Family sessions are one of the hardest. The kids often don’t want to have their photos taken, and their idea for photos is definitely different from the one of their parents. Moreover, interrupted play, as a lady with a camera came, or the necessity to put on not necessarily comfortable clothes and constant reprimands of the parents do not really help here. Here is what you have to know for such a session to be successful:

#1 Do not force

First of all, never ever force a child to do anything. Especially to pose, to do what he/she doesn’t want, etc. Encourage, try in hundred ways, yet do not force. If you dream of a pose but the child does not want to cooperate… well, let it go then. Change the dream. Change the pose. Change the attitude. Why? Just not to discourage the child. That is my motto. What we really want is a customer who gets back and is satisfied, right?

#2 Parents’ trust

https://www.photonesto.com/en/

Second of all, inform the parents to let you do everything freely, in accordance with your own idea, if possible. That is, ask them not to say “look there”, “look at the lady”, “look in the camera”, “come on, smile” every 5 seconds. Oh dear… put yourself in the child’s place – that just can’t be nice. Let that be just

your part. And they? Their help is priceless when you ask for it. Instead of that, build a relation with the child / children from the very beginning of the session, and as I say “go with the flow”. Observe children’s behavior, what you can persuade them to do and what not to, how to outwit them, how to make some jokes with them, etc.

#3 Manage the chaos

No one pays attention to you…? Parents are shouting at the kids, and kids, just like kids…. Don’t worry about that – that’s quite normal. Noise and chaos do not help children to focus. They’re getting out of their minds when a few people talk to them at the same time and at some point no message reaches them anymore.

That is exactly why you don’t want the parents to encourage the children to look at the camera lens. You want to have this final argument when you want all of them to look at you at a given moment. I assure you that the photos of everybody looking at the camera are highly desired. Every single family wants to have some of that kind, even if they think that they don’t want it now. If you can do everything your own way, you need to act at full power to make the child, or two children, or sometimes even three, interested. No one said that would be easy!

#4 Patience

Have patience. For children? Not necessarily only for children. Sometimes you need more patience for parents, who, for instance, check who got dirty where, what got wrinkled and who has spiky hair every 5 seconds.. I wish you only have such parents who do not fear jumping in the puddles, rolling on the grass and good fun. However, when you happen to hit on a perfectionist mother or a father who is not interested in the subject…. That’s exactly when you should use your super power – the patience.

#5 Real moments

The fifth point I shall focus on funny and spontaneous faces. If there are children who can walk and you can generally freely communicate with them on the session – offer them a crazy and unexpected attack on their parents. My permanent trick. The mother and the father are sitting backwards and you ask them to ignore what is going on around them completely. At the same time, you take the child aside and arrange what kind of pranks he/she is going to do to his/her parents. I recommend the classics – a child runs in between the parents, “attacks” them from the side, hugs madly or jumps on their back… What will the result be? I never know. Yet, in 9 out of 10 cases, that turns out to be a jackpot shot. You must observe what is happening for a while after this surprise. These are the moments which are the most real.

#6 Take care of your own shape

If you are not in a good shape and don’t like to move I may disappoint you – you will never be a good family photographer. I shall recommend you to squat, roll, jump and run with the kids – that is, to take photos and play with them at the same height. Thanks to that, you have better shots at a better level, and not always from the top. That also makes you gain in the eyes of a child. The more points you score, the more they do for you at the session. You will even persuade them to take boring poses, or at least get them tired, so that they want to hug their mum and dad at the end of the session. That’s so easy, yet we often forget about that…

#7 Variable session pace

When you happen to hit a kid, who already walks, runs and therefore runs away from the frame – do not panic. Let him run. Here comes my good advice: change the pace of the session. I recommend running / a moment of calm hugging / running / an attempt to set a family pose / running / mum with the child / running / dad with the child … all that not to get the child bored and to distract his attention. My aim is not only to avoid discouraging the kid from taking the photos, yet make him/her like that – make him/her remember that was fun with a strange, yet funny lady. And not just as a session with a photographer.

#8 Results preview

Let the child see what he/she looks like in the photo. Seriously. Of course, I am talking about some older children. I have noticed that both boys and girls are happy when they see how nice they look like. At that stage, the children are often also interested in my camera and want to take a photo. I let them do that, yet with assurance obviously. The small photographer takes a photo of his/her parents and I get more appreciated by this tiny model.

