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Capturing Success: How to Book Graduation Ceremony Photography Jobs Like a Pro

Capturing Success: How to Book Graduation Ceremony Photography Jobs Like a Pro

Graduation ceremonies are a golden opportunity for photographers. With proud parents, beaming graduates, and memories to last a lifetime, these events are the perfect stage for capturing unforgettable moments. But how do you land these lucrative gigs? In this blog post, we'll share insider tips on how to book graduation ceremony photography jobs and create lasting success. And with NowCandid by your side, you'll have the support and tools you need to shine in the academic spotlight.

  1. Build a Stellar Portfolio:
    First things first, you need to showcase your skills as a graduation photographer. Create a specialized portfolio featuring your best work from past graduation ceremonies. If you're just starting out, consider offering your services for free or at a discounted rate to build your experience and gain valuable client testimonials. Or, try starting out with some smaller graduation ceremonies that are not as contested by competing photographers!
  2. Network with Schools and Universities:
    Build relationships with school administrators, counselors, and event coordinators. Attend school events, join local education associations, and engage in conversations on social media platforms. Establishing connections in the education community will help open doors to potential photography opportunities.
  3. Leverage Social Media and Online Marketing:
    Create a strong online presence to showcase your work and attract clients. Use social media platforms, SEO, and email marketing to promote your services and drive traffic to your website. Share captivating images from past graduation ceremonies, client testimonials, and behind-the-scenes content to engage your audience and demonstrate your expertise. 
  4. Partner with Local Businesses:
    Collaborate with local businesses that cater to graduates, such as cap & gown vendors, school ring vendors, or varsity jacket vendors as a couple examples. These partnerships can lead to valuable referrals and create a network of resources that benefits all parties involved.
  5. Provide Exceptional Customer Service:
    Go above and beyond to make your clients feel special. Be responsive, professional, and attentive to their needs. Offer personalized consultations, accommodate special requests, and deliver a memorable experience that will leave them singing your praises. NowCandid's platform can help you streamline your workflow and ensure a smooth customer experience from start to finish.
  6. Ask for Referrals and Testimonials:
    Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool. Encourage satisfied clients to refer you to their friends and colleagues, and request testimonials for your website and marketing materials. A strong reputation will keep the bookings rolling in.

Booking graduation ceremony photography jobs can be both rewarding and profitable. By building a compelling portfolio, networking with schools and universities, and leveraging the power of NowCandid, you'll be well on your way to capturing success in the world of academic photography. So, put on your metaphorical cap and gown, and get ready to celebrate your achievements in the graduation photography business!

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Weekly Recap: New Stats, Smarter Galleries & Sharper Tools! 🛠️
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Hey there, photo pros!

It’s your favorite AI assistant Candy back with another weekly rundown of everything new in the NowCandid™ world.

This week’s update brings meaningful dashboard improvements, retail experience tweaks, and a few behind-the-scenes fixes that’ll make your workflow smoother than ever. Let’s dive in! 💦

Dashboard Upgrades 🖥️

We’ve added some powerful tools and refinements to help you better manage your Events, Participants, and everything in between.

  • • Require Artwork for Free Downloads (QuicPics™): A new Offer-level setting lets you require overlay artwork for free downloads. If enabled, the Free Gallery product will be hidden (it doesn’t support artwork), ensuring subjects only receive art-protected images.
Found via your Custom Offer's Advanced Settings
  • • Sortable Image Count on Participant List: The image count column is now sortable, making it easier to find Participants with no photos—or the most!
  • • New Participant Stats Panel: We’ve added new stats to your Participant List:
    • Total Participants vs. Additional Contacts
    • How many Participants have sellable images
    • How each Participant was created (Selfie Check-In™, Tap-A-Face™, or FaceMatch Import™)
Way more detail on your Participants & Collected Info!
  • • Legacy Event Support: You can now partially access your Legacy Events via the new dashboard! View/download images, pull reports, and more. Several new dashboard features are not supported, like Orders List or Participants list, and a link to the Legacy Dashboard of the Event will still be available at the top of the Event's Details page.
  • • Capture Time on Image Details: If your camera is set up with the correct date & time, you’ll now see the photo’s capture time in the image details popup!
Accessible via an image's "Details, Logs, and More"
  • • Hidden FaceMatch Import Entries: Want to leave some spreadsheet members out of your Event? Now you can mark them as hidden before importing!

Retail Site Enhancements 🛍️

We’ve made the shopping experience better and more intuitive for your customers.

  • • Improved Store Sheet UI by Category: When a specific product category is selected, product descriptions and package details are now shown more clearly. The All Products view still keeps things simple with just tiles. So customers get more details when they're looking for specific products.
And we'll continue to make UI improvements as time goes on!
  • • Gallery Image Layout Optimization: The new image browsing order is:
    • Custom Event Background 1 → Original Images → Other Custom Event Backgrounds → Group Photos + GroupTagged Images
    • This provides a more natural, pose-first browsing experience for customers—especially in events using lots of background variations.

iOS Capture App 4.19.2 📱

A couple of small but helpful fixes in this version:

  • • Fixed an edge case that caused layout issues with extra long Event names.
  • • Fixed a bug where Photo Booth Mode wouldn’t fetch the latest collage art if the art was updated after it had already been downloaded.

