PHOTOBOOTHERS, STOP STEALING PICTURES!
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Did the headline get your attention? Like many industries, the photobooth industry is plagued with people stealing images. These aren't all bad people, some people are just completely oblivious to what they can and cannot do with images they find on the internet, but regardless it doesn't make it okay.
If you are just starting out it can be hard to get content for your Instagram, Facebook or website and many people don't know where to start so they revert to a good old google image search. Let me make this very clear.
“NEVER, NEVER, NEVER TAKE AN IMAGE FROM THE INTERNET, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK AND USE IT FOR YOUR BUSINESS WITHOUT HAVING CONSENT OR PERMISSION FIRST. ”
IF YOU THINK THAT IT CAN'T BE THAT BAD TO STEAL SOMEONE ELSES IMAGES, IT CAN. THERE HAVE BEEN A SLEW OF LAWSUITS FROM PHOTOGRAPHER GOING AFTER COMPANIES FOR USING THEIR IMAGES WITH OUT PAYMENT OR CONSENT AND THE PAYOUTS HAVE BEEN LARGE. I'M TALKING 150K+ LARGE. DO YOU HAVE 150K TO SPEND? WELL, IF YOU DO, JUST BUY YOUR PICTURES IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Rather than being yet another article that tries to educate people of copyright, I'm going to help you out with solutions instead but first, let's go over the basics. These are the simplest way to put the rules:
No, you cannot take an image from another photobooth's account and use it on your own account, or anywhere else, without their written consent.
No, you cannot regram an image from another photobooth's account to use on your own Instagram, even if you tag them, without their written consent.
No, you cannot take images from your booth manufacturers Instagram account to use on any of your sites.
Ditto.
WEBSITES
Extra Ditto. with a little added...
No, you cannot copy any graphic details that may be on a site including, icons, renderings or doodles.
No, you cannot copy words or paragraphs from other sites
No, you cannot copy and paste package wordings from any site
NO, YOU CANNOT TAKE PICTURES FROM YOUR BOOTH MANUFACTURERS WEBSITE
GOOGLE IMAGES
Just stay away from google images please.
but in case i need to be clear, please see the sections above.
long story short. No you cannot use images from google images.
CAPISCE?
how to get images for youR photobooth business
THERE AER MANY WAYS TO GET LEGAL CONTENT FOR YOUR COMMERCIAL USE ON YOUR BUSINESS WEBSITES AND SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS. BELOW WE ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT A FEW OPTIONS RANGING FROM FREE TO PAID AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN.
MATERIAL PROVIDED BY YOUR MANUFACTURER
PHOTOBOOTH SUPPLY CO
COST: FREE
IF YOU PURCHASED YOUR BOOTH FROM A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOBOOTH MANUFACTURER THEN CHANCES ARE THAT THEY HAVE PROVIDED YOU WITH A PROMOTIONAL MARKETING PACK. THIS PACK OFTEN INCLUDES IMAGE TAKEN WITH THE BOOTH, IMAGES OF THE BOOTH ITSELF AND OR RENDERINGS. THESE IMAGES ARE FREE FOR YOU TO USE ANYWHERE YOU WANT SAFELY. ALWAYS CHECK WITH YOUR MANUFACTURER TO SEE IF THEY HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS AVAILABLE FOR YOU. ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WE WENT WITH PHOTOBOOTH SUPPLY CO AS OUR MANUFACTURER WAS BECAUSE THEY OFFERED THIS. LOOK HOW PRETTY THIS IS...
STOCK IMAGES
COST: FREE - SMALL FEE
FREE STOCK MATERIAL
THERE ARE GREAT SITES OUT THERE THAT OFFER IMAGES WITH A CREATIVE COMMON LICENSES WHICH MEANS YOU ARE WELCOME TO USE THESE IMAGES AS YOU PLEASE AND YOU CAN EVEN ALTER THEM. You can have a marketing agency put together an entire website with stock images if you’d like!
THERE IS A MULTITUDE OF IMAGES AVAILABLE FROM LIFESTYLE TO LAYFLATS AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN. THERE MAY NOT BE THAT MUCH THAT IS JUST PHOTOBOOTH SPECIFIC BUT THERE ARE IMAGES YOU CAN USE. ONE OF MY FAVORITE SITES IS WWW.STOCKSNAP.IO but you can also check out www.pikwizard.com.
WWW.SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
PAID STOCK MATERIAL
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING MORE SPECIFIC YOU CAN CHECK OUT SOME PAID STOCK SITES LIKE SHUTTERSTOCK. AS I WAS WRITING THIS, I WENT OVER TO THE SITE, FOUND THE PICTURE, BOUGHT IT, DOWNLOADED IT AND THEN POSTED IT. IT TOOK 5 MINUTES AND COST ME 5 USD.
THE IMAGES YOU FIND ON PAID SITES ARE MORE REFINED AND VAST THEN WHAT YOU WILL FIND ON THE FREE SITES.
STYLED SHOOTS
COST: $400+
IF YOU ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE A CERTAIN LOOK THEN YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER DOING A STYLED SHOOT. IF YOU ARE GOING AFTER WEDDINGS THEN CONTACT SOME OF YOUR LOCAL WEDDING PROS AND COORDINATE A STYLED SHOOT OR ASK TO BE INCLUDED IN THEIR NEXT STYLED SHOOT. THESE SHOOTS ALLOW YOU TO STEP US THE LOOK OF YOUR BOOTH AND REALLY TARGET THE MARKET YOU WANT TO GO AFTER.