#9 Engage the family to select the photos

As you can see, the result of a family photo session may be entirely unexpected. What I have learnt making family sessions is that one cannot plan too much. That is why, it is a good idea to engage the family to select the photos. I do it in such a way: after the session finishes, I sit down and make a preliminary selection of photos, I reject blurry photo, poorly framed, etc. What is left I share with the parents in a form of an Internet photo gallery. Naturally, erything protected with a watermark.

Photonesto is a perfect tool for that. It looks great, is intuitive for the clients and allows you to make a selection and purchase some additional photos.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/MKnqFqmY3eQ

I rework and share the photos selected by the family. I hope that the tips presented will be helpful for you and will let you feel well in the world of family photography.

https://www.photonesto.com/en/blog/

I'm a photographer specializing in family, baby and pregnancy sessions. I have my own

studio where I work. Some time ago, going through posts published on one of the Facebook

groups for photographers, I came across an interesting discussion and decided to make an

experiment related to it. Let me tell you about it below.

What to do when a client wants to buy more photos than he previously ordered?

The discussion was about photos not included in the package the client buys before the

session. A photographer asked about the best way to sell them if the client asks for them

after the session. If such situation occurs, she doesn’t have enough time to go through the

unprocessed photos again. What’s more, her computer doesn’t have enough space to keep

all of them.

A fellow photographer replied that when she sends a gallery from the session to the client, in

addition to the photos selected as part of the package, she also attaches unprocessed

photos in case the client wants to buy them. If this is the case, the client chooses which

additional photos he wants, he pays for them, and she processes them and sends them

back. That way, she doesn't waste time dealing with photos that won't be sold.

My experiment

Inspired, I instantly decided to implement a new sales model. Until now, my offer included

two types of sessions, which differed in duration and number of makeovers. I gave each

client a different number of photos, depending on how good our cooperation was. But I have

always committed to provide a minimum of 10 retouched photographs in high resolution.

My experiment introduced two fundamental changes: I began to specify the number of

photos the client will get as a part of the package and I gave clients the opportunity to

purchase additional photos. I admit that I had great concerns about what my clients will think

about the new sales model. I was worried they will think I am trying to take advantage of

them or persuade them to buy something they don’t really want.

My price list before and after the experiment:

My work pattern after making changes:

1. The client chooses the package and we arrange a photoshoot.

2. The client pays a deposit or makes a full payment; I take pictures.

3. I make a preliminary selection: I reject shots that are out of focus, poorly cropped and not

suitable for further work.

4. I put a watermark on all the unprocessed photos and send them to the client.

5. The client selects photos as part of the package and decides on additional photos.

6. I process the chosen photos and send them back to the client.

The tool I chose for my experiment

It turned out it was not an easy job to find a tool that would support my new way of working.

Most online platforms for photographers don't offer the features I needed, such as adding

watermarks or sales and photo selection options. Those that offer them, usually are not that

user friendly. But I found Photonesto, which gives all these options, is very intuitive and

offers a clear summary of each order.

Results of my experiment

In order for the experiment to give reliable results, I decided to perform 20 photoshoots in

the new model.

The results are included in the table below:

The prices from the table differ slightly from the price list presented above: some of the clients participating in the

experiment are my regular clients with whom I negotiate prices individually.

The results were fantastic: 90% of my clients chose to buy additional photos, which

significantly increased my profit! Interestingly, also the clients were positively surprised

by my new offer. Most of them said it was honest and they were happy about an option of

choosing photos themselves and buying extra photos if they liked them. This is yet another

proof that it’s worth setting a just price on your services and investing in professional

solutions!

Summary of the increase in sales profit after the introduction of the new model:

More sales, transparent price list and clear rules of cooperation

The increase in sales profit by over 60% (by PLN 6,810) is a lot. There is not much one

needs to add to that. And yet I will. Because this experiment showed me two important

things: that it is highly valuable to draw from other photographers’ experiences and that one

needs to constantly improve own business strategy.

Thanks to a conversation I accidentally came across, I completely changed the way I work.

What’s more, I decided to stay with this new model for longer. Apart from the financial

benefits, it has many other advantages. Firstly, I give my clients a clear price list and

manage their expectations well, because the terms of cooperation are set at the very

beginning. Secondly, I save my time as I only deal with photos that clients liked and paid for.

I don't waste time on photographs that I will never sell. In addition, this model works well with

those tricky clients who might want to get more photos for the same price. With a clearly set

price list and a good program for selling photos, this is not an option at all. My new sales

model protects both my clients and me. And it gives me confidence that I offer the best

service I can.

