Over the past 5 years of being in business, I’ve developed quite the arsenal of go-to resources. A lot of those are physical products, like Leather Craftsmen or my Day Designer. But others are simply really, REALLY helpful online places that serve to make running my business easier than before. Here are my top online resources for photographers!

1. Sunrisesunset.com– I use this thing all the dang time. It’s my go-to for scheduling anniversary + engagement sessions! All you have to do is type in the city where you’ll be shooting and the month in which your session takes place, and it pulls up the sunrise + sunset times for every day of that month. Bookmark this site!

2. Gmail- I couldn’t live without Gmail. My official business email address is abby@abbygracephotography.com, but I have that set up to forward everything to my Gmail inbox. Google’s made it SO easy to sort my emails, access them quickly, it interfaces well with my iPhone, and it’s intuitive. I’m not one to love complicated online systems, so Gmail is my BFF. Plus, it also works in tandem with my calendar!

3. WordPress/Prophoto template– my blog is built on a WordPress platform, using a customized ProPhoto template (designed by the geniuses at Tonic, and customized by the whiz himself, Jeff Shipley). Since I blog frequently, this is one of my most-used tools in my arsenal! It’s easy to use, simple to update, and it’s a widely used platform so if I ever have issues, there are always tons of friends and tutorials out there to seek help from!

4. ShowIt– my static website (abbygracephotography.com) is built on a ShowIt platform and I could not be happier with it! I’m a total tech-novice, and have always been the type to simply give up trying if something online proves to be too involved for me to understand quickly. The awesome thing about ShowIt is that, after Jeff created the gorgeous design and filled it with my images and verbiage, I’m able to go in and tweak things if I need to without needing a degree in web coding. It’s an easy-to-use system that allows me to update my images, text, pricing, etc. without any fuss at all. And the ShowIt folks are super accessible so if I have an emergency, like my website being down for 24 hours without me knowing about it (true story), they’re right there to help me out when I need it.

5. Paypal- Last January, I made the switch from paper checks to doing everything through Paypal, and haven’t looked back since. Really, I can’t believe I didn’t switch sooner. Paypal makes receiving payments SO much faster, easier and more secure. I use Paypal for my anniversary + wedding couples, as well as workshops, any miscellaneous invoices, and for making payments to other online boutiques. It’s the bee’s knees!

What are your top choices? I’d love to hear them!