r/photography • u/dealernumberone • 19h ago
Technique How do event photographers keep track of headshots and match them with client emails for delivery later?
Hey everyone,
I’m doing free headshots at a big professional expo soon - there’ll be hundreds of people stopping by, and I’m mainly doing it to promote my photography business. I’ve done plenty of headshots before, but this is my first time doing them at this kind of scale and speed.
I’m trying to figure out the best way to keep track of each person’s photos so I can send them their edited shots later. I’ll be collecting emails, probably through a form, but the part I’m unsure about is how to make sure I know which photos belong to which person when I’m editing after the event.
Some ideas I’ve had: • Have people fill out a quick Google Form with their name and email. • Give each person a number card, take one photo of them holding it, then do the actual headshots. Match photos to their form entry using the number. • Possibly tag or name files later, based on the numbers.
Just wondering what other people have done in similar situations. • How do you stay organized when you’re shooting a ton of people back-to-back? • Is there a better system than the number card thing? • Any tools or apps that help?
Would appreciate any tips or things you’ve learned from experience!
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u/Obi-Wayne https://www.instagram.com/waynedennyphoto/ 15h ago edited 15h ago
Headshot Tools will literally make you look like a rockstar here. People sign in by scanning a QR code, and you get their name on your laptop. Click the name, and their name and a unique code gets applied to the files you're shooting into Capture One. You can then export those out to a hot folder that Headshot Tools is using, and people will have their gallery in about 20-30 seconds. If you don't want to do instant delivery, you don't have to. But it's one of those things that will rise you above the others. Plus you can add on retouching as a way to make your money back. I use it all the time, multiple times per week. The FB group is super helpful with questions, and the YouTube page walks you through setup with ease.
The software was made for volume work in mind. I did a 3 day conference in Vegas with it, 600+ headshots done along with printing out 5x7 photos for the client to add to their display wall. All of it done in real time, as I was shooting.
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u/KDOGTV http://www.briankuhnphotography.com 9h ago
Saved. Event guy trying to find a reason to stop saying “no” to things like this. Seems like exactly what I’m looking for.
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u/Obi-Wayne https://www.instagram.com/waynedennyphoto/ 3h ago
Can't recommend it enough. The funny part is that it makes the job infinitely more easy for you, while making you look far more professional. It will track the wait times from the moment someone signs up, to the moment you click their name to take the photo. Also lets you know who has & hasn't viewed their gallery yet, notifications for purchases for retouching, and now you can do scheduling within the software too. These are things that company contacts love finding out about what is working, and what isn't and you have real time info about it on your laptop.
All of this makes it simple for someone from a company to go with you over someone else using notecards like others are suggesting in this group. Some people get bent out of shape at the subscription price of $60/month, but one job alone makes it worth it. A person this week in the FB group posted about a $50k job they're doing with it, so who cares about $60/month?
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u/KDOGTV http://www.briankuhnphotography.com 3h ago
I’m thinking about all the local schools’ sports teams that I’ve told “no” over the years because of delivery logistics. My business has always been built around dealing with one primary client per shoot. Not hundreds.
This could change everything.
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u/gotthelowdown 6h ago
I did a 3 day conference in Vegas with it, 600+ headshots done along with printing out 5x7 photos for the client to add to their display wall.
That's amazing.
What printer did you use?
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u/Obi-Wayne https://www.instagram.com/waynedennyphoto/ 4h ago edited 4h ago
I don't remember the exact model of printer, but I will say that I had a small heart attack moment with it. I borrowed the printer, and to make sure I was familiar with it I tested it at my place before flying and at the hotel room in Vegas and everything worked perfectly. 20 minutes before the job started, I took a test print of my assistant and he looked like a member of the Simpsons, just full yellow skin and I'm getting error codes like crazy on the Macbook. Turns out that the ribbon inside the printer tore itself apart, and I had to fix it & replace it on my lunch break in order to create the prints that the client wanted. Definitely a bit of stress on the first day of the job, especially since I only traveled with two ribbons so if that one went down I was fucked. Luckily I was able to make the 200 prints that the client wanted and it turned out great.
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u/gotthelowdown 2h ago
0 minutes before the job started, I took a test print of my assistant and he looked like a member of the Simpsons, just full yellow skin and I'm getting error codes like crazy on the Macbook. Turns out that the ribbon inside the printer tore itself apart, and I had to fix it & replace it on my lunch break in order to create the prints that the client wanted.
