# A photography client workflow from inquiry to delivery

> The stages of a photography client workflow, from inquiry to delivery and a review request, what to do at each, and how to track them on a project board.

Source: https://help.corehue.co/docs/guides/photography-client-workflow/

Every job you take on goes through the same handful of stages, whether it's a wedding booked a year out or a family session next Saturday. Write those stages down once, decide what you do at each, and you stop relying on memory to know which client is waiting on you.

## The stages a photography job goes through

| Stage | What's happening | Typical timing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Inquiry | Someone asks about a date and your prices | Reply within a day |
| Proposal | You send coverage options, a price and terms | A few days to a few weeks of back-and-forth |
| Booked | The contract is signed and the deposit is paid | The date is now yours |
| Planning | Timeline, locations, shot list, family groups | Weeks before a wedding, days before a portrait |
| Shoot day | The session or wedding itself | One day |
| Culling and editing | Back up, pick the keepers, edit | 1 to 3 weeks for portraits, 4 to 12 for weddings |
| Delivery | Sneak peeks, then the full gallery | Sneak peeks within a few days |
| Album or print orders | Picks, proofs from your designer or lab, ordering, checking the result | Often weeks, mostly waiting on your client |
| Follow-up | Thank-you, review request, rebooking | A week or two after delivery |

Not every job uses every stage. A mini session might skip the proposal and the album entirely.

## What to do at each stage

**Inquiry.** Reply fast, answer the question they asked, and suggest one clear next step, like a call or a proposal. Someone writing to you is often writing to two other photographers as well.

**Proposal.** Put coverage, price, contract and payment schedule in front of your client in one go. The fewer separate things they have to sign and pay, the sooner the date is held.

**Booked.** Check the contract is signed by both of you and the deposit has landed before you treat the date as taken. Then send a short welcome note so your client knows what happens next.

**Planning.** This is where good weddings are won. Gather the timeline, every address, the family formals list and the moments your client would hate to miss. For portraits, it's location, outfits and who's coming.

**Shoot day.** Your gear list, your timeline and your shot list do the remembering, so you can pay attention to people.

**Culling and editing.** Back up the cards before anything else, ideally to two places. Then cull, edit and export. Give yourself a realistic date and tell your client a range rather than a promise. See [Photography turnaround times and editing deadlines](/docs/guides/photo-editing-and-delivery-deadlines).

**Delivery.** A handful of sneak peeks within a few days keeps the excitement going while you edit. The full gallery follows, ideally a little earlier than you said.

**Album or print orders.** Ask for picks with a clear number and a deadline, then send proofs from your album designer or print lab. Most of this stage is waiting on your client, so it's the easiest one to forget.

**Follow-up.** Send a thank-you once your client has had time with the photos, and ask for a review while the feeling is fresh. A note on their anniversary or a year after a family session is a gentle way to rebook.

## Turning the stages into a project board

In CoreHue, each client job can be a project, and your project stages are the columns on the projects board. You don't need a column for every stage above. Columns work best for the big milestones, where a job sits for a while, and tasks handle the steps in between. See [How projects work](/docs/projects/how-projects-work).

Inquiries stay in **Bookings → Inquiries**, not on the projects board, so start the project when you send the proposal. Open the proposal, choose **More actions**, then **Add to project**, and create the project from there. When your client accepts, the booking, contract and invoice it creates join the project by themselves. See [What comes along with a booking or proposal](/docs/projects/what-comes-along).

You have one set of stages for every project, so pick the set that fits most of your work. New projects land in your first stage, so keep the earliest one on the left. Change them under **Projects → Settings**, on the **Stages** tab. See [Setting up stages and project types](/docs/projects/stages-and-project-types).

