My Favourite Photography Business Software and Workflow Tools

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This year marks 10 years since I started my photography business, and I can’t quite believe it. It seems like just yesterday I bought my first DSLR camera and spent days on YouTube and CreativeLive watching tutorials on how to become a wedding photographer. Over these years, and as my business has grown, I’ve tried and tested so many different workflows and business tools to help me be more efficient, with the end goals of saving me time AND enhancing the experience for my clients.

So in this short article, I want to share all of my favourite photography business software and tools. The ones I couldn’t run my business without:

Everyday Admin & Finances

Dubsado

Dubsado is a Client Relationship Management (CRM) software that helps you keep track of enquiries and booked clients through advanced automated workflows. Forget sending out PDF contracts or manually creating invoices. You can do it all through Dubsado seamlessly.

Why I love Dubsado:

• Fully automated workflows, from the first enquiry email
• Conditional workflow actions – such as waiting for the client to take an action before a particular email is sent
• Integrated scheduler for easily booking calls
• Fully customisable branding
• Easy integrated invoicing, with auto-pay and payment plan options

Use the following code for 20% discount: wildconnections

Wise

Over many years of working internationally and with clients from around the globe, I’ve found that Wise offers the best solutions for cross-currency bank transfers, multi-currency accounts, and international payments when travelling. I use Wise both in my business and personally. Wise allows your clients to pay in their local currency and does the conversion for you, so that you receive the funds in your local currency. No more unexpected international payment fees. And the best thing – it’s FREE!

Photo Editing & Delivery Software & Tools

Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop

These programs really don’t need any introduction. The OG of photo editing software, I couldn’t live without my Adobe photo suite. Almost all of my editing is done in Lightroom Classic, but every now and then I also use Photoshop. I also have Lightroom CC on my phone and tablet for some on-the-fly editing when I’m on the road.

Archipelago Presets

These have been my favourite presets since almost as long as I’ve been a photographer. They have previously had two sets tailored to Fujifilm, but their whole catalogue will make you want to own them all.

Narrative Select (+ Edit)

I use Narrative Select to help me quickly cull my images after an elopement. I really like that Narrative Select uses AI to assist, but doesn’t do the culling for you. The AI-assisted features include grouping similar images into scenes to help you easily choose the best ones. My favourite features are the eyes-open and focus indicators and the face-zoom panel that zooms in on faces to help me quickly pick the best shots.

Narrative Select also includes the option to do AI editing – however this is something that I’m still on the fence about (mainly for ethical and environmental reasons).

Sign up for a free trial and use the code ‘adventureweddingacademy‘ to save 10%.

Photomechanic

Whilst I do my culling in Narrative Select, I still use Photomechanic as part of my editing workflow to bulk import, backup, and rename image files right after a shoot.

Pic-Time

Over the years I have tried many different photo gallery options, and Pic-Time is by far my favourite. Not only does it have a really beautiful aesthetic, but it also has an incredible integrated shop function. Since my couples live all over the world, I love being able to link their gallery to the best print labs in their countries. This not only makes it easier for them to order prints and albums from the best printers, but it also reduces the time, cost, and footprint of shipping items overseas from here in Europe.

Use code Q65R3Z for 1 month free when you upgrade to a paid plan.

Social Media & Marketing Software & Tools

Social Templates Co – Instagram Reel Templates

I really hate social media these days, and even more since everything seemed to move towards a focus on Reels and video content. Thankfully I discovered Social Templates Co which has easy to use Reels templates using trending audio. This means all I need to do is select the template I want, add in my photos, and it creates an awesome Reel that I can either post right away or schedule to publish later.

Get 1-month free trial with code: AWA

Tailwind

Know you could be doing more with Pinterest, but you don’t have the time? When it comes to your Pinterest strategy, Tailwind is an essential tool. While other social media schedulers allow you to schedule to Pinterest, Tailwind is specifically designed to optimize your Pinterest strategy. With its amazing Chrome plugin and bulk scheduler, you’ll be able to create a month’s worth of content from your blog posts super quickly. Not only that, Tailwind optimises the posting frequency and times to work best with when your audience is most active AND in line with Pinterest’s own best practices.

Canva

I love Canva – it’s the graphic design tool for people like me who don’t know how to use tools like InDesign. It’s a drag-and-drop style design tool that enables me to create everything from blog graphics to social media posts that all align with my branding.

Website

Kadence WordPress Theme

WordPress might be a bit of a learning curve at the start, but if you want a website that’s future-proof, it’s still probably the best option, especially when it comes to SEO performance. The Kadence theme is a free WordPress theme that gives you lots of template options. I actually have a lifetime subscription to Kadence Pro as for the multiple sites that I manage (including European Elopement Guide and Adventure Wedding Academy), the additional fee is worth it for the advanced features.

StyleCloud

StyleCloud came about as a solution when Flothemes announced they would be stopping support for their WordPress themes and integrating into Pixiset instead. StyleCloud sits on top of the free Kadence theme and allows you to use one of their super sleek website templates to create a really high-end photography website that looks incredible (without sacrificing SEO and performance). But it’s not only templates. Because Kadence is a block builder, StyleCloud is an extensive library of blocks, making it possible to build you own site exactly as you want it with their pre-designed blocks. Both this site and European Elopement Guide are built with Kadence + StyleCloud.

Use the code ADVENTUREW15 to save 15%

Cloudways Web Hosting

Every website needs hosting – and I’ve learned the hard way that cheap hosting isn’t reliable hosting. After many years of cheaper hosting where my site would crash often, I migrated to Cloudways. While it’s more expensive, it’s faster and more reliable than any other hosting I have used.

Get 5% discount with code CLOUD5

Other tools I couldn’t live without

Backblaze

I know friends who have had hard drive failures, and in 2024 it also happened to me when my beloved iMac hard drive suddenly stopped working. Thankfully I had my whole computer backed up with Backblaze, and I was able to restore everything once I got a new hard drive.

Clean My Mac

Clean My Mac is one of the best tools I’ve found to keep my computers running quickly and smoothly. Once I week I run a full scan to remove junk and make sure nothing is slowing my machine down – as during wedding season when I’m editing every week I don’t want anything slowing my computer down.

CopyTrack

Unfortunately, I’ve had images stolen more times than I can count. Keeping track of these is impossible though, and that’s why I use CopyTrack. CopyTrack is a No Win – No Fee service that searches the internet for your stolen images and helps you claim compensation when your images are used without licensing or consent.

Sign Up Link: https://app.copytrack.com/register?rc=60102
Referral Code: 60102

NordVPN + NordPass

I’ve combined these tools into one item, simply because you can buy them as a package (that’s what I do and recommend).

I use NordVPN for SEO research so that I can change my location. It’s also great for visiting sites that aren’t available in my location (not to mention the bonus of being able to change my Netflix location to get different shows). Originally, I added the NordPass subscription as it was only a small extra payment, and now I couldn’t live without it.

NordPass is a password manager, available as a Chrome Plugin and also as an app. I no longer need to reuse the same passwords again and again, or try to keep track of super complex passwords. NordPass remembers everything for me, and auto-fills the info on most login screens.

If you want to read some more in-depth reviews about my experiences with many of these tools, check out the free resources over on the Adventure Wedding Academy – my elopement photography education site.