Finishing, presentation of the work results and their look are crucial in the profession of a

photographer. When it comes to the packaging, in which the photos are handed, the

customers want something nice and aesthetic.

However, fashion and trends in this industry are variable. Style, color scheme and tastes

change. A webpage is, at that point, similar to the packages for photos. It also serves as a

showpiece and affects customers' feelings and perception.

The outlook and aesthetics of a photographer’s webpage is just as important as its clarity

and the possibility of its easy navigation.

It is not enough to purchase a new theme in Wordpress to improve your webpage. It often

requires more work on the configuration, which makes it end with half measures and an

underdeveloped solution. Due to a heavy workload, further development of a website often

gets pushed aside.

Instead of overinvesting in redundant photographic equipment, it is worth to allocate these

resources and time in improving the webpage:

● Updating the webpage in accordance with current trends in the industry

● Refining the details and minor imperfections (page disruption)

● Matching fonts to the logo and brand image

● Ensuring consistency of graphics and logos

● Implementing major changes once every few years, maybe even reorganizing theentire graphic design

Such undertakings show that a photographer is up-to-date and wants to lead the market and

therefore provide better service to the clients.

Even a portfolio which is not the best, benefits when it is presented in a proper way. One of

the forms of such a presentation is placing a fragment of own portfolio from Photonesto on

the webpage. You can do it by copying a special HTML code, generated on the

photographer’s panel in Photonesto service and then pasting the code on your webpage.

https://www.photonesto.com/en/private-sessions/

The advantages of placing a portfolio with Photonesto:

● Guaranteed clear presentation of own photos in the photo gallery

● The photos are presented in a neat and user-friendly way

● Nothing gets disrupted

● Security – the access to the gallery is protected with a password

● The list of galleries in portfolio is always up-to-date and in accordance with the content in Photonesto

Photography: how to begin?

Everyone used to start. Each person in a little different way and with various results.

Today I’d like to share my reflections and advice on how to become a professional

photographer. It’s time to make your dreams come true!

Action plan for photographers for the very beginning

1. Create a fan page (even if you are not planning a professional career at

photography yet) – gaining new followers or fans from the beginning is a great

help if you want to change a photographic hobby into work. Beginning with no

audience when you want to make money is quite dispiriting. Remember that

your fan page should be professional to the greatest possible extent. Do not

share any content which is at an insufficient level.

https://www.photonesto.com/en/private-sessions/

2. Be professional in every aspect. When you start to implement first orders

(even free), behave as if you were a part of that business for a very long time.

For instance, do not send the photos to a client on his e-mail, or from any free

accounts for sharing photos. Use a tool to send photos for photographers,

such as, for example Photonesto - https://www.photonesto.com/en/. Thanks to

this approach, the clients will view you as a pro and will recommend you while

they feel better served.

3. Show off your photos within the industry. Send photos to various photo

competitions or other on Facebook / Instagram. A referral in a form of taking

some place, or even a distinction sounds really serious and the clients will

have a specific basis to consider using your professional photo services – after

all, an amateur does not win competitions, right? ;-)

4. Equipment – that is an important element of every professional photographer.

It is important to invest in quality and not quantity at the beginning. Buy one

camera lens, yet a good, solid one. Preferably with bright light. A minimum of

f/1.8 or even brighter. Such lens would work with every possible order. From

product photography, through a wedding or a family one, and finishing on

fashion photo shooting and other specializations. You will “worry” about future

investments in equipment once you start making money on photography.

5. Analyze photos and professional stories of top photographers. One

photographer and his story a day. Each of them used to start and their path

may be a suggestion for you. I had spent many hours seeking inspiration from

others myself. At some point it became an everyday habit – I highly

recommend that.

6. “If it’s not on the Internet, then it does not exist” – the whole knowledge and

experience of various people is on the Internet. Yeah, I know, quite trivial, but

that is the truth – at the moment, the number of online guidebooks and

photography courses is countless. Start with some free content. I also

recommend you to listen to podcasts of photographers who have been

successful in their fields.

Summary

These are just a few ideas for the beginning. The most important thing is not to give

up and do something to become a better photographer every day. You will surely

have moments of doubt and disappointment, yet every single person who has

achieved something went through this one moment or another – with no exceptions

here. Work, get inspired and do everything to become a professional photographer.

Today, we will tell you a bit about business photoshoots and tools you can use to transfer

photos to your corporate clients. We'll also tell you which of them is the most effective.

