Built for the event, not the after-party.
SmugMug is a proven place to host your portfolio and sell your prints — durable, unlimited storage and a print store with fulfillment handled, which is why so many photographers have run on it for years. BrandStudio does a different job: it runs the event itself — capture on iPhone, iPad, or a tethered Mac, every photo branded with your client’s logo, and each guest finds their own photos by selfie before they leave. Different jobs — this page shows you which one you’re hiring for.
About SmugMug: A mature, durable portfolio website host and print store for photographers — around since 2002 (and the owner of Flickr), trusted for years to keep large archives online at scale. Its real strengths are unlimited storage and deep customization: it’s a great, long-lasting, highly customizable home for a big catalog. You upload edited photos after a shoot, host them, and sell prints, with SmugMug fulfilling orders and taking 15% of your print markup. Built for durable hosting and selling, not live on-site event delivery — a different job.
Why teams pick BrandStudio
- Built for the event, not the after-party. Photos hit the guest’s phone before they leave — not after two nights of culling and uploading from Lightroom.
- Every guest finds their own photos with a selfie. No scrolling a giant gallery, no “can you send me mine?” the next day.
- Your client’s brand on every surface, on every plan — your logo and your domain, included from the entry plan rather than reserved for a higher tier.
- You keep what you charge for prints. No 15% cut of your print markup. The price you see is the price.
- One platform for the room: capture, booth, branded delivery, live slideshow, on-site printing, and follow-up — not a portfolio host you bolt other tools onto.
- A real person sets you up on a free Kickoff Call and answers same-day when it’s 10 minutes to doors.
When SmugMug might be a better fit
- If you want a portfolio website and a self-serve print store for selling images after a shoot, that’s exactly what SmugMug is built for — and it’s been doing it reliably since 2002 (it owns Flickr too).
- If your priority is durable, unlimited, long-term hosting with deep customization — a highly customizable home where your whole catalog lives safely for years — SmugMug’s maturity, unlimited storage, and customization are real advantages an event platform doesn’t try to match.
- If you’re a solo photographer whose business is selling prints from galleries weeks later, SmugMug’s built-in store, lab fulfillment, and shipping are a genuinely lower-lift fit than running your own event platform.
Not sure if we're the right fit?
Book a 30-minute Event Kickoff Call with Jon. We'll walk through your event, hear what you're trying to do, and tell you straight if BrandStudio is the right match — or point you somewhere better if not.