We are excited to have you as a part of our team. Here is some important information about Kiarah Studios’ processes – please carefully read all the ten points below.
1. Pay and Human Resources portal:
Pay is biweekly and is made via Gusto — on 15th and the last day of the month. You are requested to upload raw photos from the shoot within 48 hours of the photoshoot. Pay for all the successful photo uploads is processed in the upcoming biweekly pay cycle. Payroll will roll over to the next pay cycle if the photo upload is not complete by the current pay period.
You would have received an invitation to register with Gusto and please make sure you do so. Make sure to enter your hours within Gusto the same day as the shoot because the portal does not allow retrospective time entries. Please make sure that your direct deposit is set up with Gusto for us to run the payroll.
2. Training and onboarding:
It is mandatory for everyone (both existing and newly onboarded members) to complete online training and assessment. Here is the link for training:
3. Meet and Greet form:
If you have not done so, please fill out this short Meet-and-Greet form, which we will use to create a customized web page for you to introduce you to our clients.
4. Make a phone call and write an email to school
The photographer should call the school 5-7 days before the event to confirm the specifics. If school does not answer the phone, leave a voicemail.
In addition to the call, the photographer should email the school 5-7 days before the event, copying us at kiarahportraits@gmail.com. This acts as written confirmation of the connection between the photographer and school.
Here’s a reference email template you can personalize and use:
Hi there,
I will be the photographer on duty for your upcoming Picture Day and I wanted to take this moment to introduce myself. I will arrive 30 minutes before the start time to set up the photo area.
Please contact me if you have any questions. For assistance, you can reach Kiarah Studios at kiarahportraits@gmail.com or call/text them at +1-617-637-1204.
See you soon!
regards,
Your name
5. Photo uploads:
a) Please upload via FileZilla because it is much faster and reliable than uploading directly from the browser. FileZilla credentials and a setup tutorial was shared with you.
b) Please upload ONE folder per shoot by naming it <Date>_<Name of School>_<Your name>. Please DO NOT upload single files but upload the entire folder. You will have to prepare the folder on your local computer prior to uploading. You cannot delete files on the server, so make sure to prepare your local folder prior to dragging and dropping it within FileZilla.
c) Please upload the annotated roster, time sheets and volunteer forms within the parent folder in a subfolder named “Documents”
Access credentials for Kiarah Studios’ servers: Below are our servers for you to upload photos. The credentials below are specific to you and it is strictly prohibited to share them with anyone.
Site: kiarahportraits
Host: 107.131.76.40
User id: (we will send via mail)
Password: (we will send via mail)
We generally recommend you store the backup of original photos to your local drive for at least two months after the shoot so that we can use them if required.
Here is the video tutorials for you to learn how to upload to Kiarah Studios’ servers. You can upload via FIleZilla.
6. Slack messaging channel:
We will email you an invitation to join our communications channel on Slack, which will help streamline communications to you. Kindly make a slack account and install it on your phone/computer so that you can be notified of any communications from us. We will use Slack for all business communications moving forward.
7. Dress code:
For your photoshoots, please wear a formal attire of black shirt, Tshirt or top paired with blue or black jeans or pants. Please make sure to wear comfortable shoes for the event.
8. Scheduling:
You will be receiving calendar invites for photo assignments to your email address. Please respond to the calendar invites within 48 hours of receiving them.
9. Photo props and backdrops:
These will be either shipped to you or to a companion photographer who you will join for a photoshoot at a school. If you have received the props and backdrops from us, then you are requested to carry them to the photoshoot until and unless you have coordinated otherwise with your companion photographer. Our backdrops for the current season can be viewed at kiarahstudios.com/backdrops.
10. Parent Volunteers:
A few schools may have parent volunteers on Picture Day. If there are parent volunteers at the event, please make sure you collect the signed parent volunteer forms and submit them to us by uploading them to Amazon servers and Slack channel.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