Business photoshoots – a task for polymath photographers

Business photography is a complex subject. When dealing with corporate clients you can be

asked to photograph anything – meals served in a restaurant, a newly erected building,

fashion, concerts, office space and people. A good business photographer must specialize

in various types of photography, from still life to portraits.

Technical problems encountered by business photographers

To effectively work with business clients, it’s worth thinking about the logistics of their orders

so that you don’t waste their time (and yours as well) and that the clients come back to you

in the future.

We often hear from you that when dealing with corporate clients you’re worried about:

– the way the clients select their photos. Sessions for businesses mean a lot of photo

material which must be carefully selected. In the case of corporate clients, the process can

involve many employees and take a long time;

– what is the best, fastest and most reliable method to publish and upload your photos;

– visual presentation of your photos. You want the client to open the gallery of your pictures

and think “wow, that’s just great”!

– the way best to handle the transaction. You want your clients to have a simple summary of

their order and a clear invoice.

Tools for transferring photos online

Below we’ve collected tools you can use to transfer photos to your clients and we explain

what you should know before you decide to use any of them.

1. Google Drive

It’s well known to all Google users. You can use it to transfer up to 15 GB of data. It’s

a comprehensive tool, but not adapted to the sale of photos. It can prove problematic

when you have many clients and send different photos to each of them. What’s

more, it doesn’t allow your client to select photos which means you have to be in

direct contact with them on emails or phone during the process.

2. Dropbox

Just as Google Drive, Dropbox is not created for photo sessions, and does not have

any sales option. Dealing with many clients at the same time can proof problematic,

just as the process of selecting photos, which must be done using external tools,

such as phone, emails or messages. The free data limit here is 2GB.

3. WeTransfer

It’s probably the most popular way of uploading photos online and a great option to

send files to friends. But do remember that this platform does not have a sales option

and so it forces you to discuss the details of selection and sales directly with your

clients. This often leads to mistakes and confusion. The free data limit is 2GB.

4. Photonesto

It’s an application tailored for photographers! It’s a great tool for transferring

photos and it allows your clients to make their own selection of your pictures. It also

allows you to sell photos as part of the package and the additional ones, selected by

the client after the session. What’s more, you can use it to sell other gadgets, such

as photobooks and prints.

Thanks to Photonesto, you provide your clients with a comprehensive customer

service. The platform is easy to use: in just a few simple steps you upload your

photos and click "send login details" to give your client a link to their gallery. Both the

photographer and the client get email notifications at every stage of the transaction

so that they both know when the photos have been uploaded, selected and when

they are ready for collection. Photonesto looks sleek and professional. The sales

process is clear: the clients know in advance how much and for what they have to

pay. You don't have to worry about gigabytes here – Photonesto imposes no data

limits. It also gives you quick access to all your sessions, along with information

about how advanced you are with each of them. The platform works smoothly on

any device, protects with watermarks the photos which were not paid for and is

constantly developing to meet your requirements.

https://www.photonesto.com/en/private-sessions/

Photonesto means a satisfied client

Google Drive, Dropbox and WeTransfer are undoubtedly the most recognizable tools for

uploading photos. It’s however Photonesto that gives the photographer and his client exactly

what they need. If you work in business photography and you care about professional

customer service, you don't have to look any further!

As a photographer working mainly on session photography, I attach great importance to the

way I deliver my photos to clients. This is crucial for many reasons. Firstly, delivering photos

is the most important moment in my communication with clients, when they finally see the

effect of my work. This experience has to be great and the program I use to do it should be

reliable. Secondly, creating a gallery for clients can be really time-consuming. I personally

appreciate solutions which do not take too much of my time and are simple.

Apps for selling photos from sessions

My work is focused mainly on baby, children and family sessions. I have a lot of orders, so I

need to rely on a good program for selling photos. So far, I've used two applications for

photographers – Shootproof and Photonesto.

Initially, I used Shootproof. Up until recently it was the only system that allowed to sell

photos from sessions. A few months ago, I started using Photonesto and I am currently

selling my photos using this system. Below I will tell you about the differences and

similarities between the two applications.

What matters for a photographer

Both systems are fully professional and allow for reliable handling of packet photo

sales. Shootproof has many advanced functionalities and configuration options, but for this

reason it is more difficult to use. Surely there are some photographers who use all these

options, but I don’t belong to them. The method of adding photos is quite complicated here,

and creating a simple gallery can take a few minutes and requires a lot of clicking.

