Photo Pass
Getting the best Photo Pass.
The archive can place you at almost any show on file. It cannot fix a dark, blurry photo taken from below. The photograph is only as good as the one it starts from. Here is what works.
The photo you upload
Daylight by a window, face to the camera, nobody else in it.
- ·One person. Just you, alone in the frame.
- ·Your face clearly visible, looking roughly at the camera.
- ·Good, even light. Daylight from a window, facing it, is best.
- ·No sunglasses. No hat brim or hair across the eyes. No heavy shadows across the face.
- ·From the chest or waist up. Close enough that the face fills a good part of the picture.
- ·Sharp, not blurry. Hold still, or lean the phone on something.
- ·A recent photo, so the photograph looks like you now. (You can ask to appear as you looked then. See below.)
- ·No filters, no beauty mode, no stickers. The archive needs your actual face.
- ·A plain background helps. A wall will do. The archive supplies the venue.
After you choose a photo, Frame your face lets you fill the square with it. Do. A second photo of the same person, from a slightly different angle, gives the archive more to go on.
What to avoid
- ·Group photos. Crop down to just you, or use a different photo.
- ·Photos of children. You must be 18 or older to use a pass, and uploads that appear to show anyone under 18 are refused.
- ·Photos of other people without their permission. Upload only yourself, or someone who has said yes.
- ·Low light, night shots, and harsh overhead light that leaves the eyes in shadow.
- ·Extreme angles: from far below, far above, or a strong side profile.
- ·Screenshots, old prints photographed at an angle, and heavily compressed images.
Choosing the band and the show
- The band
- Sets the city, the year and the kind of room. A 1988 Detroit club does not look like a 1994 Tucson desert show, and the photograph will not pretend otherwise. The band members appear as they were at the time.
- The scene
- Each band has its own rooms: outside the fence, on the ramp, at the cake table, and so on. The scene decides where you are standing and who is near you.
- Wearing and doing
- What you have on, and what you are up to. A band shirt can be any band active by that year. The clothing note (80 characters) is for small things, like a ball cap.
- Age
- "As in my photo" puts you there as you look today. "As I looked then" uses your birth year and the hair you had at the time to place a younger you in the year of the show.
- Shape and date stamp
- Landscape or portrait. The optional orange date stamp in the corner is the one every 1990s point-and-shoot insisted on.
After you buy
- ·The studio opens as soon as you pay. A sign-in link also arrives by email for coming back later. No password; the link signs you in.
- ·Each photograph takes up to a minute to develop. You make them one at a time, five per pass.
- ·Every upload is checked automatically first. A photo the archive cannot use costs nothing.
- ·Keep the ones you like, up to all five. Each kept photograph comes with an All Access laminate bearing it.
- ·Download takes the full-size photograph. Download pass takes the laminate, ready to print. Then share them however you like.
- ·Photographs you do not keep are removed after 30 days. Kept photographs stay in My Photos for 12 months after you bought the pass. Download the ones you want to hold on to.
Showing it to anyone else
Your photographs are private. Only you can see them, unless you ask otherwise. Each of these is off until you turn it on.
- The Wall
- Keep a photograph, then choose Show on the wall. It goes up on The Wall once the archive has looked at it by hand. The Wall shows the photograph, its caption, the band and year, and a line from you if you add one. Never your name.
- The band's page
- In the same request, a second box: “Also file my photo in the band's archive page.” Tick it and, once approved, the photograph also appears under From the Crowd on that band's page, with the first name and city you give (both optional). Never your surname or email.
- Social media
- Nothing is posted for you. Download the photograph or the laminate and share it wherever you like.
- Taking it down
- Anytime. Choose Take off the wall in the studio, or switch it off in My Photos. That removes it from The Wall and the band page together. Or write to archive@sidebandlabel.com and the archive will remove it.
Questions
It does not look enough like me. What now?
Try a different photo first: brighter, straighter on, closer. Adding a second photo of yourself from a slightly different angle, and ticking "same person", helps most. If the archive still cannot get it right, write to archive@sidebandlabel.com.
Can I put a friend in the photograph?
Yes, if they have said yes. Add them in the second photo slot, one person per photo. Do not tick "same person".
Why was my photo refused?
The automatic check turns away photos with no clear face, photos that appear to show someone under 18, nudity, and well-known people. Nothing is used up when that happens.
Do you keep the photo I upload?
No. It is sent to the image service to make the picture and is not stored by us. Only the photographs made for you are kept, privately.
Can I change my mind about The Wall or the band page?
Yes, at any time. Take it off from the studio or My Photos, or write to archive@sidebandlabel.com.
Does the archive post my photograph on social media?
Nothing in the studio posts to social media for you. If you want it on your own accounts, download it and post it yourself.
Step by step, from buying the pass to keeping the photograph: How it works. The full details are in the terms and privacy policy.