The Sky Level room at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach set for SQA Services' 30th anniversary dinner — black-linen rounds, pale wood chairs and gold ring chandeliers with the sunset in the windows

Corporate Events & PartiesSQA Services · Shade Hotel Redondo Beach · 5 December 2025

Thirty Years, one night

SQA Services turned thirty and threw a client appreciation party on the Sky Level at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach. Four hundred and fifty-five frames across one evening; these are the forty-five that tell it in order — from the empty room to the last slice of cake.

Client: SQA Services, Inc.
Occasion: 30th anniversary client appreciation party
Date: Friday, 5 December 2025
Venue: Sky Level, Shade Hotel Redondo Beach
Coverage: One photographer, 7pm–11pm
Delivered: 455 images
Selected here: 45
Full case study: How we covered it

Before the doors

Sky Level, seven o'clock — the last quiet hour of the year for this company. Rooms only look like this once, after the planner is finished and before anybody has set a drink down.

Illuminated SQA marquee letters draped in garland beside a decorated Christmas tree at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach — 02 · 1A7A1875

Signature cocktail card on the bar listing the Sakura Bloom and the Dirty 30 at the SQA Services holiday party — 03 · 1A7A1926

Gold and white floral installation running along the Sky Level balcony rail at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach — 04 · 1A7A1933

05 · 1A7A1863

A banquet round set with black linen, red centrepiece and the lit SQA letters glowing behind it — 06 · 1A7A1910

Doors

Guests come up three floors and arrive all at once, in a glass corridor with nowhere to hide. Ninety seconds each, and most of them are the best pictures anyone will take of them all year.

A guest stepping off the elevator at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach, grinning and pointing both hands at the camera — 07 · 1A7A1971

Two SQA Services colleagues meeting in a hug just inside the Sky Level room, set tables and gold ring chandeliers behind them — 08 · 1A7A1972

A handshake turning into laughter between two guests as the arrival corridor fills at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach — 09 · 1A7A1954

Two guests in a burgundy suit and a cobalt suit standing together by the Sky Level windows — 10 · 1A7A1944

A group of SQA Services guests pulling faces in front of the lit SQA marquee letters, drinks in hand — 11 · 1A7A2040

Two colleagues leaning in together at the window, both laughing, at the SQA Services holiday party — 12 · 1A7A2280

III

Sleight of hand

SQA hired a close-up magician, which is a gift to a photographer: for four hours there is a reliable place in the room where somebody's face is about to do something worth keeping.

A close-up magician balancing a clear crystal ball on an open palm, Redondo Beach harbour lights behind him — 13 · 1A7A2013

A magician's hand holding a fistful of red sponge balls above a cocktail table — 14 · 1A7A2072

An SQA Services guest doubled over laughing mid-trick while the group around her reacts — 15 · 1A7A2027

A guest laughing and holding up her palm to camera with a small star inked on it after a magic trick — 16 · 1A7A2089

Four guests around a cocktail table watching a close-up magician work a trick — 17 · 1A7A2084

Two guests on the Sky Level terrace beside a lit fire pit at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach — 18 · 1A7A2005

A couple on the Sky Level terrace under a patio heater, drinks in hand, on a December evening — 19 · 1A7A2050

Dinner

The food gets shot the way the kitchen would want it shot — close, warm, and before the line forms. The people who cooked it get photographed too, which clients notice more than they expect to.

Two chefs grinning at the carving station, steam rising off the pans, at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach — 21 · 1A7A2106

Sliced salmon under coriander and red chilli on the buffet at the SQA Services holiday dinner — 22 · 1A7A2143

Trays of mini cheesecakes and chocolate cups on the dessert table at the anniversary party — 23 · 1A7A2249

The magician fanning a deck of cards over a dinner table beneath the gold ring chandeliers — 24 · 1A7A2198

Tableside magic during dinner — the magician working the crystal ball for a seated table — 25 · 1A7A2218

Five SQA Services colleagues lined up with cocktails, laughing at something off camera — 26 · 1A7A2148

Thirty years

The reason for the evening: SQA Services turning thirty. Remarks, a room that actually listens, and a sheet cake that says it out loud.