### Suggested stages for weddings

| Board stage | Covers | Tasks you might add |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Proposal sent | Proposal | Follow up if unopened after three days |
| Booked | Booked | Send welcome note, book second shooter |
| Planning | Planning, shoot day | Timeline call, family formals list, scout the venue |
| Editing | Culling and editing | Back up cards, cull, edit, sneak peeks |
| Delivered | Delivery | Publish full gallery, ask for album picks |
| Album | Album orders, follow-up | Proofs back from the couple, order from your lab, ask for a review |

### Suggested stages for portraits and families

| Board stage | Covers | Tasks you might add |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Booked | Proposal or booking, booked | Send what-to-wear guide |
| Prep | Planning | Confirm location, check the weather the day before |
| Editing | Shoot day, culling and editing | Cull and edit |
| Delivered | Delivery | Publish gallery, follow up on print order |
| Orders | Print orders, follow-up | Check prints, ask for a review |

If you shoot both, the wedding set works for portraits too: a family session skips **Planning** or passes through it in a day. Use project types to tell the jobs apart. You start with **Wedding**, **Portrait**, **Family**, **Event**, **Commercial** and **Personal**, and the board's **Filter** shows one type at a time. See [Using the projects board and list](/docs/projects/the-projects-board).

## Tasks for the work at each stage

Stages tell you where a job is. Tasks tell you what's next. Add them from the project's **Tasks** tab with **New task** and they're filed with the job. See [Creating a task](/docs/tasks/creating-a-task).

A few habits make tasks match the workflow:

- **Give every client-facing task a due date.** Count back from the shoot date: a timeline call six weeks before a wedding, the sneak peeks three days after.
- **Use labels for the kind of work.** You start with **Editing**, **Delivery**, **Prints**, **Album** and **Follow-up**, which line up with the later stages.
- **Move tasks to Waiting when it's your client's turn**, like album proofs out with the couple. Waiting tasks can still go overdue, so you'll hear about it if they sit too long. See [Tracking tasks on a board or list](/docs/tasks/tracking-tasks-on-a-board).
- **Add a checklist for multi-step work**, like delivery: cull, edit, export, upload, check on your phone, publish, send. See [Adding a checklist to a task](/docs/tasks/adding-a-checklist).
- **Turn on an email reminder the day before**, so the 9:00am digest becomes your daily plan. See [Setting up task reminders](/docs/tasks/task-reminders).
- **Add a field when labels aren't enough**, like a Deliverable field with Gallery, Prints and Video, so you can group a board by what's going out. See [Adding fields to your tasks](/docs/tasks/adding-task-fields).

For the editing stage across all your jobs, save a view filtered to the Editing label and sorted by due date. It becomes your delivery schedule. See [Saving task views](/docs/tasks/saving-task-views).

For the follow-up stage, a direct booking or mini session service can send a questionnaire a set number of days after the session, which is a tidy way to ask for feedback and a review. See [Sending a questionnaire automatically after booking](/docs/questionnaires/sending-after-a-booking).

For a whole season run this way, including studio admin, see [Running your studio with projects and tasks](/docs/guides/running-your-studio-with-projects-and-tasks). If weddings are your main work, the [wedding photography checklist](/docs/guides/wedding-photography-checklist) turns the planning and delivery stages into tasks you can copy.

## Frequently asked questions

### What are the steps in a photography workflow?

Most jobs go through inquiry, proposal, booking, planning, the shoot, culling and editing, delivery, any album or print orders, and a follow-up with a review request. Smaller sessions skip some of them.

### How long should it take to deliver photos to a client?

It depends on the job and your season. Portrait sessions are commonly delivered in one to three weeks and weddings in four to twelve. Put your range in the contract and give the edit a due date.

### How many stages should my project board have?

Four to six columns fit most screens and are easy to scan. Track the big milestones as stages and the smaller steps as tasks.

### When should I ask a client for a review?

About a week or two after delivery, once they've had time to share the photos with family. Send a short personal message with a direct link.

### Can I reuse the same tasks for every client?

CoreHue doesn't have task or project templates. Keep your usual list in a note and add the tasks when you create each project. With due dates, a wedding's eight to ten tasks take a few minutes.