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School’s Out, Earnings In: A Teacher's GradPics Now Success

School’s Out, Earnings In: A Teacher's GradPics Now Success
Time for another success story!

For years, graduation photography has played a crucial role in capturing the pivotal moments of grads. Not only are these professional photos treasured keepsakes, but they also present substantial income opportunities for photographers.

Consider the story of Eric, a high school photography teacher and small business owner. Eric ventured into a graduation event with NowCandid's platform, intending to photograph around 500 graduates. He had modest expectations, aiming to generate about $1,200 in sales. What unfolded next, however, far exceeded even his most optimistic projections.

In his very first event using NowCandid, the earnings soared past expectations!

Almost reaching an astounding $12,000 within only seven days after the event. Such a windfall was not only a personal victory for the teacher but also a testament to NowCandid's potential to transform event photography. So far (as of publishing this article), the event has reached well over $15,000. A far cry from his initially predicted $1,200.

 

Sharing his success in an email to his onboarding trainer, Darwin Drake, the photography teacher expressed his profound amazement and gratitude. "I am at $6,700 earned and counting. I am beyond speechless. I'm gobsmacked. I'm overjoyed. I am stunned." (And that reaction was before it hit $12,000 days later!)

 

A friends & family photo taken after the ceremony by Eric & his photographers.

But the triumph of this story goes beyond the impressive earnings.

As a teacher, Eric was able to bring his students onboard, teaching them practical skills while also providing them with paid experience. "I hired 4 of my current and former photography students for this event," he wrote, "and as a teacher and small business owner I am so profoundly thankful to be able to teach them and pay them."

 

Eric and some students in Berlin at a graffiti workshop just days after their successful graduation ceremony.

This story highlights the remarkable opportunities that NowCandid can bring to photographers and entrepreneurs.

Whether you're a professional photographer seeking to maximize your earnings, a teacher nurturing the next generation of photographers, or a business owner eager to expand your reach, NowCandid can provide the platform and tools you need to achieve your goals.

In event photography, moments become memories, and for a photographer: memories are opportunities!

Eric's experience shows, that with the right tools and workflow, it is more possible (and easier!) than ever before to monetize your photography in a big way.

Enjoy some more photos taken by Eric & his photographers below!

NowCandid Event Settings & Numbers Breakdown

Program: GradPics Now

Workflow: Selfie Check-In

Price Level: Price Level 8

Title Option: Simple Text Title

Staff: 4 Photographers (doing some Selfie Check-In work as well) and 1 Dedicated Selfie Check-In Attendant

Participants: 500+ Participants via Selfie Check-In

Total Images Taken: 1944

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Weekly Recap: New Ornaments, Better Marketing History & Big Windows Capture App Update 🎄📸
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Weekly Recap: New Ornaments, Better Marketing History & Big Windows Capture App Update 🎄📸

5
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Hey photo friends! 👋


Candy here with a fresh batch of updates—from brand-new ornament products to upgraded marketing tools and Capture App improvements on both iOS and Windows.

Let’s jump in!

🎁 New Holiday Ornaments

  • 🎄 Statuette Ornament

    A new hanging statuette-style ornament—complete with a red ribbon.
    • Shows a sample ornament by default
    • If the subject orders a background-removed image, their cutout will render on the product preview in the gallery

  • 🪙 Aluminum Ornament

    A flat aluminum ornament that renders any photo in the product gallery.
    • Has a customizable year field (defaults to the current year)
    • Subjects can enter other 4-digit numbers if they’d like
    • Also ships with a red ribbon for hanging

Perfect timing for holiday sales. 🎅

✉️ Marketing History & Dashboard Improvements

📬 Marketing History Page (Big Upgrade!)

  • 🧭 Pagination for easier navigation through large histories
  • 👤 Shows participant name + image on each row
  • 🔗 Click through to the Participant directly
  • 🧾 All email + text sends are now in one combined, date-sorted list
  • ⚡ Faster initial load, and smoother scrolling for long histories
  • 🔍 New filters:
    • Text search (with CMD+F support)
    • Filter to Texts only or Emails only
    • URL supports both filters and pagination, so you can share filtered views

🖥️ Other Dashboard Updates

  • 🗓️ New weekly sales chart on Event Details—toggle between Daily and Weekly; Events older than 60 days default to the weekly view.
  • 🧮 “Year” captions on retail are now capped at 4 characters across all products.
  • 🌄 Download custom backgrounds you’ve uploaded for an Offer
    • Offer → Select Backgrounds → My Custom Backgrounds → Download button
  • 💬 QuicPics send error reason now appears on Participant Details (logging started April 2025).
  • 📪 Email/phone send & unsubscribe reasons now show on Participant Details (logging started Nov 12).
  • 📂 “Download Folder” on Image Details now zips in chunks of 100 to avoid browser issues on very large folders.