An SQA Services executive giving the 30th anniversary remarks into a handheld microphone, the standing room behind him — 27 · 1A7A2295

The speaker mid-sentence with a microphone, lit against the Sky Level window wall — 28 · 1A7A2289

Guests at the front tables listening to the anniversary remarks, drinks down — 29 · 1A7A2304

The full Sky Level room seated and turned toward the front as the 30th anniversary remarks begin — 30 · 1A7A2306

31 · 1A7A2329

Two SQA Services colleagues cutting the 30th anniversary cake together, both laughing — 32 · 1A7A2343

A guest throwing an arm overhead by the dessert table after the cake cutting, glass still in hand — 33 · 1A7A2361

The floor

Prizes, a photo booth, and then the part of the night nobody schedules. Slow enough a shutter to keep the room's colour, fast enough to keep the face.

A raffle winner holding up a tablet in its box and giving a thumbs up at the SQA Services party — 34 · 1A7A2673

A guest smiling as she holds up a mock boarding pass she has just won in the raffle — 35 · 1A7A2688

Photo booth in full swing in front of a silver sequin backdrop — crowns, wigs and holiday props — 36 · 1A7A2380

A guest dancing alone by the Christmas trees, elbows tucked, entirely committed — 37 · 1A7A2409

Four SQA Services colleagues clinking glasses across a table with a slice of the anniversary cake in front of them — 38 · 1A7A2483

A guest dancing with her head thrown back mid-laugh, drink still in hand, the floor busy behind her — 39 · 1A7A2721

Two guests in mid-stride on the dance floor under the gold ring chandeliers at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach — 40 · 1A7A2503

The Sky Level dance floor at capacity under a magenta and green wash — 41 · 1A7A2587

Two colleagues dancing, hair flying, one laughing with her head back — 42 · 1A7A2717

Arms overhead on a magenta-lit dance floor with the SQA marquee letters glowing behind — 43 · 1A7A2618

The whole floor dancing in a loose circle, arms up, near the end of the night — 44 · 1A7A2732

Photo booth strips beside a half-finished slice of the SQA 30th anniversary cake at the end of the night — 45 · 1A7A2487

Corporate event photography at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach.

SQA Services, a global quality assurance and supplier auditing firm, marked thirty years in business with a client appreciation party on the Sky Level — the third-floor event space at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach, overlooking King Harbor. Clubhouse Creative covered the evening with a single photographer from 7pm to 11pm, delivering 455 final images.

The forty-five frames above are the selected edit, sequenced in the order the night happened: the room before doors, arrivals, a close-up magician working the cocktail hour, dinner and the carving station, the anniversary remarks and cake, then the raffle and the dance floor. For the reasoning behind the coverage plan — why one photographer worked for a room this size, and what was delivered — read the full SQA Services case study. For similar work, see corporate events & parties.

Questions about this event and this kind of coverage.

Where was SQA Services' 30th anniversary party held?

On the Sky Level, the third-floor event space at Shade Hotel Redondo Beach, 655 N Harbor Drive, Redondo Beach, California. The party ran from 7pm to 11pm on Friday, 5 December 2025.

Who photographed the SQA Services 30th anniversary celebration?

Brian Khou of Clubhouse Creative, a Long Beach–based photography and video studio covering corporate events, country clubs and charity tournaments across Los Angeles, the South Bay and Orange County. He shot the evening solo.

How many photographs were delivered from the event?

455 final images were delivered to SQA Services. The 45 frames in this gallery are a selected edit, sequenced in the order the evening happened.

Do you photograph corporate holiday parties in Redondo Beach and the South Bay?

Yes. Clubhouse Creative covers corporate holiday parties, anniversary celebrations, award nights and client appreciation events throughout Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes, Long Beach and the wider Los Angeles area, including hotel and rooftop venues like Shade Hotel.

What does corporate event photography cost?

Event photography with Clubhouse Creative starts at $450, videography at $600, and a social half-day at $950. A four-hour evening party like this one is quoted on the run of show — the number of set pieces matters more than the clock.

How quickly are event photos delivered?

A graded set of selects comes first, so the client has something to post the next morning, with the full gallery following after. Same-night social cuts can be arranged in advance.