If you’re doing the sensible thing and shopping around for quotes, you might be wondering what the differences between all the different options are. In this BAMBA blog, we’re sharing 4 quick questions to make sure the magnet photographer you hire for your celebration is up to scratch. This is written in the context of London, but the principles apply wherever you are in the world.
What insurance do you have?
They should have Public Liability (for if they cause damage to your venue, injure a guest or some other accidental disaster); Product Liability (for if a magnet causes damage after it has been taken home); Employers’ Liability (for the safety of their staff) and Business Interruption (so the insurers pay through any emergencies, ensuring you still get your magnets).
Remember, many venues won’t let suppliers in without Public Liability Insurance – you might have to submit all certificates in advance. This insurance should cover the business, as it’s probably more than one person attending the event. When they send you the insurance certificate (it’s okay to ask for it), make sure it has the business name, not just one person.
At MAGNIV, we hold all these insurances and you can download our certificates from inside your client portal whenever you need.
What type of printers do you use and how many do you have?
Your magnet photographer should have at least two printers – because things can go wrong, outside of their control. You should also know what they’ll do if there is a printing malfunction, as you don’t want to get caught short.
The industry standard in event magnet printing is to use Dye Sublimation printers. That’s a fancy name for a very specific type of printer, designed for printing photographs at events. The main manufacturers are Mitsubishi, Citizen, DNP, Fujifilm and HiTi.
It’s much cheaper for a magnet photographer to use a regular printer, such as canon, with a home or office style laminator. These require far less investment – but it’s a cheap way out. The photos fade after time, losing their colour or turning pink. If they get wet, water can enter at the edges and the layers peel apart.
At MAGNIV, we have ours imported from Mitsubishi – they’re fast, economical and extremely reliable. The pictures are lab quality and we carry out machinery checks every quarter, looking at the print head and all the other little parts inside to make sure they’re working well.
What happens if you’re unwell?
Magnet photographers, like everyone else, fall ill. Or their children do. Or something comes up. It’s life. You want to know that there’s a backup of the same quality and experience.
At MAGNIV, we have a team of 20 staff working for us regularly, plus a network of freelancers and former staff to call on should we need to. Those are full-time wedding and event photographers; our technicians trained in-house; designers and event staffers. We’ve never had to cancel a booking - we’ll always find a solution at our own expense. For the record, we have stepped in after other magnet photographers cancelled on and refunded their clients last minute.
How many events do you do?
Printing magnets is one of those things that takes practise. Sure, to a degree it’s like riding a bike, but the more events you do, the less mistakes happen. The better the magnets are. The smoother the process.
We did over 40 events in 2019 - peaking at 10 in the space of 1 month. We’re on track to double that in 2020 - meaning an average of 3 every 2 weeks.
You also want to know that your magnet photographer is doing other event photography all the time. They should be going through different situations, having to photograph different challenges and getting used to different venues. If your magnet photographer isn’t shooting at least 50 times a year, they’re not a full-time photographer. Working as a second shooter or subcontractor counts to - you want to know that photography is what your magnet photographer does, so that when your DJ turns the smoke machine way too high, the lights go down and the ceilings are lit up in orange, the photos still look great.