My Exact Photo Organization Workflow (From Shoot to Gallery Delivery)
When you’re juggling sessions, editing, and client delivery, having a clear photography workflow is a lifesaver. I’m sharing exactly how I organize my photos from the moment they leave my camera to the minute they hit my client’s inbox. Whether you're just learning or looking to streamline your current system, here’s how I keep it all in order.
Step 1: Upload Right After the Shoot
After the shoot, I upload images immediately. No letting them sit on a memory card (because we’ve all been burned by that one time, right?). The faster they’re in Lightroom, the better. I also back everything up right away to a second hard drive—just in case.
Step 2: Name Your Folder with the Year + Client's Last Name (Or Session Type, Name, Year - Whatever fits your business)
On my external hard drive, every session gets its own folder using this naming format:
”2025 Allen”
It keeps everything searchable and clean. Staying consistent with naming saves so much time later.
Step 3: Import Into Lightroom
Once the folder is created on the drive, I import the images into Lightroom and use the same folder name for consistency. If you’re learning how to use Lightroom or building your workflow, this step is where everything starts to feel organized.
Step 4: Edit Your Images
This is the fun part—Lightroom editing. Whether you’re using presets or editing by hand, this is where your style shines. If you're just starting out, a good Lightroom course for beginners can make this step way less overwhelming.
Step 5: Create a Subfolder for Final Images
Once editing is done, I export the finished images into a subfolder inside the session folder. I name it “A Final”—the “A” pushes it to the top of the folder list, and “Final” makes it crystal clear that these are the polished, client-ready images.
So my folder structure looks like this:
2025 Allen → A Final
You can name yours whatever makes sense for your brain—just keep it consistent and easy to find later.
Step 6: Export Settings
When exporting from Lightroom:
Rename the files with the session name + sequence number
Add keyword tags (this helps with organizing and searching later—especially if you’re uploading to a blog or website)
Step 7: Upload to ShootProof and Get Paid
Once the images are exported, I upload them to ShootProof (my favorite gallery delivery system—easy to use and easy to invoice). Then, I send the link to my client, and we’re done!
Step 8: Organize Social Media Images
For social content, I either:
Move selected images into a folder called Social Media, or
Upload them straight to my social media planning tool
That way, I’m not digging around trying to remember which images I wanted to post next week.