There are many cool things that come with being in business for over 10 years. I’ve seen my industry grow, change, invent, innovate, shift focus, you name it. This is not just true for photography though, businesses out there are having to work twice as hard to keep up with technology and new trends.

As a full time photographer, my time is very valuable. I want to be working ON my business and not just FOR my business. There are 5 tools I use just about everyday that simplifies things for me and I thought I’d share with you today:

1. Lightroom vs. Photoshop and using the Creative Cloud:

Editing software for photographers change ALL THE TIME. I remember having to invest close to a thousand dollars every couple of years to get Adobe’s newest version of Photoshop. I don’t remember exactly when I switched to Lightroom, but the idea of editing in batches made my life so much easier. Now you can cull in Photo Mechanic, edit in Lightroom, and boom! Then Creative Cloud became a thing and for under $11/month you can have your softwares and update them as necessary. Thanks Adobe! Click here to check out the Creative Cloud.

2. BlogStomp:

If you think I spend hours upon hours on photoshop to make my blog look the way it does, I don’t! With BlogStomp I can just drag my images to the software and easily create side-by-side collages, or choose from the many layouts available. BlogStomp also sharpens for web sharing, and you can add your logo if you want. Click here to learn more or purchase BlogStomp. 

3. Sunrise Sunset App:

I have an app on my phone so I can check the sunrise and sunset times on any given day of the year. It’s so helpful when telling my clients what time our session should be. Especially with living in Minnesota, the sunset time can vary from 5pm to 9pm, and since I love to photograph at golden hour (1.5-1h before sunset), the app helps to figure out when that will be. I use a free app from the App Store. It’s one with a red background, a yellow sun, and the words “LITE” on top, in green.

4. Honeybook:

I just recently started using Honeybook and I love it! It’s a great client management software and you can streamline contracts/proposals, invoices and payments, add your entire pricing, create brochures… It’s so worth the investment! Click here to learn more. 

5. Square:

Probably one of the cheapest ways to accept credit cards out there. I’ve had a terminal/credit card machine with a 4 year contract that had me in tears a couple of times because of all the hidden fees! Square is super simple, you can invoice clients, and you can accept regular and chip cards. Click here to learn more.

Cheers to all the amazing tools out there! Do you use something you absolutely love in your business? If so, I would love to know about it: poly@polymendesphotography.com.