The key to becoming a successful photographer these days is business skills. It’s not always talent that sets a photographer apart. Knowing how to market your work and stay organized and efficient is what most allows a photographer to thrive in today’s competitive photographic market. Luckily there are so many applications that can help you do that. Here is a summary of ten necessary apps for your photography business.
Dubsado
Dubsado is a CRM system designed for creatives. This app has an attractive and easy to use interface that helps you keep track of projects, create a client list, and track when you have contacted them.
You can also keep track of your invoices, your Chart of Accounts, and integrate it with your Google calendar. You can create email templates, questionnaires, and photography packages.
The biggest bonus Dubsado offers is that it allows you to create contracts, releases and user agreements from within the software and send it out for a signature. Contract signature software like Hello Sign can cost you almost as much on a monthly basis as Dubsado, without all of the additional benefits.
Evernote
Evernote is not specifically for photographers. Rather, it’s a complete organization system.
It allows you to keep track of your business projects, personal and professional notes, and search for PDFs, images and scanned documents quickly. Evernote automatically syncs across all devices.
You can quickly snap a picture of your receipts and upload it directly to Evernote so you can have electronic copies that won’t fade with time as paper receipts do. This is very important if you happen to be the subject of a tax audit down the road.
Basically, Evernote is a robust tool to help you live a more paperless life.
Like many apps, there is a free plan but you can upgrade for extended features. The most popular plan is the Premium plan, which integrates with Google Drive and communication tools like Slack.
Blink Bid
If you’re a commercial photographer, Blink Bid is a must for estimating and invoicing jobs professionally. Used by photographers and larger agencies and production companies alike, Blink Bid offers several pricing packages. Most photographers will benefit from their cheapest package, which is only $16 a month, or $14 a month when paid annually.
In addition to a clickable list of line items you can add to your estimates, it also allows you to create usage licenses with their Usage Builder, or customize Terms and Conditions.
Blink Bid allows you to share with agents, producers, and other collaborators. You can also track your receipts and manage your budget.
Not sure you want to commit? You can sign-up for a free 14-day trial with no credit card required.
Prodibi
There are several apps available for sharing your work with clients, varying in quality and cost. Based in Switzerland, Prodibi is a top-tier app that allows you to display your high-resolution images and transfer them at full speed.
It also features a Capture One plug-in to get client feedback in full resolution.
The color management, image compression, and responsiveness are unbeatable.
You can also build a one-page portfolio to showcase your work in high quality with full zoom.
Prodibi offers free and paid options.
Shootproof
Shootproof is a great app to have if you shoot consumer photography like family portraits or weddings.
It’s an app that allows you to create beautiful online galleries and slideshows that align with your branding and style. It also offers several tools for business management, such as contracts and invoicing.
You can also create price sheets, packages, and discounts, and there is a self-fulfillment option that will allow you to work with partner labs such as Miller’s and ProDPI.
There is a free option that will allow you to upload up to 100 images. However, there are four other tiers you can choose from, depending on how many images you plan on uploading.
Sun Seeker
If you shoot outdoors, Sun Seeker in an important app to have downloaded on your smartphone or iPad.
Whether you’re a wedding photographer or shooting landscapes – or even some commercial projects – there are many situations where you’ll need to know where the sun will be situated at a certain time. It will help you plan your Golden Hour shoots, or be prepared to take beautiful sunrise photos in the mountains.
The app uses GPS, magnometer, and gyroscope to find the sun and solar path at any location. You can choose and any date to view what the sun path and position will be.
Sun Seeker is available for iPhone, android and iPad. For an overview, check out this link on Youtube.
Google Earth
For photographers doing location scouting, Google Earth is an incredibly valuable resource to have. It will allow you to explore worldwide satellite imagery, and the buildings and terrain of hundreds of cities.
Looking for an out-of-the-way spot for romantic engagement photos? Google Earth will help. Check out streets and landscapes before you go, and plan the details of your shoots well in advance so you don’t end up with surprises.
Easy Release
Whether you photograph models, buildings or other types of property, or if you want to license images with recognizable people in them through stock sites, you’ll need a model release.
Easy Release is an app that will help you to grab signatures on the go using your smartphone. No more needing to remember to have paper copies on hand that could get lost. You can collect the signatures and data you need on your device, automatically saving it to PDF and JPEG.
These releases are also accepted by the major stock sites, such as Getty and Shutterstock.
Sylights
One super-useful app to have is one that allows you to create lighting diagrams. This is where Sylight comes in. It’s free and simple to use.
If a regular client asks you to create a previous lighting scenario, having a diagram handy can help you out of a pinch if you can’t remember what you did.
To create a diagram, simply right click to add lights, modifiers, and subjects to your set. You can do this without an account, but signing-up will give you access to some premium features.
Wave
Accounting is often the thorn in every photographer’s side.
Luckily, Wave is a small business bookkeeping app that makes it a lot easier with a user-friendly interface and a variety of tools to help you simplify the process. The features that most photographers will need come for free, with no set-up fees or hidden charges.
The ability to run payroll is a paid-for service with Wave. You can also accept payments on a pay-per-use basis. Credit card processing is 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction. Bank payments are 1% per transaction.
Not only can you create professional invoices with Wave, but you can also integrate your business bank account and credit card, which will allow you to track expenses and generate reports, such as your Profit & Loss, Cash Flow, and General Ledger.
Conclusion
In reality, there are so many apps that can help you in your business as a photographer. This is just a recommended few that you might find helpful.
If there are any apps for your photography business that you find invaluable, let us know in the comments below.
