Recently, I shared my favourite business tools for creative entrepreneurs, and today I’m getting even more specific with my top 3 must-have business tools for photographers. As a branding photographer, I need a few extra programs and online software programs to help me do my job well and as efficiently as possible.

Photo Mechanic: Photo Processing and Editing

My first must-have program is Photo Mechanic. I’m not kidding when I tell you that this program will literally give you back years of your life. It allows you to load, view, cull and export your RAW images at lightning speed. When I was a wedding photographer, I could cull an entire wedding (4000+ images) in less than an hour. Now as a branding photographer, I can cull a one-hour branding session in 10 minutes. 10 MINUTES, ya’ll!

If you haven’t invested in Photo Mechanic, I highly recommend looking into it. It’s a one-time purchase that will give you back valuable time that you can spend working ON your business instead of in it!

CULLING TIP: Only “tag” the images that are a “HECK YES!”. Leaving the “meh” images will ensure your gallery shines with the absolute best images AND will mean fewer images to edit.

Lightroom: Adobe Photo Editing App

Next up, this one of my favourite business tools for photographers is a no-brainer in my opinion! If you aren’t using Lightroom and you’re a professional photographer, you miiiiight be wasting more of that valuable time, friend! Lightroom has the ability to batch edit and sync images using a preset. If that’s not a language you understand, know that it will allow you to edit an image about 10x faster than Photoshop.

However, if you need more powerful retouching tools like the Clone Stamp, you will need to pop a few of those extra-edits-required images into Photoshop. Good news is, you can actually do it right from Lightroom instead of taking extra steps!

EDITING HACK: Edit your weddings and sessions backward. It might sound ridiculous and feel weird at first, but it’s a trick a friend shared with me years ago. It allows me to edit faster because I’m not caught up in the emotion. We also stop shooting when we feel like we have captured the best image which would logically be at the end of the sequence.

Pic-Time: Gallery Hosting Platform

Next in the post-production process would be the delivery of images, and for that I choose Pic-Time! I have used many different gallery hosts before including Pixieset but Pic-Time is hands down the best one out there. I can’t ever imagine finding something to replace it on my list of must-have business tools for photographers.

Aside from being extremely user-friendly, having the option of web-size and high-resolution downloads, and so much more, they have the most print studio options.

If you offer IPS (in-person sales) and print albums for your clients, this is a game-changer! It allows you to hook up a store that is linked to your favourite print studio. You can have the products shipped to you first for quality checks, or drop ship them right to your client! It makes it easy peasy if you ask me.

WANT A FREE MONTH? Use my code “V85RQ4” and we’ll both receive a free month. This is perfect if you want to give it a try first.

If you’re a photographer and would love more help in your business, I’d love to help! 1:1 coaching is one of my favourite ways to help photographers streamline their businesses, elevate their brand and attract more clients!