Many professional photographers instinctively consider innovation to be their nemesis. It’s easy to understand why. A career in photography calls to people from a young age—it’s hard for the typical pro to imagine doing anything else for a living.
But recent advancements in the field have unfortunately put this livelihood at risk, threatening the careers of many. For most photographers, it feels like they’ve been in the bullseye of Moore’s Law for the last 20+ years, with less expensive, increasingly powerful, and easier-to-use cameras turning everyone into a wannabe pro.
The good news? Tech can once more be the photographer’s ally thanks to the power of new technologies like the Waldo Photos platform. As we all know, hardware development moves at blinding speed. The iPhone 6 is seen as impossibly underpowered by the typical teen, yet the device is 120,000,000 times more powerful than the computers that once propelled the Apollo moon missions.
Now, what does that have to do with photography? The same iPhones are being used by professionals to shoot entire movies. The technology has advanced so far in the past few decades that the (nearly unlimited) number of photos people can take at one time, plus their quality, has skyrocketed. Likewise, high-end DSLR cameras available to the public make consumers believe they can replace the still photographer with a trusted friend or family member.
Of course, this isn’t true and often results in poor event photos. Pro photographers bring far more than high-end gear to a shoot. They also provide tremendous experience, keen knowledge of light and framing, and the all-important artistic eye. Nevertheless, the pressures placed on the industry by smartphones and high-end products are undeniable.
Of course, many problems that pro photographers have with technology start after the picture is taken—when it’s posted online. Social media can be a bit of a dirty word in professional circles. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter convinced entire generations that photographs are free, and they needn’t pay a dime for the hard work of pros who document events for posterity.
The greater problem is many consumers believe the platform they’re on to be “free,” when nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, they are paying for the right to share images with others via the prized currency of Silicon Valley—access to every private detail of their lives.
Even so, trying to change consumer behavior around the sharing of “free” pictures on a “free” platform isn’t a battle many pro photographers want to wage. This allows tech to be seen with suspicion as a thorn in the working professional’s side. All these feelings are valid. Fortunately, an alternative tech platform is dismantling so many negatives about Silicon Valley, replacing them with positives to help photographers achieve greater success.
Waldo Photos has emerged as a powerful new tool for managing the delivery of proofs and sale of photos for volume photographers and event photographers alike. On the volume photographers’ side, the platform streamlines and simplifies the “old school workflow,” replacing it with powerful AI and APIs that take most of the work of the photographer beyond capturing the images.
This breakthrough is creating dramatic effects in revitalizing conversion rates for school and league sports picture days on the portrait front and performances and competitions from gymnastics to hockey to pageants in the action arena. The company brainstormed a “dream list” of features every pro photographer would want in a tech partner, then combined them into a single platform.
After all, the Waldo team knows pro photographers are happiest when capturing that perfect picture and building amazing memories for customers to share for a lifetime. This is where the joy is found, and it often doesn’t seem like work. (Everything else is “work.”) Waldo’s tech for pros, aptly named, WaldoPro, automates all the workflow processes from the point of image upload through delivery to a purchaser’s mailbox and does so quicker and more accurately than the more manual ways of the past.
The Waldo difference begins as soon as your photographs are taken—or even as you take them if you use the platform’s wireless DSLR upload feature. Once the event ends, Waldo Photos’ AI system uses facial recognition to sort the pictures by who is in them. (This prevents the need for rosters, bar codes, manual sorting, and numbering, relieving photographers the whole world over.)
Next, Waldo ensures those ready to buy your pics see them. Today’s customers hate “snail mail” delivery of proofs. Likewise, email isn’t as efficient as it once was due to an overwhelming amount of spam. Instead, Waldo enables pro photographers to text proofs directly to the phones of buyers. This is where today’s consumers pay attention to marketing, anyway. Why shouldn’t something as important as your photographs be there?
Of course, when we talk about sending pictures, we’re right back in the “free” territory of Facebook and Twitter—but Waldo has an answer for this, too. Waldo’s patented FaceBlocker™ allows photographers to fearlessly send pictures to customers without worrying they will be posted elsewhere.
The technology obfuscates the face in the picture, and then allows the customer to view the face while blurring out the rest of the image. This ingenious patented technology ensures customers will not just consider all your hard work a “freebie.”
For event photographers who aren’t looking to sell individual photos or packages but want to stand out when shooting weddings or corporate events, Waldo has you covered here as well. Waldo offers photographers monthly plans for free AI-powered delivery to guests, allowing the photographer to deliver a new and innovative delivery solution to their guests. Perhaps best of all, the Waldo platform allows for the photographer to include brand attribution so each of the guests who receive their photos via text alert directly on their phone will know which photography company took the image and can access their profile to learn more. Waldo’s AI-powered, mobile push approach to photo delivery serves as every event photographer’s #1 marketing asset.
Clearly, Waldo Photos is the perfect tool for professional photographers, both those shooting volume photography as well as those shooting events. It streamlines operations, which means more money is available to grow one’s business. It also helps photographers meet customers where they are most comfortable. In fact, the platform is so user-friendly, whether it’s viewing images or ordering prints, it becomes an effective marketing tool. Pro photographers already using the platform regularly report their positive customer experiences enabling them to secure additional gigs!
To learn how Waldo Photos can take your business to the next level, contact Waldo today. Discover how it can become the professional photographer’s new best friend.