Photonesto is very different in this sense. It is simpler and at the same time allows

you to do exactly the same as Shootproof. At Photonesto I use Private Sessions option,

which is ideal for session photographers. To create a photo gallery, I enter basic info about the client and immediately I receive a gallery tailored to my specific order. It takes less than

a minute and is very easy.

What matters for a client

A good photo sales system should be satisfying for photographers and for their clients. Both

Photonesto and Shootproof offer clients a pleasant and modern interface. Galleries in both

cases load quickly, everything works as it should, and the programs do not freeze. What

makes Photonesto stand out is the clear way in which it summarizes orders. Thanks to

this, the client always knows exactly what he is paying for and what is the amount of the

additional payment for his order (in case of purchasing additional photos).

What I would https://www.photonesto.com/en/private-sessions/ love to see in Photonesto is the integration of the system with the payment

gateway, enabling the client to make payment when placing the order. Currently, I have to

handle all payments on my own, so I am looking forward to this functionality.

Price comparison

Shootproof and Photonesto are very different when it comes to the price and the payment

system. Shootproof works on a subscription model – in my case the annual fee was $200.

Photonesto uses the pay-as-you-go payment model, which means you only pay when you

use it. In practice, payment in Photonesto is calculated separately for each session. Prices

start from $3 for a single session. With a comparable number of clients, my annual fee

for Photonesto services was about 30% lower than at Shootproof. That's a lot,

especially during low season or in unexpected circumstances, such as the current pandemic

which prevents you from working in normal mode. My current number of orders equals zero,

so it's very convenient that I don't have any costs.

Which platform is better?

Despite all similarities in the way the platforms work, Photonesto comes out as a better program! Both apps are designed well and look very good. However, Photonesto is simpler

and therefore more transparent. The smaller number of functionalities is an advantage,

because it makes me get what I want really quickly. And the 30% difference in the price of

Photonesto seals the deal!

Every photographer encounters similar problems when it comes to handling their photos and clients. Many of those problems can be addressed with the help of tools available on the Internet. Our article shows you tools we consider useful and explains why we think they should become a must-have for every professional photographer.

1. Flothemes – a platform for building websites

https://flothemes.com/

Today, everything is online. If you're not on the Internet, it's like your business does not exist at all. To make it big out there, you need a smart looking and functional website that will advertise your services. Flothemes allows you to build attractive websites dedicated to photographers. It offers ready-made templates based on Wordpress that are easy to adapt and update. If you are planning to refresh your website or are just about to create one, check out their offer.

2. Canva – a tool for graphic design

https://www.canva.com/

Social media is currently the place to do marketing. If you regularly publish content out there, it significantly translates into the number of acquired clients. Preparing graphically attractive entries, for example for Instagram, takes time and is often complicated. Here comes Canva! It is a ready-made tool for making graphics, ideally suited for the production of content for social media. Even in its free version, the program allows you to do a lot. We use it often and since we started using it, we reduced by half the time we devoted to this type of work!

3. Photonesto – a platform for photographers working on sessions and weddings

https://www.photonesto.com/en/

To grow business, every photographer needs satisfied clients. The more clients you have and the more satisfied they are, the more willingly they will come back to you and recommend you to their friends. A very important moment in communication with clients is the way you transfer to them effects of your work. The best option to do so is via Photonesto, a platform that allows you to publish photos and send them to clients. Photonesto provides a professional, fast and visually attractive service. It allows you to create beautiful galleries the clients love. What's more, the Private Session option, ideal for session photography, allows clients to choose photos as part of the package and also additional ones. Photonesto is simple and intuitive to use and requires minimal effort on your part.

4. SmartSlides – an app ideal for wedding photographers

https://www.pixellu.com/smartslides/

SmartSlides is a great tool for creating romantic slide shows with background music. Sounds simple, but the effect is unexpectedly good and long remembered by clients. It's a great platform for wedding photographers and for everyone who wants to emphasize the emotional side of their work. It is relatively new, so by using it you can be one step ahead of your competition.

5. Setmore – great app, especially for session photography

https://www.setmore.com/

Every photographer has to schedule plenty of sessions and meetings. Receiving emails and phone calls, saving details and making sure that there is enough time for everything is a thankless and laborious task. It can be improved with an application that allows clients to book your time without speaking to you. Thanks to Setmore, the client receives your calendar and makes an appointment at the convenient time. It's a tool that every photographer and his clients will appreciate!

