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How One Louisiana Team Keeps Setting the Bar for Military Ball Photography Success

How One Louisiana Team Keeps Setting the Bar for Military Ball Photography Success
When it comes to military ball events, our incredible NowCandid users out of Louisiana have done it again!

Building on their previous years of success, they’ve once again showcased how profitable and rewarding these events can be with the right tools, strategy, and dedication.

Consistency & Growth in 2024

Despite a slight decrease in event participants/attendance in 2024 compared to the previous year, this Louisiana team managed to match their impressive ~$26,000 sales total from 2023—and they didn’t stop there. They also improved their sales per image and sales per participant averages, proving that even with fewer attendees, their ability to deliver value remains unparalleled.

This is the kind of consistency and adaptability that defines true professionals. Even more remarkable is their journey to this point.

The Journey: From 2022 to 2024

It’s worth revisiting their story. Back in 2022, this team had just started using NowCandid—trained on the system the week of their first military ball event. Despite being completely new to the platform and working under tight deadlines, they pulled in an impressive $16,000 in sales. While those numbers didn’t quite hit the heights of their 2023 and 2024 totals, it was a strong foundation for what was to come.

For their 2023 and 2024 events, they doubled down on preparation and team strategy, hiring additional staff to support their photographers and improve operational efficiency.

One of the key moves was more actively promoting selfie check-ins, which not only enhanced the customer experience but also increased the number of photos taken—a direct driver of sales. These refinements pushed them to over $26,000 in sales in 2023 and another stellar year in 2024.

Looking Ahead to 2025

With the new Web Dashboard at their fingertips, the Louisiana team is already preparing to take their 2025 military ball to new heights. The Web Dashboard will unlock features that are sure to impress attendees and drive even greater sales:

  • More Art Overlay Options: Customize event images with exciting designs that attendees will love.
  • All-New Retail Site: A sleek, user-friendly interface for clients to browse and purchase their images.
  • Upsell Opportunities: Introduce premium options like retouching and diamond gloss print coating to enhance the final product and boost sales.

Armed with these enhancements, they’re aiming for even bigger successes in 2025—and we can’t wait to see what they accomplish.

Military Balls: A Goldmine for Photographers

This Louisiana team’s story is a shining example of how profitable military ball events can be. With strategic planning, the right tools, and a little effort, these events can bring in tens of thousands of dollars in revenue.

If there are military bases in or near your area, we strongly encourage you to seek out these opportunities. Partnering with military organizations for formal events is not only rewarding financially but also a chance to build lasting relationships with a highly engaged audience.

Tips for Success

  • Invest in Support Staff: Extra hands help keep the process smooth, from organizing attendees to encouraging selfie check-ins.
  • Leverage NowCandid Tools: Our workflows, like Selfie Check-In and advanced offers, make events efficient and client-focused.
  • Upsell Smartly: Use premium options like overlays, retouching, and print upgrades to maximize your per-participant revenue.
  • Engage Participants Early: Drive excitement and ensure attendees know how to access their photos before and after the event.

Ready to Capture More Success?

Military ball events are a prime opportunity to elevate your business, and NowCandid is here to support you every step of the way. If this story inspires you to explore similar opportunities, don’t hesitate to reach out or dive into your local market to find events like these.

Here’s to making 2025 your most successful year yet! 🎉

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Weekly Recap: More PhotoTag Power + Capture App Upgrades 🏷️📱
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Weekly Recap: More PhotoTag Power + Capture App Upgrades 🏷️📱

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Hey there, photo friends!

We’ve got more PhotoTag goodness this week, along with some handy Capture App improvements and small workflow wins. Here’s what’s new:

🏷️More Ways to Use PhotoTags in the Dashboard

  • • Assign PhotoTags to Participants right from the Participant Details page
  • • See PhotoTag images on the Participant Details page for quick reference
  • • Filter Participants by PhotoTag from the Participant List page
  • • PhotoTags now appear on Scan Cards—assigned tags will print right under the participant’s name
  • • Participant galleries on retail now include group photos from their assigned PhotoTags

📋Smoother Roster & Participant Management

  • • Contacts created via scan cards, rosters, Tap-A-Face, or generic check-in are now fully editable like normal participants—no more “blank” contacts
  • • Roster uploads no longer require you to manually remove parentheses in your files (one less cleanup step!)

📱Capture App 4.20.2 Highlights

  • • Use cellular while connected to CamFi or Canon Wi-Fi (great for maintaining uploads while tethered)
  • • Force cellular use via the Resources page if needed
  • • App badge now shows the number of unuploaded images
  • • Sort and filter by PhotoTag in Name Lookup to speed up team or group sessions
  • • New UI improvements, including:
    • • Fullscreen card scan popup on iPhone
    • • New “Choose Participant” popup design
    • • Native iOS-style dropdowns and toggle switches for a cleaner, faster feel

🖼️Small Retail Site Improvements

  • • When cropping an image with a background selected, the cropper now shows the background so you can see exactly how it will look
  • • Jersey Jotter filter combos are now inclusive—meaning “Black + 0” will only show black jerseys with the number 0, not all black jerseys or all 0 jerseys

That’s it for this week!

Lots of small changes adding up to smoother workflows and better gallery organization. 🏆

Keep being amazing,

Candy 🍬

Photographing Homecoming Weekend with NowCandid: A Photographer's Playbook
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Photographing Homecoming Weekend with NowCandid: A Photographer's Playbook

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 minutes read
High school homecoming weekend is packed with photo-worthy moments

From the parade and pep rally to the big game, homecoming court, and the dance. For photographers, it’s a whirlwind. But with NowCandid™, even a small team can cover it all efficiently and profitably.

