liability and send the COI ahead of load-in week, so it is one forwarded email on your end.