Assemble Your Photography A-Team: Tips for Hiring and Training Photographers
By
Jack C.
on
May 16, 2023
|
5
minute read
As the great philosopher Voltaire once said, "With great power comes great responsibility." Well, maybe it was actually Uncle Ben from Spider-Man, but the point still stands! As your photography business grows, you'll need to expand your team and delegate tasks. In this blog post, we'll share tips on hiring and training photographers to help you build your very own photography A-Team. And with the support of NowCandid, you'll be well on your way to a thriving photo business.
1. Define Your Ideal Photographer: Before you start hiring, take the time to define the qualities and skills you're looking for in a photographer. Consider the specific niches your business covers, your brand identity, and the type of work environment you aim to create.
2. Scout for Talent: Look for photographers through local photography clubs, online communities, social media, and job boards. Reach out to your network and ask for recommendations. When you can’t find photographers, find social, outgoing personalities, and train them to be photographers! Oftentimes, an outgoing person trained to be a photographer is an easier prospect than training a shy photographer to be outgoing.
3. Conduct Thorough Interviews: During the interview process, ask questions that allow candidates to showcase their skills, experience, and personality. Review their portfolios, ask for references, and consider conducting a trial shoot to see how they perform in action.
4. Offer Competitive Compensation: To attract top talent, offer competitive compensation packages that include fair wages, bonuses, and potential for growth within your company. If you compensate with base pay + a per image rate, be sure to paint the picture of what their pay would be if they were successful in taking a lot of pictures at an event!
5.Invest in Training and Development: Once you've hired your team of photographers, invest in their ongoing training and development. Encourage them to attend workshops, webinars, and conferences to stay updated with industry trends and techniques. Use some of NowCandid's training resources, as it can help streamline the training! And don’t forget to always keep them connected with your business's core values.
6. Establish Clear Expectations: Set clear expectations for your photographers regarding their roles, responsibilities, and performance metrics. Regularly review their progress and provide constructive feedback to help them grow and improve.
7. Foster a Positive Work Environment: Create a supportive, collaborative work environment where your photographers feel valued and motivated. Encourage open communication, provide opportunities for team-building activities, and celebrate your team's successes.
Hiring and training photographers for your business is a crucial step in scaling your operations and ensuring long-term success. By defining your ideal photographer, scouting for talent, and investing in their development, you can build a strong, capable team that will help your business soar to new heights. Embrace your role as a leader, and assemble your photography A-Team with confidence!
This is a big week! The headline feature is one many sports and volume photographers are going to love: An all-new Virtual Group Builder is now available directly on the Dashboard.
We’ve also added new Candy Image Studio tools, improved Client Outreach behavior, refreshed image assignment tools, and made retail support easier for shoppers and photographers alike.
Let’s jump in!
🧑🤝🧑 Big New Feature: Virtual Group Builder
You can now build Virtual Groups directly on the Dashboard — with Mobile Dashboard support too!
Find it from an Event page by clicking Virtual Groups in the sidebar menu.
With Virtual Group Builder, you can:
👥 Import participants from the full Event, one at a time, or everyone with a specific PhotoTag
✂️ Use participant cutouts to build polished group images
🏷️ Build groups quickly when your Event has consistent cutouts and participants tagged with PhotoTags
🖼️ Create Virtual Groups in 4×6, 5×7, 8×10, or 11×14 formats
🎨 Choose from NowCandid default backgrounds, upload custom backgrounds, and add overlays
🧢 Add account logos to the corners
🔤 Toggle subject names on or off
📐 Preview crop lines and aspect ratio lines
🖱️ Zoom, pan, drag, reorder, resize, brighten, and position subjects
You can also adjust group-level settings like background, overlay, overall scale, vertical position, bottom shadow falloff, and individual cutout fade to help hide cropped legs.
