I feel like, as photographers, one of the HARDEST things to do when you are just beginning your business is to find a workflow that WORKS for you. There are so many amazing editing + post-processing programs out there, how on earth do you find the right ones!? Culling, editing, blemish-removal, sizing, client delivery, blogging, organizing…it can get to be so overwhelming! So today on the blog I am sharing the FIVE programs that I use in my workflow that have changed the way I run the back end of my business! I am sharing them in the order that I use them. So, when I arrive at home after a shoot or wedding and I am ready to sit down to edit, these are the programs that I go to:

1. PhotoMechanic

Oh goodness, ya’ll, this one was a game-changer! I first learned about PhotoMechanic at the KJ Workshop last year and it rocked my world! This is a culling program used to go through your RAW files and choose the photos you’d like to keep to edit. But the BEST part about it is that all of the RAW files are automatically rendered! So you don’t have to wait a few seconds for each photo to load as you go through them…you can click through as FAST as you want!!! It’s so simple and user-friendly and it’s only a one-time fee, not a monthly one! You can read more about PhotoMechanic or download a free trial HERE! Once you are done culling in PhotoMechanic, all you have to do it drag + drop the images into Lightroom!

2. Lightroom

This one may be a “no-brainer” for some, but it was HUGE for me!! I hadn’t even HEARD of Lightroom when my business started…how crazy is that!? Now it is the ONE program that can do almost EVERYTHING in my editing world! I upload all of my culled images into Lightroom + then edit all of them to my liking before exporting them as JPEGs!

3. Photoshop CC

This one sounds intimidating…but I PROMISE it’s not!! PS is what I use to do beauty-relalted edits (i.e. blemish removal, lightening bags under eyes, etc.) and I only use TWO tools in the entire program!! Seriously! TWO! I use the clone stamp and spot healing brush! That’s it! So, I open all of the images here in PS to do beauty edits before moving onto the next step! (A lot of photographers DONT do this step, and they just edit their images in Lightroom and they’re done!! So don’t feel like this is something that you HAVE to do!!) 🙂

*I use Adobe Creative Cloud (the package for photographers!) so I only pay $9.99 a month for BOTH LR + PS! Here is the link to download it!*

4. BlogStomp

This one was another game changer for me!! Blogstomp is the program that I use to size all of my images for things like Facebook, the blog, publication submissions, etc.! It is SO much easier than Photoshop + crazy fast!! You can size as many images as you want with the click of ONE button!!! If you haven’t played with Blogstomp yet, download the free trial and I promise it’ll change your life!! Find it HERE!

5. PASS

PASS is the program that I use to deliver my client’s images in beautiful, user-friendly online galleries!! I highly recommend PASS to EVERYONE (seriously, it’s the best!) and I can upload a gallery + have it sent to my clients in less than 10 minutes! How wonderful is that!? The BEST part is that it’s 100% FREE! Yes, I’m serious! My clients are able to view their images beautifully as well as download, share and print them all straight from their online gallery. Their gallery is also online for 10 YEARS after their session (or wedding!) and I absolutely love it! Check it out HERE!

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