Favourite Photographer Resources

FAVOURITE RESOURCES

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BUILDING YOUR WEBSITE

Pixieset– I just love how simple it is to create a website with Pixieset! It’s extremely user-friendly and the templates are beautiful. In 2021 they partnered up with Flothemes so there will be some great templates in the future from them! Another bonus is if you have you already have your client galleries with them, it’s nice to have everything all in one place.
Showit – Drag and drop website builder for WordPress. It’s one of the most recommended by top photographers in all different genres.

CLIENT GALLERIES

Pixieset – When you sign up for a free account using my link you will get a bonus of 250 MB added to the 3GB. The galleries are easy for your clients to use, like and share their images. It’s nice to have built-in gallery stores, which can help you generate additional income without too much extra work on your end. I also love how Pixieset has added a studio manager so you really can do everything from one location.
Pic-time – At the end of 2021, I decided to switch my client galleries over to Pic-time. Their gallery stores have more options of which labs you want your products to come from (Canadian options for the win!) plus they have amazing automation and campaigns that make it even easier for you to generate extra income with sales and promotions throughout the year. Use code 74JS23 for 1 month free!
Vimeo – This is a great option for sharing your films with clients. They have the ability to download directly from Vimeo. Another option is dropbox or any other cloud but that can start taking up a lot of space on your accounts.

EDUCATION

Click Community – One of my favourite online resources. They have fantastic tutorials, contests, prompts, and business chats. It’s a fun way to connect with other photographers and get some insight into your images. Everyone on there I have encountered so far has been very helpful! This is perfect for any photographer, from those just starting out to those who have a well-established business.
Emotional Storytelling with Twyla Jones – Twyla gives you great ideas for goal setting, sparking creativity, and attracting your ideal clients. She goes into detail about how she edits and how she works with her clients to get those emotional images.
Kyle Goldie’s Coaching Program – I signed up for his program at the end of 2021. I didn’t have the extra cash but I knew that it was something I needed to do. One of those situations where I couldn’t afford to not do it. Kyle has helped me grow my business and feel more confident in the direction that I’m taking it. The Inner Circle Facebook group is SO helpful and all the photographers in it have the same amazing, positive, supportive mindset. The program includes his Elevate course and at least one 1:1 call to gain clarity on your business and how to gain more leads organically. Inside the Facebook group are also 2-3x weekly group calls where you can ask questions or even just listen in!

PHOTO MANAGEMENT

Jpeg mini – This program helps reduce the sizes of your images so they take up way less space on your hard drives but doesn’t reduce their quality. I put every single one of my images through this program after I edit them.
Backblaze – My go-to online backup system. It automatically backs up your files each month or whenever you set it to. If something happens to your computer then you can restore everything to a new one or even order a USB with all of your files to be sent to you. I typically have my files on the computer, on an external hard drive and on Backblaze. Plus client galleries are loaded into my Pic-Time so that’s another backup! You can never have too many!

VIDEO EDITING

Music Bed – My favourite songs for family films are from music bed. It is one of the more expensive options for music licensing but it is 100% worth it if you are creating more films.
Epidemic Sound – This site has plenty of music to choose from for my family films and it has a much lower price point. The personal plan is only $15USD a month or $144 for a yearly subscription. This would be a great option for someone just starting out with creating videos.
Music Vine – Just another option for music licensing. It’s always nice to have plenty of tracks to choose from. I personally try not to use the same music twice.
Davinci Resolve – My video editing software (It’s FREE!). It is a bit of a learning curve but once you have the buttons figured out, it has everything you could ever need!