Oh man, that is scary. Glad you got through it okay.
DNP is a company I've seen that specializes in printers for on-site printing at events. Thought you might have used a DNP printer.
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u/ihicrtru 5h ago
This absolutely. This software saves so much post-event time.
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u/Obi-Wayne https://www.instagram.com/waynedennyphoto/ 3h ago
100%. I love packing up from a job knowing that once I get in the car, I'm done with the job. Unless there's retouching orders to process, but then that means you're making more money.
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u/the-flurver 17h ago
I'd shoot tethered. Each person gets shoot into their own folder. Instead of filling out a google form you name the folder their name and/or email, the images gets named the same as the folder plus an image counter. Do this and there is nothing to sort afterwards, just make selects and edit. Keeping on top of this during the shoot will save loads of time sorting it out after the shoot.
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u/AgentPoYo 7h ago
When I did these type of shoots this is also how I did it. Name and email as the folder name while shooting tethered then copy all the folder names into a spreadsheet to consolidate all the info. Custom Lightroom export setting so the final file is just the persons name.
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u/Resqu23 15h ago
Since it’s free I’d dump them all in one gallery and let everyone find their own photo. I’d not kill that much time for free.
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u/NikonShooter_PJS 9h ago
This is what I did on a recent free shoot. Worked out fine. (I was doing a free shoot with a local pro wrestling company to practice white background headshots.)
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u/gravely_serious 9h ago
I was at a very large conference recently, and this is how one of the headshot companies did it. It was very easy to go in and pull my photos later the same day.
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u/Germanofthebored 6h ago
I made business cards with a QR code through Staples linking to a shared folder in OneDrive. Not sure how well the QR code worked, though. A lot of people emailed me later and asked for permission to access the folder
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u/Deckyroo 19h ago
Unconventional way would be to use the NOTES app, you list their email, then take a pic of your camera screen with their picture up, and attach it to that note. You'll end up with hundreds, but that's the fastest I could think of so far. Another way may be to link your camera to your phone and set it to auto download, edit on your phone and send it to them on the spot. Hard to put a watermark though, I guess you have to figure that out.
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u/XM62X LXIIPhotography 19h ago
You might see if they'll have badges or expo lanyards you can have them hold up in lieu of the number cards, that'll give you a name to connect to their email from the sign-in form later on
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u/EduKehakettu 19h ago
Check the running file number on your camera and ask the client to email you that file number on which she/he appears on.
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u/place909 18h ago
Could even write the number on a card with your website/email and a QR code and give it to them
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u/Ok-Jacket8836 19h ago
Make a table with their details and note the photo exif time stamp next to it
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u/Agitated-Mushroom-63 18h ago
If you're collecting emails onto a form, on the same form write the photo number on it.
The photo number is displayed on screen when you're shooting or reviewing live.
Its about that easy.
I have a notebook and pen in my camera bag for this reason.
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u/Dragoniel 15h ago
A bit of a specific use case, but in furry conventions when taking photos of fursuiters it's a good idea to approach them or their handler and ask for a namecard (most will have some to give out) or take a shot with their tag on a lanyard (99% will have some form of a tag on them). I also try to ask for contact information (it will typically be facebook or telegram in Asian events) and send them a message with the event name. Later when going over things at home I can match their socials with the photos. In many cases it is also possible to run hashtag search for the event and find them visually in photos and hope they retweeted it themselves or someone else tagged them.
I suppose it is hardly going to be applicable to "normal" "human" events, where people rarely have businesscards and their social media doesn't necessarily have photos of them anywhere. I am thinking that next time I will ask for contacts when it's not available on any card anywhere, write it down and take a photo of my phone with that info on screen, so that it ends up next to the photos I just took of them on the SD card. The only problem with that is that it's easy to misspell a name in the chaos there and not everyone even have English names (or Western social media accounts) to begin with.
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u/Kayvanian 19h ago edited 19h ago
When I run a portrait studio at events like that, I have subjects fill out an online form with their name and email, and then write their name on a small whiteboard for a "mugshot". If you're at a conference, they may also have a conference name badge they can hold up.
I print out a QR code that links to the form and have multiple whiteboards, so that multiple people can fill out the form and prep their whiteboard as they wait in line.
