Whether you’re just getting started in the world of photography or you’ve been here for a while, you’re going to need some programs to keep you going.

It might seem a little overwhelming, and you might find yourself asking if you really need this one or that one. I want to share my 3 favorite subscriptions, what I use them for, and why I couldn’t live without them.

First: Adobe Creative Cloud

There are lots of different plan options and you don’t need the top one. The basic $9.99/month plan that gets you 20gb of storage, Lightroom, and Photoshop is probably all you’ll ever need. I upgraded my storage to a TB because I like to cull from my iPad and I need to make sure I have enough room to store a couple sessions, weddings, and branding sessions at a time. You’ll be hard pressed to find a photographer that doesn’t complete their post-processing work in Lightroom. You also don’t need to be a Photoshop expert in order to use photoshop. There are probably only 7 tools that I use out of the thousands that the program offers.

Second: Flodesk

This is an email service that gives you appealing, modern email templates to send to your email list. I’m sure you’ve heard entrepreneurs talk about the importance of email lists. Email newsletters are something I’m trying to be better about sending. Their current pricing is $38/month. Even if an email newsletter doesn’t seem like your jam, I still recommend building your email list just in case. Flodesk offers landing pages for all of your emails and contact forms as well. When I do send an email, I will often post the landing page for it on my social media to help promote it as well (see my Christmas Mini Session promos here) Try it out with my referral link and we can both get a discount!

Third: CloudSpot

 This is my all time favorite gallery hosting site (and I’ve tried a couple). In addition to the super appealing galleries they offer, they also have amazing mobile apps with your client’s images too. Almost every single one of my clients comments on how much they love their custom app. In addition to a killer website, every portrait and wedding photographer needs a way to deliver their killer images. They have different pricing options that start at $0 per month! (And go all the way up to $45/month for unlimited which is totally worth it in my opinion because I don’t have to worry about client’s galleries expiring and me needing to re-upload them if they ever forget to download their images. You can see their other pricing options here.

Stay tuned for another post where I share more of my favorite business programs! Do you use any of these ??? Tell me your favorite apps / programs / sites!

 

xoxo, Elle