Business + Marketing


How to Get Started in Photography: Tips from John Branch IV

October 29, 2021

By Jacqueline Tobin

So you want to be a pro photographer. Great, decision made! But then the question becomes, where to begin? Enter John Branch IV, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based engagement and wedding photographer, who helps you get the business basics down pat (once you have mastered technical proficiency, of course, with his “7 Essentials to Start a Photography Business” YouTube video. In it, he discusses everything from choosing your best first camera to building a website, getting a solid client management system in place, deciding on which software to use for post-production workflow and so much more.

[Read: A Simple Guide to Steering Your Creative Business in the Right Direction]

Starting a photo business may seem overwhelming and you may not think you have the funds to start your photography business but honestly it’s really not that expensive,” says Branch, “and it’s something you can get started at today and build yourself a portfolio fairly quickly.” Here are some of Branch’s recommendations for what to do right away, excerpted from his video. You can also tune in to the free webinar he just did for our RF+WPPI Reset series, “Building Your Photography Business with a Strong Foundation” for even more business-savvy tips.


How To Get Started in Photography

To get your photography business up and running, Branch says you will need the following:

  1. Camera
  2. Photo editing software
  3. Website
  4. Client Management System
  5. Online photo delivery service
  6. Back-up plan to protect your photos
  7. Business cards


Starting a photography business? You can find a good, cheap camera system.

Branch says there are a lot of options out there for systems—Sony, Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm—but that many of the small mirrorless systems out there are less expensive and just as amazing. Personally, he admits, he is super biased towards Fujifilm. “I’ve been usinga Fujifilm system for a while now and the camera I would recommend to anyone just starting out is the Fujifilm X-T30. [Branch suggests using it with the 18-55mm lens.] “The X-T30 has an APS-C, 26 megapixels, and uses the exact same technology as the X-T3 (which is the camera I use for wedding photography). It is a great tiny, powerful camera that also shoots video at 4K, 30 frames a second, with awesome quality. Another great option is the Sony A6600.”

[Read: 11 Top Software Programs to Manage Your Photo Business]

Pick the best photo editing software for your workflow.

Obviously, you are going to be editing your photos in your new photography business, that’s a given. Branch recommends Lightroom and Photoshop. “Adobe has an awesome photography plan which gives you Lightroom Classic, Lightroom CC and Photoshop for $9.99 a month. You can use Lightroom CC on your iPad or iPhone to quickly edit stuff on the go. And having Photoshop is always a great option. It helps you with removing objects from the background, doing any epic healing stuff you have to do on the skin or doing a lot of photo manipulation if you want.” Branch says he doesn’t personally use Photoshop too much but that “it’s great to have in your back pocket when you need to remove something from a photo.”

When setting up your photography business, make sure you get a web site. This is Branch's home page.
The lead image on John Branch IV Photography‘s home page of website.


Build a website to help your photography business thrive.

“Think of your website as your storefront, your portfolio,” says Branch. “It’s the thing everyone is going to want to see before they hire you.” He recommends Squarespace. “My website is built on Squarespace and it is super easy to use. Not only do they have a lot of templates, but you can also build stuff from scratch very easily and you don’t need to know how to code or anything like that.” He says you can also sell your prints and other photo products through the Squarespace site, which is a huge plus.

[Read: How Should You Name Your Photography Business?]

Choose a Client Management System for your photography business.

A client management system helps you communicate with your clients in your photography business. “You can automate payments, e-sign contracts, receive your money super quickly and keep everything in one place,” says Branch. “My preferred Client Management System is HoneyBook. It was how I was able to book six figures worth of weddings and have all the payments get to me smoothly (and not have to pull my hair out using Google sheets!).”

Find an online delivery service to get photos to clients.

After you’ve shot our sessions, says Branch, you need a way to get your photos to your clients. For that, he suggests online photo delivery service Pic-Time. (You might also want to consider ShootProof and Pixieset). “Pic-Time provides you with beautiful galleries where you can load all of the photos from your sessions and deliver them to your clients seamlessly. Clients are able to download their photos, buy prints from them, and it looks way more professional than throwing them in a Dropbox folder.
Pic-Time also has awesome automations built in to help you sell your prints and other physical products.”

Back up your photography and protect your photos.

Branch is a huge fan of BackBlaze. “I do have a whole bunch of different hard drives and I shoot on a dual-card camera, which is a huge deal, but after I have all of those backups made, being able to back it up to the cloud, at unlimited storage, is a huge plus. Backblaze is only $7 a month and allows you to be able to back up everything on your computer. If you have a desktop, like me, with 50 hard drives in it, you can back up every single one of those hard drives, as well as your external hard drives, for $7/month unlimited data, in the cloud. It is super awesome

Always have business cards on you.

“A lot of people don’t think business cards are important but I say, have them on you all the time,” Branch advises. “I know what you are thinking: ‘John, I’m all digital, who uses business cards anymore? It’s so old school’ but they are super important to the success of your business. Think of them as actual advertising for your brand, You want to advertise 24/7 at all times and places.” Branch says he is a big fan of MOO cards. What I love about them is that you can put multiple photos on the backs of your cards—so I can show off my portfolio while I hand out cards, rather than having one business card with one single image.” Branch says MOO has pre-made designs you can use, or you can upload your own designs. “Just make sure you put your website, your Instagram, your phone number, etc., on there. It’s cool to have something physical but still let it be easy for people to find you online.”

Branch has even more tips that you can find HERE, where he covers more nitty gritty topics, like insurance, how to become a sole proprietor, an LLC, etc., and more. And don’t forget to check out his recent RF+WPPI webinar, where he also goes delves deeper into many of these topics as well.

Photographer John Branch.

John Branch IV is an internationally recognized wedding photographer based in North Carolina. He is also a WPPI speaker and advocate of helping new photographers get started in their photography business. Branch believes that wedding photography should be emotional and wants couples to look back at their pictures and feel the day.