6. Google Search Console – a great helper in marketing activities

https://search.google.com/search-console/

Google Search Console allows you to look carefully at your website and to improve it. It shows how searchable your website is on Google and allows you to easily verify whether your marketing activities (such as website development, blogging, being active on social media) translates into the number of visits. It also checks if the page has errors that limit its reach. Very often, by improving just a few details you didn't pay attention to before you can significantly increase your visibility!

7. Doodle – a tool for scheduling meetings

https://doodle.com/

Often, we exchange tons of messages and phone calls to find a meeting date that suits a few different people, for example a photographer, a cameraman, a couple and parents. This is exactly what Doodle does for us – it helps arranging appointments in just a few minutes. As its slogan says: “it shouldn’t take 30 emails to schedule 30-minute meeting”.

Our article does not exhaust the topic of tools useful for every photographer. There are more of them and for sure each of you have your own types. The above list was created on the basis of our experience in working as photographers. We checked out every one of the mentioned tools and we recommend them to you with a clear conscience!

Photonesto is a well-designed platform for photographers which allows you to publish and sell your photos online. If you don't know this tool as yet, the article below will show you why you should definitely try it out.

Photonesto is much more than just an online gallery

Photonesto's main function is publishing photos in professional online galleries. But it gives you so much more than that! Thanks to Photonesto you can share your photos and transfer them to your clients. You can also sell additional photos which were not included in the original package your clients bought. This option allows photographers to earn up to twice as much as they would earn using traditional methods of emailing previously ordered photos to their clients.

Photonesto is visually appealing and very contemporary in style

Thanks to Photonesto, your photos will be displayed professionally and in a very attractive way! Your beautiful galleries will stand out and your clients will want to visit them all over again. It truly is one of the most visually appealing solutions available on the market today.

Photonesto does not require you to sign any contracts

You don’t have to subscribe or sign a contract to use Photonesto. You simply pay for each gallery separately, only when you publish it. When you have no new orders, you simply don’t pay – thanks to Photonesto, low season doesn't mean financial worries! In addition, you can try the website for free for 30 days.

Photonesto is affordable!

Many professional online photo galleries, such as Shootproof, Pixieset or Pic-time, require considerable financial resources. Photonesto provides photographers with the same service as they do and is much more affordable! The most comprehensive option here is about 50% cheaper than competitors. This is a noticeable difference which will turn into significant savings once you publish 20 or so galleries.

Photonesto is your best portfolio

In a few simple steps you can integrate the portfolio feature at Photonesto with your website. It is a great way to show your achievements to potential clients. It is very useful for existing clients who will be able to log into their galleries via your website. It is also a perfect solution for you: your website will be visited more often, and you won't have to spend long hours refining the look of your portfolio.

Photonesto is intuitive and easy to use

The photographer's panel at Photonesto is extremely intuitive. Just log in and you will immediately know what to click to get the effect you want to achieve. You won't find hundreds of different functions, which you don't know what they are for; you don't have to fill out any forms or answer numerous questions. Photonesto does not waste your time and is to the point. You will get what you are looking for and your gallery will be ready in just two minutes.

Photonesto means people with passion who work for you

Photonesto’s team consists of people who are very professional and passionate about what they do. Their passion makes them relentlessly look for new solutions; their professionalism makes the platform work great. Photonesto is constantly evolving, also thanks to its users and their feedback. The team can be contacted via chat in the Photonesto application, via the Facebook group, by email and by phone. They will listen to your comments, address your problems, and consider your suggestions.

Photonesto is a software for people on the go

Recent studies show that over 75% of Internet users are using mobile devices. Both photographers and clients want to have their photos always at hand. And there is nothing more annoying than a website that does not work on a smartphone or tablet. Photonesto responds to this challenge extremely well. The website is always reliable and looks good, no matter which device you are using!

Photonesto is fast

Google reports that around 50% of Internet users will give up entering a website if it does not load immediately. And if it loads efficiently, they will stay longer. We live fast and want quick effects of our actions. Photonesto makes sure that your galleries load immediately. For you, this simply means more satisfied customers.

Photonesto cares about security of your data

Data protection is a complex topic not everyone wants to explore. When using Photonesto you don't have to do it; the platform takes the burden of cyber security from your shoulders! Thanks to Photonesto, your clients' data is kept on secured servers, and you can sleep peacefully. All this makes Photonesto much safer than publishing your photos on a blog or Facebook.

Photonesto is a great platform and you will definitely be satisfied with it. It allows you to quickly create professional and beautiful online galleries at a very reasonable price. It is really worth giving it a go!

