Being responsible for photographing an event is stressful by itself. Adding on-site printing can make it more stressful, especially if something goes wrong. Here’s a simple solution that that can be used by itself or as a backup plan for printing.

Aircam to the rescue

I was at breakfast with a few friends when I received a distress text from my good friend Richie Acevedo. Richie was photographing an event and was printing on-site. His new printer decided it wasn’t going to print. I showed up at the event and tried to get it to work but I couldn’t. It was a compatibility issue, so even a backup printer wouldn’t have worked. Plan B: Aircam, I said.

Aircam is a new service for event photographers I’ve been using. It’s simple: The guest downloads the free Aircam app on an iPhone (Android users currently need to use a web browser and visit www.air.cam), then they turn location services on and the event’s images instantly appear on their phones. They can download the photos, share them on social media or with family and friends and even print them for free using Shutterfly. Plus, the event coordinator can post a link to all the images on social media or their website. It’s a major win-win for everyone and it’s free to use! This is my preferred backup plan.

Give the images to the event coordinator

Another option is to give the images to the event coordinator to upload to social media or their website. The guest could download their images but usually after the excitement of the event wears off, people forget and you’re relying on the event coordinator to do your job.

Less than ideal plan

If the event coordinator doesn’t have the ability to post to an online gallery, you could quickly make an online account with a local store — Walmart, Walgreen’s or CVS — that offer free galleries and printing. Post the link to social media or the event’s website. The downside with this? The guest have to pay for their prints.

This is a behind-the-scenes video after the event. As a bonus, Richie talks about how he captured the event.

Of the three backup plans, the Aircam plan is the most solid. It’s free, the guests love it and when the last guest leaves, you’re done! No uploading images or editing. You can relax and enjoy a job well done.

Lead photo by Richie Acevedo