When your Event is set up cleanly with cutouts and PhotoTags, you can create a full Virtual Group in just a few clicks. ✨
Desktop Dashboard view of the new Virtual Group Builder
Mobile Dashboard view of the new Virtual Group Builder
🎓 Candy Image Studio: New Graduation Tools
Candy Image Studio got some very timely upgrades for graduation season:
🎓 New “Diploma Fix” node
Helps fix diploma orientation and glare. You’ll need to upload a reference diploma so Candy knows what the diploma should look like, including details like school name, emblem, fonts, and colors.
🎗️ New “Tassel Fix” node
Helps adjust graduation tassels that are covering a subject’s face — similar to Stray Hair Removal, but tailored specifically for grad tassels.
👓 Improved Reduce Glass Glare
This node is now more reliable and less likely to accidentally add glasses to subjects who aren’t wearing them.
📣 Client Outreach Improvements
Client Outreach got a few useful updates to help save money and keep lists cleaner:
🚫 Unsubscribed contacts excluded by default
Imported Client Outreach contacts now exclude unsubscribed contacts unless you choose to include them.
🔘 New “Include unsubscribed contacts” toggle
You can still include them if needed, but the default helps avoid spending on contacts who can’t receive your outreach.
👀 Show Hidden on Client Lists
The Client Outreach list page now has a Show Hidden option, similar to Offers and PhotoRoster organizations.
🧭 Client List sidebar shortcut
The Client Outreach sidebar item now takes you back to the Client List page more clearly.
🖼️ Image Management & Dashboard Upgrades
🧩 Image Release Gallery redesign
The Image Release Gallery now uses a masonry layout like retail, supports lightboxes with arrow key navigation, has CMD/CTRL+F search support, and saves filters in the URL.
🧑💻 Manual Assignment page refresh
The Participant Manual Assignment page has a cleaner, more intuitive UI.
⭐ Camera star ratings on Image Details
If your camera includes star ratings, they now appear on the Image Details page.
⬇️ Image Details convenience buttons
Image Details now includes quick actions to download or open in Candy Image Studio.
🏷️ PhotoTag ampersand fix
PhotoTag names with ampersands now save correctly.
🧍 Merged participant name fix
Manual Assignment now shows the selected participant’s name instead of the first merged participant’s name.
🔙 Event sidebar remembers filters
When going back to the Event List from an Event Overview page, your filters are remembered as long as you haven’t refreshed.
🔁 Pricing tier reset button
Participant marketing history now includes a button to reset a participant’s pricing tier start date, useful if support wants to re-offer first-week pricing.
🪪 Positive ID QR Code downloader options
You can now download blank cards only, registered participants only, or everyone, making scan card PDFs easier to manage for multi-workflow sports events.
🛠️ New Tool: Image Converter
There’s a new tool under Tools & More → Image Converter.
Use it to:
🔄 Convert images to WEBP, PNG, or JPEG
🎨 Convert images to sRGB
Handy for preparing files before uploading them to NowCandid Events.
📚 New Capture App Camera Docs
We added a dedicated docs page for confirmed camera models that work with the Capture App.
More cameras may work than what’s listed, but this page focuses on models we’ve confirmed.
The Contact Us popup now includes a form that sends support an email with helpful details automatically included, such as browser info, window size, retail link, Event details, and order number when available. This should make support faster and reduce back-and-forth.
🖼️ Overlay step now comes before cropping
This prepares retail for future improvements while keeping product customization clearer.
🗓️ Smarter Year captions
Certain products now default the Year caption to the Event start year or participant Day 0 year instead of the current year. Helpful for late-December events or older graduation galleries.
🌍 International order fix
Fixed an edge case where some international orders could send multiple receipts and incorrectly show that the order wasn’t submitted.
🤳 Selfie Check-In & Capture App Updates
📶 Clearer Selfie Check-In upload errors
If a selfie upload fails, subjects now see a more specific error reason — like upload speed being too slow — so they know what to try next.