YOU'LL GET IMAGES OF THE BOOTH SET UP ALL PRETTY, DETAIL SHOTS OF YOUR PROS, PICTURES OF PEOPLE USING THE BOOTH, ETC... MAKE SURE YOU MAKE A SHOT LIST OF WHAT YOU NEED AND TALK TO THE PHOTOGRAPHER. IF YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER IS WORKING FOR TRADE THEN YOU ARE LIMITED IN WHAT YOU CAN REQUEST FROM THEM, ALTHOUGH IT DOESN'T HURT TO TALK ABOUT IT. IF YOU ARE PAYING THE PHOTOGRAPHER THEN YOU CAN DICTATE EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED THEM TO SHOOT.
IF YOU ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE A PHOTOGRAPHER YOURSELF THEN IT'S EVEN EASIER FOR YOU. JUST GO DO A SHOOT.
AT MDRN PHOTOBOOTH COMPANY, WE DO STYLED SHOOTS A FEW TIMES A YEAR. HERE ARE A FEW IMAGES FROM OUR LAST BIG SHOOT WE DID IN FEBRUARY 2017. FROM THIS SHOOT I WAS ABLE TO GET IMAGES FOR OUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT, FACEBOOK PAGE, WEBSITE, 4 BLOG POSTS AND VARIOUS MARKETING MATERIALS. I LOVE HOW THIS SHOOT TURNED OUT AND CONTINUE TO USE THESE IMAGES OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR :)
IN CASE YOU SKIPPED OVER THE FIRST PART OF THIS ARTICLE... YOU CANNOT USE THESE IMAGES OR ANY OTHER IMAGES ON MY SITE FOR YOUR OWN BOOTH. THESE ARE THE COPYRIGHT OF MDRN PHOTOBOOTH COMPANY.
ACTIVE EVENTS
COST: FREE
IF YOU RUN A BOOTH BUSINESS THEN YOU GO TO EVENTS WITH YOUR BOOTH ALL THE TIME. THESE ARE PRIME OPPORTUNITIES TO FILL YOUR PHONE WITH AWESOME SOCIAL MEDIA MATERIAL. YOU DON'T NEED TO BE A PRO TO DO THIS SO DON'T FEEL PRESSURED TO TAKE THE PERFECT SHOT. DO INSTAGRAM STORIES TOO, PEOPLE LOVE SEEING WHAT YOU ARE UP TO IN REAL LIFE.
HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTED SHOTS TO GET AT EACH OF YOUR EVENTS:
YOUR SET UP IN THE ROOM FROM FAR AWAY
DETAILS OF YOUR PROPS TABLE
PICTURES OF PEOPLE INTERACTING WITH YOUR PROPS (ALWAYS ASK FOR PERMISSION FIRST)
DO A TEST SHOT AND THEN DO A LAY FLAT WITH A COUPLE OF PROPS NEXT TO IT
PICTURES OF YOUR GUEST BOOK
PICTURES OF PEOPLE HAVING FUN IN THE BOOTH
PRINTS SITTING IN THE PRINTER
DO TEST SHOTS YOURSELF IN THE BOOTH WITH SOME PROPS
TAKE A SELFIE IN THE BOOTH
STAGED/PROBONO EVENTS
COST: $40+
IF YOU ARE A SUPER NEW BUSINESS AND HAVE NO EVENTS ON THE BOOKS THEN YOU HAVE TWO OPTIONS. THE EASIEST IS TO SET UP THE BOOTH IN YOUR HOUSE OR BACKYARD AND INVITE OVER A FEW FRIENDS. GRAB YOUR PHONE OR ANY CAMERA YOU HAVE AND START SHOOTING AWAY AT EVERYONE HAVING FUN WITH YOUR BOOTH.
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DO IT IN YOUR HOUSE THEN REACH OUT TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND SEE IF ANYONE HAS A PARTY COMING UP THAT YOU COULD OFFER YOUR BOOTH TO. MAKE SURE THEY ARE AWARE THAT YOU ARE OFFERING A FREE PHOTOBOOTH SO THAT YOU CAN TAKE PICTURES OF THE BOOTH IN ACTION.
ALL THIS OPTION WILL COST YOU IS A BIT OF WEAR AND TEAR AND PAPER COSTS.
SHOWN BELOW ARE IMAGES I TOOK AT A FRIENDS WEDDING SHOWER. I REALLY WANTED TO TRY OUR A BOOTH WITH GIANT BALLOONS SO I ASK MY FRIEND IF I COULD BRING IT TO HER SHOWER AND OBVIOUSLY SHE SAID YES.
BOOTH PICTURES
HERE IS ANOTHER OBVIOUS ONE. YOU'RE IN THE PICTURE TAKING BUSINESS! YOUR MACHINES SOLE PURPOSE IN LIFE IS TO TAKE PICTURES, SAVE AND PRINT THEM. I GUARANTEE THAT EACH EVENT WILL HAVE A FEW GEMS IN THEM THAT YOU CAN SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND POST ON YOUR SITE. I LIKE TO KEEP A FOLDER OF MY FAV IMAGES FOR FUTURE POSTING WHICH I REFER TO WHEN I RUN OUT OF PLANNED POSTS ON INstagram.
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if you currently have images on your site that don't belong to you then please go take them down before someone sues you. make an effort going forward to always take pictures at events and plan on executing some of the stuff we talked about above.