Photography Business Automation: Booking Follow-Up, Gallery Delivery, and Review Requests
Photographers lose bookings to one thing more than price: speed. A couple sends 5 inquiries on the same afternoon. The first photographer to respond with a portfolio and a booking link gets the consultation. The others don't hear back. Most photographers respond hours later when they're off a shoot. A 60-second automated response changes the conversion rate entirely.
1. Inquiry Response and Booking Sequence
The inquiry window is short. Couples and families send multiple inquiries on the same afternoon, often from a single wedding planning site. Whoever responds first with something personal and with a clear next step — a portfolio and a calendar link — gets the call.
Automation triggers the moment an inquiry form is submitted and sends a response within seconds: "Hi [Name], thanks for reaching out! I'd love to capture [session type] for you. Here's my portfolio [link] and my availability calendar [link]." The sequence follows up at 48 hours and again at 7 days if no booking occurs, then stops.
Photographers who respond within 5 minutes book 6–8x more consultations than those who respond the next day. Inquiry response automation is the highest-ROI build for solo photographers.
2. Contract, Payment, and Session Prep Reminders
Getting someone excited about a session is the easy part. Getting the contract signed and the retainer paid — without three awkward follow-up emails — is where most photographers lose time. An automated post-booking sequence handles every step without the photographer needing to touch it.
After booking confirmation, the contract is sent automatically. If unsigned after 48 hours, a gentle reminder fires. Once signed, the retainer invoice issues and a payment reminder sequence begins. A week before the session, a prep guide email goes out — what to wear, location info, what to expect. A 24-hour reminder fires the day before.
Photographers who send session prep guides see 40% fewer day-of questions, arrive to more prepared clients, and get better images — which means better reviews.
3. Gallery Delivery Notification and Download Sequence
Gallery delivery is the moment clients have been waiting for. Most photographers send one notification when the gallery goes live and nothing after. Clients miss the email, forget to download, let the gallery expire, then email weeks later asking for a re-upload. That takes time and kills the post-session experience.
When a gallery is published in Pixieset or ShootProof, the automation fires immediately with a personalized notification including the gallery link, download instructions, and expiration date. A reminder fires at 7 days if the gallery hasn't been downloaded. A final notice goes at 3 days before expiration.
Photographers who send proactive gallery download reminders get 90% of images downloaded within the first week vs. 40–50% for those who send one notification and stop.
4. Post-Delivery Review and Referral Request
The best time to ask for a review is 14 days after gallery delivery — after clients have shared photos with family, posted on social, and sat with the experience. Most photographers never ask at all, or ask in the delivery email before clients have even opened the gallery.
Fourteen days after gallery delivery, the automation sends: "Hi [Name], I hope you're loving your photos! If you had a great experience, a Google review helps other families and couples find me: [link]. And if you know anyone looking for a photographer, I'd love a referral." It never feels awkward, because the photographer doesn't have to send it themselves.
Photography is almost entirely referral and review driven. Photographers with 50+ Google reviews at 4.9 stars get 3–5x more inquiries than those with fewer than 20.
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