The Software Tools Behind My Photography Business
After fifteen years of running a photography business, I’ve tried a lot of software. What I have now is a fairly lean set of tools that handle the parts of the business I need handled, without creating more admin than they solve. This post is for newer family and newborn photographers who are figuring out what to invest in. These are the tools I use, what I use them for, and what’s worth knowing before you sign up. Where I have a referral link, I’ve included it. I’d never recommend something I don’t use myself.
Here’s what I’m covering:
Adobe Lightroom — editing, retouching and export
Aftershoot — AI culling and base editing
JPEG Mini — reducing file sizes before delivery
PicTime — gallery delivery and print sales
Studio Ninja — client management and business workflow
Todoist — task management
WordPress and Kadence — website
Xero — accounting
Canva — Instagram design and vouchers
Adobe Lightroom: editing, retouching and export
Lightroom is the centre of my editing workflow. I use it for all my colour work, masking, exposure adjustments, and the vast majority of my background retouching. The generative AI tools built into the program have evolved enough now to do 90% of the fiddly stuff. I handle most background cleanups without ever opening Photoshop. For the occasional headswap or more complex composite, Photoshop is still there, but it’s a small fraction of my work.
For photographers coming from a Photoshop-first background, Lightroom handles high volume editing in a way that Photoshop simply isn’t built for. When you’re delivering 60 or 80 images from a family session, a non-destructive, catalogue-based workflow saves a lot of time. Do I have some issues with Adobe as a company ABSOLUTELY. Will I be with them forever (Maybe not) but for now this works. Hot tip. around Black Friday you can often buy a highly discounted subscription on Amazon to apply to your account, you should also be very vocal about any cost increases as the company does honor past rates if you chase.
My export settings for client galleries:
Quality: 100
Resize to fit: long edge 4000px (or no resizing, depending on the job)
Resolution: 300 ppi
These settings give clients high-resolution files without unnecessarily huge file sizes. Worth having a consistent export preset set up from the start rather than making that decision every single time.
HOWEVER… Lightroom is no longer where I start my editing process; for that, I use Aftershoot.
Aftershoot: AI culling and base editing
I’m SO delighted by this new era in photography. AI offers incredible workflow speed changes to photographers. Please don’t get caught in the preciousness of ‘being an artist’; use AI tools to do the mindless clicks and adjustments that aren’t really a part of your creativity. As for tools like this: they’re not perfect yet (April 2026), but they’re getting there. For me Aftershoot handles two things: culling and base editing.
For culling, Aftershoot saves me time by grouping similar shots, flagging the strongest frames based on how I’ve culled historically (which it mostly gets right), and gives me a starting point that I then review myself. I don’t hand the culling over entirely (I cannot WAIT for that day), but having the initial sort done takes a real chunk of time out of every job.
Fun bonus tool: I use a little JoyStick controller to gameify my culling (when I go back through images)
For editing, I’ve trained the software on thousands of my own images over time. Aftershoot applies base edits that I then bring into Lightroom to finalise. It’s not a replacement for my eye, it’s a starting point that reflects my style because it’s been trained on my actual work. I am consistently feeding my work back into the AI as your editing style can shift over time.
One thing I appreciate about the company: they use local AI processing rather than cloud-based, which has a smaller environmental footprint than a lot of AI tools on the market. That was part of why I chose it. I also think it’s far more cost-effective for high volume than the other big name out there.
Aftershoot continues to improve. If you’re not using any AI culling/editing tool yet, it’s worth a serious look. You will get SO much time back.
JPEG Mini: reducing file sizes before delivery
JPEG Mini does one thing and does it very well. It compresses JPEG files, without any visible loss in quality for printing. Before I upload anything to PicTime, the files go through JPEG Mini first.
The practical upside is faster uploads, reduced storage costs, and galleries that load more quickly for clients. For a high-volume family or newborn photographer delivering large galleries regularly, the time saved on uploads adds up across a year.
It does exactly what it says it will. There’s not much more to say about it than that, which is really the point. Do I understand how this compression magic works – not really.
PicTime: gallery delivery and print sales
PicTime is how I deliver images to clients. MUCH prettier than Dropbox or another file transfer service. I chose it for two main reasons: the design is beautiful, and it integrates directly with Australian professional print labs including Seldex and Atkins Photo Lab and does some integration things better than some other tools I’ve tried.
A lot of gallery platforms are built around North American or European labs. Having local lab integration means my clients order from labs that understand Australian paper and product standards, with reasonable shipping times and pricing in Australian dollars.
PicTime is also how I run my print credit system. When clients receive print credit as part of their package, they redeem it directly through their gallery. The experience is clean enough that clients actually use it rather than leaving it sitting there. I need dropshipped printing to make my life work – this avoids the double handling of having prints delivered to me and then having to go to the post office to send them on. No thanks.
The platform is flexible and continues to add features. For family and newborn photographers in Australia who want to offer printing as a real part of their business rather than an afterthought, it’s worth a look. You should be using something like this for your digital file delivery, regardless.
Studio Ninja: client management and business workflow
Studio Ninja is the CRM I use to manage the business side of my photography. Enquiries, quotes, contracts, invoices, and client communication all run through it. It is the MOST important tool to I have to run my business.
Ninja is built specifically for photographers (although I do know other small businesses who use it). It integrates a booking calendar, handles automated reminders, digital contract signing, workflows and keeps client information organised in one place.
For newer photographers still managing enquiries via email and invoices through a spreadsheet: a CRM feels unnecessary until the moment it becomes essential. Studio Ninja is not difficult to get up and running and the support is responsive and is ever improving.