🧹 Small Dashboard Fixes

  • 🗓️ Removed Day 6 text from all three QuicPics programs (it wasn’t adding clicks or sales).
  • 🏷️ Fixed PhotoTag importer falsely claiming you hit the max when you hadn’t.
  • 📋 Participant roster uploads now trim whitespace in header columns (fewer “mystery errors” from stray spaces).
  • 👥 Fixed an edge case where Participant Details showed Additional Contacts even when none existed.

📱 Capture App iOS 4.21.4 (OTA)

  • 🤳 Front camera photos mirrored

    Internal front-facing camera shots now save as mirrored images (while the live preview stays the same).
    • Most noticeable for Photo Booth and similar workflows
    • Face recognition still works as expected for Selfie Check-In

(If you’re on 4.21 already, this will arrive as an over-the-air update.)

💻 Capture App Windows 4.20 Highlights

We’ve brought a big round of camera support and quality-of-life updates to Windows:

  • 📷 Broader camera support
    • Sony now works on ARM tablets, and most new Sonys no longer require special driver setup—just plug in.
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    • Added support for Panasonic cameras.
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  • ⚙️ General performance and reliability improvements, especially around background services and uploads.
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That’s it for this week!

From new ornaments to clearer marketing data and stronger camera support, you’ve got lots of fresh tools to work with.

As always, if you have questions—or want help deciding how to use any of this for your next Event—I’m here 24/7.

Keep creating magic,

Candy 🍬

Weekly Recap: Capture App 4.21 OTA, New Dashboard Filters & Helpful Fixes 📲🧭
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Weekly Recap: Capture App 4.21 OTA, New Dashboard Filters & Helpful Fixes 📲🧭

2
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Hey photo friends! 👋

Here’s what’s new this week! Changes focused on faster updates, more filters, and a handful of useful fixes.

📱 Capture & Upload App (iOS) — Version 4.21

  • 🚀 Over-the-Air (OTA) updates: Most app updates no longer require the App Store. Updates download in the background and install on app restart/launch—no interruptions during Events. You can also manually check via Resources → “Check for updates” (tap the (i) button).
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Smaller iOS app changes

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FYI on versions: The App Store shows 4.21; the current OTA version is 4.21.3. We’ve already shipped three OTAs this week to help teams while they’re still on-site! Pretty cool, right?

🖥️ Dashboard

  • 👁️ Manage Images → Visibility filter: All / Visible only / Hidden only.
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Smaller dashboard changes

  • 📨 Email campaign guard: Prevents a campaign from starting if the only image is a group PhotoTag.
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  • 🧰 Trader Card fixes: Two styles now say League (not LD), and one style’s production print now matches the retail render.
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That’s the update for the week!

Thanks for reading—and happy shooting!

Candy 🍬

Weekly Recap: Sticky Filters, Faster Uploads & Happy Halloween! 🎃🕸️
Feature Updates
October 31, 2025

Weekly Recap: Sticky Filters, Faster Uploads & Happy Halloween! 🎃🕸️

3
 minutes read
Boo! 👻

Candy here with a trick-or-treat pail of useful updates: sticky, shareable filters, faster uploads, and clearer participant tools. You’ll keep context when you reload or share links—and move uploads along faster.

Let’s dig in!

🖥️ Dashboard Improvements

  • 🧲 Sticky, shareable filters
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🪄 Minor Dashboard Tweaks

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🧹 Dashboard Bug Fixes

  • 🧩 Positive ID code PDFs now show PhotoTags for merged participants even when they weren’t the first registered.
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📲 Capture & Upload App

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🛍️ Misc Changes

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🛠️ Misc Fixes

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That’s the update!

Happy Halloween—and good shooting! 🎃


Candy 🍬

Let’s get in touch

If you’re a photographer looking to add NowCandid services to your wheelhouse – set up a call by clicking the button below.

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
How to customize formatting for each rich text

What’s a Rich Text element?

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

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Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

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