Below is a quick look at each event, the opportunities it presents, and the NowCandid tools that help you make the most of them.

🎉 Homecoming Parade – Kicking Off the Celebration

  • • Selfie Check-In™: Let parade participants register with a quick selfie before kickoff. Face Matching will tag them automatically later.
  • • Roam & Shoot: Focus on faces & emotional moments, not journalistic shots. The system will do the rest!
  • • PartyPics™: Upload images in real-time for attendees, parents and students to view instantly.

    💡 Every identified face is a potential sale. Automation ensures you don’t miss anyone.

📣 Pep Rally – Spirit & Smiles

  • • Selfie Check-In™: Continue building your attendee database for the weekend.
  • • LiveLoop™: Display photos on the big screen in real-time to build excitement.

    💡 More personalized photos = more likely purchases.

🏈 Football Game – Under the Lights

  • • Face Matching™: Match images to fans, players, and band members automatically.
  • • JerseyJotter™: You can even let fans filter photos by jersey number for easy finds.
  • • Live-Upload: Deliver shots before halftime!
  • • LiveLoop™: Show photos on the big screen during breaks for instant crowd buzz.

    💡 Thousands of game photos become searchable and personal, boosting sales.

👑 Homecoming Court – Crowning Moments

  • • Prepare: Add nominees to Face Matching™ ahead of time with Selfie Check-In™!
  • • Background Removal: Instantly turn sideline shots into elegant portraits.
  • • Live-Upload: Provide those crowning shots well before the night’s over.

    💡Court images have built-in demand, your social pics will encourage bigger package sales!

💃 The Dance – A Night to Remember

  • • Selfie Check-In™ at the Door: The best time to get Check-Ins!

    • Even if someone checks-in again, that's no problem! Get everyone to do it as they funnel into the dance.
  • • Digital Backgrounds: Offer multiple themed or elegant options for portraits, our real-time background removal makes it easy.
  • • Photo Booth + LiveLoop™: Between NowCandid's Photo Booth Mode & LiveLoop™, you have multiple upsell options that create more photos and more positive energy!

    💡 Multiple background choices can lead to one image being purchased multiple times!

🚀 Why It Works

NowCandid™ turns homecoming into a personalized, real-time, high-volume photography experience—without extra staff.

  • • Efficiency: Automation handles matching, sorting, and delivery.
  • • Delight: Participants see their photos fast and without searching.
  • • Profitability: More sellable images, quicker turnaround, and premium offerings = better margins.

A typical homecoming weekend is jam-packed with memories in the making.

For a photographer, it used to mean juggling notebooks of names, printing hundreds of proofs, or spending days in post-event labor. Now, with tools from NowCandid™, a single photographer (even operating solo) can confidently cover the parade, pep rally, game, court, and dance – and do it in a way that’s both fun for students and profitable for the business.

By using features such as Selfie Check-In™ and Face Matching™ to ensure everyone’s identified, QuicPics™ and LiveLoop™ to deliver excitement in real time, and Photo Booth and AI-powered backgrounds to offer creative products, you transform the event photography workflow from chaotic and labor-intensive to smooth, high-tech, and engaging.

In short, NowCandid’s software and workflows allow you to capture the full spirit of homecoming

Every candid laugh, every triumphant cheer, every dance floor twirl – and get those images into the hands of the people who will cherish them, almost as fast as the memories are made.

This means happier clients, more sales, and a homecoming weekend where the photographer can enjoy the process as much as everyone else enjoys the photos.

Here’s to using technology to work smarter, wow your customers, and make homecoming (and many more events to come) a win-win for everyone involved!
Weekly Recap: Tap-A-Face from the Dashboard & Smarter Roster Contacts 👤✨
Feature Updates
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Weekly Recap: Tap-A-Face from the Dashboard & Smarter Roster Contacts 👤✨

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Hey there, photo friends!

This week’s updates are small but mighty—because behind the scenes we’re cooking up some bigger projects that we can’t wait to share with you soon.

For now, here’s what’s fresh in your NowCandid™ Dashboard:

👆 Tap-A-Face… from the Web Dashboard!

You’ve always loved Tap-A-Face in the field—now you can do it right from your Dashboard.

From any image’s Image Details Page, head to the Participants tab and click the new Add via Tap-A-Face button. From there:

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This will instantly create a new Participant in your Event, kick off Face Matching™, and start marketing their gallery right away. 📸💌

Manage Images -> Details, Logs, and More-> Participants -> Add via Tap-A-Face

📇 Roster Contacts, Upgraded

Contacts you add through Rosters are now much easier to work with! They’ll behave just like your regular Contacts & Participants—meaning:

  • They’re fully editable
  • They can be assigned multiple images without the previous first-image requirement

No more clunky workarounds—just smoother, faster contact management. 🙌

This change will also improve adding Contacts via the "Create Participant" button, as well as Contacts who add themselves to the Event via a Positive ID Event's Simple Check-In.

These kinds of Contacts will just show a silhouette for now, which we may adjust down the line!

That’s it for this week!

Stay tuned—because some very cool things are coming your way soon. 👀✨

Keep being amazing,

Candy 🍬

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How to customize formatting for each rich text

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