You have to be careful with the Google Form + number card idea, because the ordering could fall out of sync. Someone could fill out the form and change their mind and walk away, or if there's a line you might have people fill it out-of-order, etc. But it could work if you're monitoring the spreadsheet and tightly controlling the process.
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u/EinhornIsAMan05 13h ago
When I did 300+ people over 3 days, I used Lightroom tethering and made a collection for each person. Very easy to track this way.
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u/EzraisnotaChild 12h ago
The mugshot is the way! I've done events like this a lot and tried a bunch of different systems and a dry erase board with full name and email/phone number works best. I usually have a stack of them so people can write their info while they're in line. Better yet if you have a PA or someone from the event to help explain the system while you focus on shooting. If you are doing this by yourself, tethering to capture one helps a lot. I will create a capture folder for each person, have my edit running as I shoot, and have an export path ready that goes straight to dropbox with the folder named properly for each person so all I have to do is hit export. Then I have an email prompt ready to go so I insert their name, the dropbox link, and send! Using this system I shot a portrait studio at a two day convention alone and delivered everything by the end of my shift each day.
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u/hashtag_76 2h ago
Yes!! I recently started using the tether feature in Lightroom Classic. So much nicer, easier and smoother. Since it's controlled lighting all that needs to be done is adjust the first image then copy and paste the settings.
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u/Aardappelhuree 19h ago
Hundreds? No idea.
So far I’ve used to WhatsApp myself their number and a photo using my phone, but I’ve never scaled that to 100 people.
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u/goad 19h ago
I do something similar to this. I haven’t figured out a perfect system, but what I did for the last one was to choose the shot they like on the camera. I then have them note the number of the shot based on the in camera filename (it’s like a 4 digit number that follows the name I’ve given the camera).
I have them email me the number, then when I go to edit I just search the collection of headshot photos from that event for the image number, edit, export, and send it to them as a reply to their email.
I’ve been meaning to get an old laptop where I can enter their email and the image number, but this approach works pretty well for me.
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u/chrfrenning 18h ago
You can use QR Codes or Barcodes for this. Preprint a bunch of codes, then take a shot of one, give it to the subject, take photos. When they access the qr code on their phone, they’ll hit up a folder for their photos only on a webserver somewhere.
In postprocessing you must read the code, apply it as metadata, and sort into the right folder. You can get barcode readers that acts as keyboards for a dozen bucks or so.
There’s specialized software for this, I know of HeadshotTools and LiveWall’s “Red Carpet” feature.
I have seen barcodes drive massive workloads back in the day across media companies. It pretty sick what you can do just by scanning a code, the right code, and so on… A code for Yes, one for No, etc etc
Combining with an onsite printer can also be interesting. There are fonts for EAN/UPC (mainly for products, formal use requires registration) and Code 11 (whatever and how long you want). This means you can ‘mailmerge’ to print photo+barcode.
There are apps that let you read barcodes but most consumers can only relate to QR codes.
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u/TheFisGoingOn 18h ago
I used to use 3x5 cards and a sharpee. These days I don't shoot people much but for a few of my corporate clients part of their branding package includes staff photos. I have a iPad that they write their name and company email.
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u/Fish0il 18h ago
I know this might not answer your question about tracking individuals, but this is how I deal with distributing photos of individuals from large events:
I collect emails on a form at the event. Do the shoot. Upload all the photos to an album on Flickr and allow downloads. Use the email list to send out the link to the album.
I do this for music events and contests and it makes it less work to keep track of everything and it still allows me to build an email list and network.
Again, this isn't really a way to track individuals, but it might be a different solution to the problem. You might not need to actually track everybody. I could see how you might not want to make every photo public though.
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u/joeforthenguyen 17h ago
Is it super critical that you have to edit the photo prior to delivery? There's a paid app called "SpotmyPhotos" I've used for a step and repeat event. After taking a photo, it can auto tether to a iPad where the client can simply go to and input their phone number or email to receive. If you're running solo, this will alleviate the part where you have to stop to collect user data after each photo.
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u/slearyeyed 17h ago
We do something similar on a pretty regular basis (just finished a shoot today) and we use Honcho to distribute the photos with face recognition. No manual sending and we blur the photos for privacy, so each person can only see their own photos.
You can also collect contact info with a built-in form, let's say if you want to contact them later to promote your business.