It’s also an Australian company, which I appreciate when it comes to support requests. I was a very early Ninja adopter and couldn’t function without it.
Use this code: BE512Y and get 20% off your subscription to the world’s most user-friendly photography business software, Studio Ninja!
Todoist: task management
Todoist is my task management tool. The most useful thing about it for a photography business is recurring tasks that sit outside a standard workflow. I use it to remind myself to back up files on a set schedule, additonal client tasks, and keep on top of things like sending my enews that might otherwise slip during a busy shooting period.
It’s not photography-specific and it doesn’t need to be (I use it for LOTS of life organisation) It’s a reliable tool for keeping track of what needs to happen and when. I currently use the free version (and have for well over a year) I’ll be looking into paying for this.
WordPress and Kadence: website
My website runs on WordPress with the Kadence theme that I built out (I do have a background in web design). I mention this here because your website platform is a business tool decision, and for photographers thinking about where to build, the trade-offs are worth understanding.
WordPress gives you the opportunity for less bloated/unnecessary code. This matters for SEO. WordPress paired with a well-structured theme like Kadence lets you build a properly optimised site rather than being at the mercy of what a visual website builder decides to prioritise. Over fifteen years I’ve seen the SEO compounding effects of a well set-up site.
Kadence is a WordPress template builder, which means it controls the visual structure and layout of the site. Think of WordPress as the engine and Kadence as the body of the car. A theme determines how your pages look, how they’re built, and how cleanly the underlying code is written. Kadence is one of the more well-regarded themes in the WordPress world because it’s lightweight and fast, which matters for page speed, and it gives you a lot of design flexibility without requiring you to write code. There’s a free version that covers most needs, and a paid Pro version with additional features. It’s what becmatheson.com is built on.
There is a learning curve for using something like WordPress. If you’re not comfortable, it’s worth getting help setting it up properly from the start rather than unpicking it later. If you need a quick option, I would look into Squarespace. A lot of photographers like Showit, but I don’t rate it as its code isn’t as clean (and I personally found the interface not very intuitive… but then other photographer friends I have who aren’t tech savvy rave about it).
Xero: accounting
For a very long time, I ran my accounting off a spreadsheet. I run my invoicing through Studio Ninja but Xero is what I use for other accounting. It handles expense tracking, GST, and gives me a clear picture of how the business is actually performing financially at any point in time. I resisted accounting software for a long time but I’ve caved and it saves me a LOT of time.
As a sole trader in Australia, you need to be on top of your tax stuff. GST obligations (You wont have this early days), tax time, knowing whether you’re actually profitable, these things get complicated and messy if you’re managing them through a spreadsheet or leaving them until the end of the financial year.
Xero connects to my business bank account, which means transactions come in automatically rather than needing to be entered manually. It also works well with an accountant or bookkeeper if you use one, which I’d recommend once your business reaches a reasonable volume. As for accountants, I’m with Brown Hamilton Partners. Your personal tax might be easy to do by yourself but business tax is not. Get yourself an accountant!
Canva: design and vouchers
Canva is my go-to for anything design-related that doesn’t need to go through a professional print lab. You should NOT be using Canva to design your logo (Please pay someone to do this properly or use tools like Adobe Illustrator). I use it mainly for two things: creating Instagram content (when I can be bothered) and printing my photography gift vouchers.
For Instagram, it lets me put together posts, stories, and graphics quickly. I have my brand colours, fonts, and logo saved in there so everything stays consistent without starting from scratch each time.
The voucher side is where it’s saved me the most time. I design my gift vouchers in Canva and drop ship them digitally straight to the recipient. No printing, no double-handled postage, no waiting. Someone orders a photography voucher as a gift, I send a beautifully designed PDF digitally to them and also a printed copy, it ships right to them, and it’s done. For a one-person business, that kind of simple system matters.
A note on what’s not on this list
There are tools I’ve tried and moved on from, and tools other photographers use that don’t work for how I operate or an Australian based business. The list above is what I actually use regularly.
If you’re just starting out and serious about running a photography business, get a CRM running early, choose an editing workflow and stick with it long enough to actually learn it, then add other tools when a specific problem makes them worth solving. Systems will really help your business to thrive, and you should be using tools that make your life easier and help you look more professional.
If you have questions about any of the above, feel free to reach out. And if you’re a newer family or newborn photographer in Melbourne, I’m always happy to have a conversation about how the business side of things works. I offer mentoring that can cover whatever you feel like you’re struggling with, I can do an overview to help you get going, or even a deep dive into your website to look at your SEO.
Frequently Asked Questions
What software do family photographers use to edit photos?
Most family photographers use Adobe Lightroom for editing. It handles high volume work well and is far better suited to delivering large galleries than Photoshop. Many photographers now pair it with an AI culling tool like Aftershoot to speed up the early stages of the workflow.
What is the best CRM for photographers in Australia?
Studio Ninja is built specifically for photographers and is an Australian company, which helps when it comes to support and understanding how local businesses operate. It handles enquiries, contracts, invoices and automated reminders in one place.
What gallery software do Australian photographers use?
PicTime is a strong option for Australian photographers because it integrates with local print labs including Seldex and Atkins Pro Lab, so clients can order prints in Australian dollars with local shipping.
Do I need accounting software as a photographer?
Once you’re running a real volume of work. Xero connects to your bank account, handles GST, and makes tax time significantly less painful. A spreadsheet works early on but it doesn’t scale.