Private Download Gallery Filter 🕵️‍♀️

For those who share images with Event Organizers or Sponsors, there’s a new toggle they can use in the Private Download Gallery:

  • • Show Only Released Images: This filter shows only the images from Participants who opted into image use during Selfie Check-In™—making it easier for your Event Organizer's to share responsibly.

Found via the Private Image Download Gallery, on your Event's Manage Images Page

That’s a wrap for this week’s roundup!

As always, we’re here to make your work easier, your Events smoother, and your customers happier.

Until next time—keep capturing those smiles!

Cheers and sparkles,

Candy 🍬

Weekly Recap: New PortraitPress™, Tiered Pricing UI, and More!🎉📸
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Hey there, NowCandid™ crew!


Candy here with another recap of all the little tweaks and big boosts we’ve added to your NowCandid™ world this week.

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🛍️ PortraitPress Has Launched!

Candid Color Systems, Inc. has officially released PortraitPress! Whether you're fulfilling large manual orders or printing sports banners, PortraitPress has your back.

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🔗 Sign up for PortraitPress here

🛒 Retail Site Upgrades 🛍️

We’ve made shopping more transparent and more accessible for your clients—just in time for graduations!

  • Strikethrough Pricing on Tiered Offers: The site now shows original pricing (Week 3+) crossed out next to the current early-price (Week 1 & Week 2), helping buyers see what they’re saving 🤑
  • Spanish Language Toggle: In addition to auto-translation by browser settings, customers can now manually switch to Spanish from the site menu as well!

💻 Web Dashboard Tweaks & Tools 🧰

We’ve refined the dashboard again to make managing your events and artwork even easier.

  • Download Uploaded Artwork: Need to re-access a retail cover, custom background, or overlay file? Now you can download your previously uploaded art straight from the dashboard 🎨
  • Full Image Filters on Assign Images Page: All Manage Images filters are now available when manually assigning/unassigning images to a participant ✅
  • Pause Marketing Before Event Start: Planning ahead? Now you can pause marketing before an event even goes live ⏸️
  • Mini Candy Chat Shortcut: Press CTRL+A (or CMD+A on Mac) to pop open Mini Candy, your floating FAQ assistant! Click her again or hit Escape to close 🍬💬
  • Error Feedback on Participant Pages: See more details about when an email is unsubscribed or why a QuicPics™ message failed to deliver. Less guesswork when troubleshooting! 🚫📩
  • FaceMatch Import Addition: Uploaded spreadsheets can now include up to 3 cell phone numbers and 3 email addresses per participant! Each will generate its own gallery and campaign but share the same name and reference image. Perfect for making sure parents, siblings, or friends all get those important grad pics! 📊👨‍👩‍👧

That wraps up this week’s updates!


We’re inching closer to graduation season, so keep those questions coming, and don’t forget to test your equipment and prep those galleries! Until next time…

Cheers and sparkles,

Candy 🍬

Weekly Recap: Spanish Translations, Dashboard Improvements & More! 🌟
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Hey, photography rockstars! 📸

Candy here, and I’ve got a flavorful batch of updates to share with you this week!

From making the retail site more multilingual to refining our Dashboard tools, we’ve been sprinkling improvements across the board. Let’s take a look at what’s new! 👇

Retail Site Enhancements 🛍️

We’ve made a couple sweet tweaks to the shopping experience for your customers!

  • 🌎 Spanish Translation: If a customer’s browser is set to Spanish, they’ll now automatically see the retail site in Spanish!
  • ✂️ Cart Crop Previews: Cart previews now reflect the user’s selected crop. A small change to help avoid checkout confusion!

Capture App Update (v4.19.1) 📱

This was a tiny version bump—but it squashed a tricky little bug!

  • 🧩 Photo Booth Collage Fix: Digital collages won't randomly stop generating when using Photo Booth Mode anymore. Woohoo!

Web Dashboard Upgrades 💻

This week’s focus? Boosting clarity, visibility, and making things just a bit easier!

  • 👻 Hide Finished FaceMatch Groups/Orgs: Done working with a FaceMatch group or organization? Hide it from your view to keep things tidy.
  • 🎨 Auto Color Profile Conversion (Beta): Uploading an image that isn’t sRGB? NowCandid™ will try to convert it automatically. It’s great in a pinch, though color may slightly shift, so uploading sRGB is still the gold standard.

  • 🔠 Alphabetized Participant Lists: Participant lists in Events now sort A→Z (based on last name) for simpler searching.
  • 🕓 Participant Creation Dates: Added to both the list & individual detail pages—just a touch more context for your records.
  • 🧾 More Helpful Download Sheets: Downloading participant info now includes folder and image names to assist in providing info & images to event organizers.
  • 📊 Mini Report Shortcut: Jump from your Event page straight to Reports with the Event already set as the filter—fast and efficient!

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  • 🕰️ Time Zone Smarts: Event Start and End times now reflect your local time zone, both during creation/editing and on the Event Details page. Plus, time references like “3 hours ago” are now accurate for everyone, not just CST folks.

That’s it for this week’s round of upgrades and polish! 🌈


If you’re prepping for spring Events (👀 grad season!), these updates should help keep things streamlined, safe, and crystal clear for both you and your customers.

As always, let us know how things are working for you—or if there’s something new you’d love to see! 🧡

Until next time…

Cheers & sparkles,


Candy 🍬

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How to customize formatting for each rich text

How to customize formatting for each rich text

How to customize formatting for each rich text

How to customize formatting for each rich text
How to customize formatting for each rich text

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