📱 Capture App 5.6.3 OTA update
Contact Info Settings now says Tap-A-Face or Type & Take based on the Event program
The 1000×1000 reference image requirement has been removed for Selfie Check-In Station and Roster Check-In, especially helpful for Android devices with lower-resolution cameras
That’s the week!
Virtual Group Builder is the big one, especially for sports and volume workflows — but between Client Outreach, Candy Image Studio, Image Converter, and retail support improvements, there’s a lot here to make your next Event easier to manage.
Candy here with another round of NowCandid updates! This week brings a more flexible Dashboard sidebar, easier QR code sharing, a new price level reference page, and a preview of cleaner-looking RCS messaging.
🖥️ Dashboard Improvements
📌 Collapsible Sidebar on desktop
You can now collapse the Dashboard Sidebar to give yourself more room. Click the edge of the Sidebar to toggle it, or use CTRL/CMD+B or CTRL/CMD+S.
🎓 “Class of 2026” background pack added
Available now in the Offer Creator.
🖼️ Participant Details fix
Invisible BGR images now appear where expected.
📅 Event Calendar fix
Hidden Events no longer appear on the Event Calendar.
⚡ Better performance for large Events
Event Participants and Manage Images pages now behave better with several thousand participants or images, including faster initial loading, longer timeouts, and clearer loading feedback.
📊 Default Price Levels Overview is now built into the Dashboard
The old overview Google sheet is now a proper Dashboard page that automatically updates when Default Price Levels change.
It also has a nicer UI, provides a downloadable spreadsheet, and
The NowCandid QR Code Generator can now create a printable PDF sheet with customizable text.
Great for:
🎓 Placing QR cards on graduation chairs for Selfie Check-In
🏈 Handing out QR cards at sports events linking to an All Images Gallery
📸 Creating polished cards for check-in links, retail links, or any URL you want to share
💬 RCS Messaging Preview
We’re testing RCS messaging for some texts.
📱 Texts can appear as coming from “QuicPics” instead of a phone number
📷 Uses a generic camera-style logo to keep things white-labeled
✅ Helps messages look cleaner and easier to find
🛡️ May help reduce spam filtering in some cases
Currently, RCS is available for:
Dashboard 2FA texts
Find Me Portal texts
We’ll likely explore rolling this out to marketing texts after grad season.
🛍️ Retail Updates
💸 Slash-through pricing improved
Slash-through amounts now use week 3 pricing when applicable, or à la carte pricing if that is higher.
So now, we've ensured your customer is always seeing the maximum amount of Discount being provided! Automatically.
📦 Personal Gallery Download slash-through price
Even though Personal Gallery Download is technically a package, it can now show a slash-through price based on the individual download product in your Event, when available.
🖼️ Better package performance with BGR images
Selecting and editing BGR images inside packages should feel faster.
🧼 Cleaner BGR timing on retail
Images going through background removal will no longer appear on the retail site before the BGR process is finished.
This helps keep galleries clearer for shoppers! Especially during grad season, when high BGR volume can occasionally slow processing down.
🧩 Favorites Gallery download fix
Fixed an edge case where the Personal Image Gallery Download product could appear for Favorites Galleries even when Dynamic Personal Gallery Download was not enabled.
🛠️ Small Fixes & Cleanup
📅 Hidden Events no longer appear on the Event Calendar.
🖼️ Invisible BGR images now display correctly on Participant Details.
⚡ Large Events with thousands of participants or images should feel more stable and responsive.
That’s the update for this week!
From a cleaner Dashboard layout to printable QR cards and better retail pricing displays, these changes are all about making NowCandid easier to use in real-world event workflows.
Not every event works the same way—so your platform shouldn’t force every job into the same box.
One of the biggest reasons photographers switch to NowCandid™ is workflow flexibility. We give you multiple ways to connect photos to people, so you can choose the approach that makes the most sense for the event, the audience, and the level of privacy sensitivity involved.