I spent long hours searching for a perfect online gallery for photographers. The number of available solutions is extensive, from Wordpress plugins to photo gallery platforms. With such a huge amount of different options, it was tricky to assess which of them was the best one for me.

It gets more complicated if, like me, you specialise in children’s photography, pregnancy and mini sessions. In this type of photography, the process of transferring photos to the client in an online gallery is quite complicated. In short, you don’t send clients the final pictures immediately. You start by sending unprocessed photos directly to the system. The photos are then sent to the clients who decide which they are going to buy. Only when such decision is made, you retouch selected shots. When your work is done, you pass the final versions of photos to the clients.

Unfortunately, most of the programmes for photographers do not facilitate such an extensive process of delivering photos. There are just a few which offer such option. Fortunately, a colleague of mine told me about Photonesto as a good alternative to existing online galleries for photographers.

After visiting Photonesto’s website I knew for sure that its creators put great emphasis on aesthetics and visual aspect of their product. As it turned out, this applies not only to the website, but to the entire system.

Photonesto offers two different kinds of galleries:

- Online photo galleries – great for reportage and wedding photographers who can present their work in a set of shots from a given event

- Private sessions – best for creating galleries of families’ and babies’ photos, so the best option for me!

Private sessions in Photonesto – what are they?

If, like me, you work on mini sessions, pregnancy and children’s photography, you surely know what they look like. Here is a short summary for those who don’t know it as yet. The clients buy a session lasting 2 – 3 hours. Within the set price, the clients have several photos to choose from (package photos). We also agree on the price for any additional photos they would like to buy and on the advance payment (optional).

After taking the photos, I create a private gallery using Photonesto. I need to provide basic information like the client’s name, email address, price, etc. I send unprocessed photos directly to the system, which automatically puts a watermark on each of them. With one click I send a message to the clients asking them to select photos for further processing. The clients receive a simple email which directs them straight to the beautiful Photonesto gallery, where they select the photos they like and can also select additional photos for which the system calculates an additional fee. Once the clients are done with the selection, they go to the order summary, where they see all selected photos with their final price and can confirm the order.

In an instant I receive a message confirming what happened and I start processing selected pictures. When the photos are ready, I send them in full resolution using Photonesto, this time in the "Uploaded photos" tab. With one click I send a message to the clients with a link to the gallery, which displays photos without watermarks and gives a possibility of downloading them.

Why is Photonesto such a good solution? Below you will find my answers:

It saves your time:

Before I started using tools such as Photonesto, I used to go through the whole process manually. I communicated with my clients via emails. The clients used to email me to say which photos they selected, and mistakes occurred frequently. The whole process costed me and my clients a lot of time. Now the work is largely automated and resistant to human errors. Thanks to systems like Photonesto, I work less and can have more clients. This is a huge advantage for me!

It looks good, it is ergonomic and reliable:

Photonesto is designed extremely well and looks very professional. The system works well and doesn’t freeze. When I use Photonesto, I know I am using a premium product. This feeling is shared by my clients, who receive photos in beautiful galleries, which enhance my work even more.

It is speedy and sends photos really fast:

Not sure about you, but until now, when using other tools, I used to complaint about the speed of sending photos. Especially on Monday mornings. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but still. At Photonesto, photos are sent using the full potential of my connection, which significantly reduces the time I spend on each session.

It is not expensive and does not require you to subscribe:

At Photonesto you pay when you publish your session. The fee is not high, and the most important thing is that there is no subscription. You pay only when you use it. You can then forget about payments for a while. It is a great solution, as it saves your money in the low season. I wouldn’t mind using more services like this one!

Photonesto is a useful tool for photographers, allowing you to create online photo galleries and to transfer pictures to the clients. I have been using it for some time now and I find it to be an extremely helpful and well-designed software which stands out on the market. In the text below I describe what makes me think so.

What is Photonesto?

I learned about Photonesto from a friend of mine, who like myself is a photographer. We were talking about the process of transferring photos to clients and discussing how inconvenient it is do so by email. He said he has never seen a better way to send pictures than via Photonesto. The next day I set up an account, I gave it a go and I was not disappointed.

In a nutshell, Photonesto allows you to create professional photo galleries. Once you create such gallery, you name it, you choose a cover picture, set up a password and upload your photos. You can then share login details with your clients – in my case with the bride and groom.

The clients receive your photos in a beautiful gallery, designed in line with the current trends of minimalism and simplicity. The galleries work perfectly on any device regardless of their size and type.