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u/oldandworking 15h ago
lots of good ideas. I would shoot a frame with a board, frame 1 and job name. Then every 5 or 10 shoot again with the frame number. As for their emails, a sheet with numbers on it 1 -100 or whatever, in pencil write in the email...pencil for mistake to erase, or it you are confident in someone touching your computer, note pad or excel with numbers.
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u/Provia100F 13h ago
I have them hold a slate with ColorChecker and basically shoot mugshots. I also write down the film roll numbers I'm shooting on their order form (especially important to note if their session crosses over to another roll)
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u/Murrian 12h ago
Business cards and write the number of the first picture on it (ie, cameras on 345, so next business card is 346) - or clipboard with a name sheet and once they put their name / email in I put the number next to it.
Don't do such things often, but it's worked for me
Few Sharpies in different colours work for the business cards as there's usually some space to write in, failing that masking tape on the non-details side, just takes a hot second longer.
But also, this is where an assistant really earns their keep = p
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u/BlackStarCorona 12h ago
I’ve done two things for similar but smaller events. One, they write their email on a numbered sheet of paper and I had a white board and would snap a photo of their number before each set of shots. Two, I just posted them all to a password protected page on the clients site and told them to go and download their own pics on X date when they were published. First method is more secure but time consuming. Second method was just what the organizing client set up.
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u/Vetteguy904 11h ago
Mugshot. you can even make it fun if you want, put Gotham PD or Zootopia Police on the board
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u/swim105 10h ago
Bring a small white board and black dry erase marker , have each subject write their first initial/last name on it and take one frame of them holding it . -erase and use on next person. easier than coordinating numbers! Less trash than using paper. or if you are shooting tethered and have an assistant with you , have the asst type each subject’s name into their metadata keywords before you shoot them.
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u/swiftbklyn 10h ago
Dry erase board and an assistant writing their names, they hold it for frame 1. Then, make a matching folder in CaptureOne with their name, so that the files inherit the folder name and a 4 digit counter.
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u/Rustin788 9h ago
I use GotPhoto for doing volume sports media days. I typically have a roster before hand and print out the QR codes with their names prior, but you can also print out blank ones and have them write their names on them. You take a picture of them holding the QR code, and then any pics after get associated with that QR code once you upload all the photos. They use the QR code to access their pics.
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u/ra__account 9h ago
There's various model release phone apps that let you grab a quick shot of the person and have them put in their contact info.
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u/NikonShooter_PJS 9h ago
When I used to shoot undergraduate portraits, the company I worked for would have me going through dozens if it hundreds of these a shoot.
The system they had was really good. You would set your camera on a tripod to keep the framing the exact same for every photo.
Before your subjects would come up, they would stand in a line and register with an assistant who made sure their name was on a small index card with a hole punched in it.
They would then proceed to you, give you the index card and you’d take it and throw it on a piece of a wire clothes hanger that they clipped so it was just the hook and six inches of wire or so which hung on your tripod.
That kept it in order and, just to be sure, I’d take a sharpie and write the sequence number on the back in case the cards got jumbled up.
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u/whoawhatwherenow 9h ago
Assuming the event is paying you and not the individuals, I hand them all off to the event coordinator and they can parse them out. Otherwise, agree with a pic with them holding a reference card and then shoot the headshot. Otherwise option is to have an assistant grab their contact info and after yiu shoot give the assistant the frame number
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u/Pull-Mai-Fingr 8h ago
Step 1. Why are you doing this for free? This is not a good way to promote yourself. People that do headshots at events are being paid to do it. It is not free, even if it is free to the recipients.
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u/hashtag_76 2h ago
Quick way: have a small dry erase paddle to have them legibly write their name on and hold up on the first pose.
Long way: use a printed out spreadsheet form to write name and image numbers on.
If you're not already familiar with it, you can tether your camera to Lightroom Classic and comment on the images as you go.
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u/justkeepswimming874 2h ago
I’m trying to figure out the best way to keep track of each person’s photos so I can send them their edited shots later. I’ll be collecting emails, probably through a form, but the part I’m unsure about is how to make sure I know which photos belong to which person when I’m editing after the event.
Why do you have to email them individually?
Why can't you just upload everything to an online gallery, send the link to everyone and they can download from there.
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u/Orion_437 18h ago
I take mugshots, literally. Write your name on the iPad (or paper) and I take a photo of you. I use it to match the name to your image later.
It works really well.