That flexibility isn’t just “nice to have.” It’s the difference between a smooth event and a stressful one—between galleries that convert and galleries that never get seen.
The core problem with one-size-fits-all platforms
Many platforms are built around a single assumption: “Every event should be identified and delivered the same way.”
But photographers know better.
• A youth sports tournament behaves nothing like a graduation.
• A corporate headshot day has different privacy needs than a fundraiser gala.
• A high-volume school day requires a totally different on-site flow than a casual community event.
NowCandid™ is built around the belief: the workflow should adapt to the job—not the other way around.
The NowCandid™ workflow toolbox
Here are the primary ways photographers connect images to the right people in NowCandid™:
• Scanner ID
• Name Lookup
• Type & Take
• Tap-A-Face
• Selfie Check-In™
• Roster Check-In
• PhotoRosters
Each one has a “best fit,” and knowing how to choose is where photographers gain speed, confidence, and profit.
Best for: high-volume, highly controlled check-in environments (schools, leagues, credentialed events) Why photographers use it: fast, structured, low-error identification at scale. Great when: you have a roster/card system and you want the cleanest, most consistent subject-to-photo connection.
Best for: rosters and organized groups where names are known(schools, teams, structured lists) Why it works: quick selection from a list is often faster than typing or post-event matching. Great when: you can get the list ahead of time and want to keep on-site flow moving.
Best for: smaller events or flexible environments where you can type quickly and keep moving Why it works: zero dependency on rosters/cards—simple and direct. Great when: speed matters and you have a staff member who can handle quick data entry.
Best for: fast on-site identification when the “right” person wasn’t captured by check-in/roster Why it works: it’s the practical fix for real events. If someone slipped through, you can still connect them. Great when: you need a quick, human-in-the-loop tool to create a participant and kick off matching/marketing.
Best for: events where guests can self-identify (graduations, dances, large public events, photo ops) Why it works: it collects contact info and gives you a reference image—without requiring staff to identify everyone manually. Great when: you want broad participation and easy post-event delivery without a heavy on-site registration process.
And More!
PhotoRosters and Roster Check-In get a bit more involved... and we recommend getting more familiar with the NowCandid platform before utilizing these! But in short:
PhotoRostersallow you to upload headshots and previously collection contact info and consent to easily reuse them as reference images for future Face Matching Events.
Roster Check-In allows you to upload a league- or school-provided roster and then also take a quick pic of each kid, pairing a reference image to their info in the roster to serve as their reference image.
Why flexibility leads to higher sales
When photographers can choose the right identification workflow, three things improve immediately:
1) You deliver galleries faster
Fast delivery matters because excitement decays quickly. The sooner people can find themselves, the more likely they are to buy—especially for emotional, time-sensitive events.
2) You reduce friction for customers
If the workflow is right, customers don’t have to dig, guess, or give up. They get a clear path to their photos.
3) You reduce labor and cleanup
The “wrong workflow” usually means hours of fixing issues later: missing IDs, unlinked galleries, manual sorting, angry parents, and support tickets. The “right workflow” avoids that.
Privacy sensitivity: the hidden factor most platforms ignore
Some events require extra care—especially schools, youth organizations, or sponsor-driven programs. NowCandid’s workflow options allow you to choose identification approaches that align with the privacy and communication expectations of the event.
In plain terms: you can run a more open workflow when it’s appropriate, and a more controlled workflow when it’s not.
The takeaway: choose what makes sense, every time
Whether a shoot demands the versatility of Face Matching-style workflows, the directness of Positive ID-style workflows, or another approach entirely, you need the flexibility to choose what makes sense.
Most importantly, you need to deliver galleries fast enough to turn that initial excitement into actual orders—and NowCandid is built to help you do exactly that.
Want help choosing the right workflow?
If you tell us what you shoot—schools, sports, graduations, events—we’ll recommend the best workflow setup and explain why it fits.
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