Photonesto is easy to use and looks professional

Does it happen to you that when you start using a software, you know intuitively how to use it, without reading instructions or looking it up on YouTube? It does happen to me, not as often as I would like to, though. But this is exactly what happened when I started using Photonesto. The system is very intuitive and easy to use; you can see it was designed with care. This is a huge advantage, especially in comparison to other solutions of this type. As the system is very fast and reliable (it doesn’t give any errors or technical problems), I think it is a solution worthy of the best photographers.

Photonesto leaves a lasting impression

Often, the moment you deliver photos to the clients is the last moment you communicate with them. This is why it is worth doing your best to make that moment special! I know from experience that a happy client will gladly recommend my services to friends and colleagues. So, when I transfer photos from a wedding using Photonesto, my clients are happy, and I am happy!

Satisfied client

The clients are happy because they receive a great looking online gallery of photos, which they can access with a link and password provided. They can easily share it with participants of their event, for example via social media. They don’t have to ask for their guests’ email addresses, they don’t need to send them CDs or pen drives. Sharing photos online is much simpler and faster. In addition, clients gain access to several useful functionalities. For example, they can choose whether they want to download the entire gallery or just a single photo. They can decide on the resolution of each photo, depending on whether they want to print it out or share it online. All of my clients are very happy with Photonesto and they know it is a premium product.

Satisfied me – the photographer:

I am happy, because my clients are happy, and this is the most important factor for me. I am also happy as I don’t need to worry about the space on my server or that my website may freeze once 100 wedding guests try to access it. I don’t need to worry about the security of my data, and I don’t need to remember to delete old galleries. All this saves my time and I have fewer worries.

Photonesto makes photo selection easy

Do you print out photos or produce photobooks for your clients? I do it regularly. If you do it like I did it before I started using Photonesto – by exchanging emails containing names of selected photos – then you must spend an awful lot of time verifying which photos are the selected ones, which should be printed out and which should go to the photobook. It is a madness that used to cost me a lot of time. But not anymore, since I started using Photonesto. Nowadays, when I send the clients access to their gallery, I ask them to select photos they would like me to print out and to mark the formats they would like the photos to be printed in. This is all thanks to the “Photo selection” option. From the photographer's panel, I can see the list of selected photos and I can directly export them to Lightroom or any other programme I use. That way I am always sure I work on the photos chosen by the client. There is no room for mistakes. I can't imagine going back to the methods I used previously.

Photonesto helps you arrange the pictures

Another functionality that I use a lot is “Sets of photos” – the option to divide photo galleries into several parts. Let me give you a specific example. When uploading photos from a wedding, I normally create three folders: Ceremony, Party, and After-party. I then upload photos of each part of the wedding to the specific folder. That way the clients can go through all photos if they like to, but they can also easily find the particular photo they are looking for. This option is also great if a few days after the wedding I am asked to do an outdoor session with the couple. Instead of creating a separate gallery, I create another photo set within the existing gallery and then upload new photos. This way the couple has all their pictures in one place and do not have to click through the entire gallery to find the most interesting shots.

Photonesto works as your portfolio

Another great feature is “Portfolio”. This is a page which displays the galleries I created together with my contact details. It is a fantastic way to show my work to the potential clients. By viewing my portfolio, they can see what kind of photos I take and what kind of final product they can expect to get. The “Portfolio” feature at Photonesto works hard for me, raising my profile and helping me look even more professional.

Fees:

For the first month the software is completely free, and you can create any number of fully functional galleries! In addition, it does not require you to give out credit card details when you sign up. You just set up an account and use it.

After the first month, prices for individual galleries depend on their size and the length of time you intend to make them available to your clients.

Sample prices:

I will give you a few examples to show how inexpensive Photonesto is. A gallery of up to 3 GB of data (like most of my galleries), available for a period of 6 months is only 6$. If you use smaller galleries (up to 1 GB), you will pay around 5.5$ for 6 months. The cheapest gallery of up to 1 GB of data for 3 months is only 3.5$. With all the features Photonesto gives, it is a real bargain!

Why you should try Photonesto right now!

As I already mentioned, I wholeheartedly recommend Photonesto! It is a solution worthy of the best photographers. I encourage you to use it, since I know that there are a lot of different solutions on the market and most of them do not deserve any attention. Photonesto gives me what I need, and it gives it for a reasonable price.

Whether you are an experienced photographer, or you are just starting your adventure with photography, I genuinely recommend this solution to you.