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Photographer Notion OS: shoots, galleries, who still owes you

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I was losing shoot dates in a calendar, proofing links in DMs, and finals in a notes app. This is the Notion setup I use for wedding and portrait work. It runs on the Free plan. It is a shoot / gallery / payment tracker — not tax software, not legal advice, and it does not host galleries.

Walkthrough video: https://youtu.be/8UCMlw5jQqE

The spine is four databases plus a gear checklist:

  1. Clients
  2. Shoots (related to Clients)
  3. Galleries (related to Shoots)
  4. Invoices (related to Clients and Shoots)
  5. Gear checklist (optional, but useful the night before)

Home is three linked views: this week's shoots, overdue invoices, undelivered galleries.

1. Clients

Create a full-page database named Clients. Title property: Name.

Property Type Notes
Name Title Unique. Shoots and invoices point here.
Type Select Wedding Portrait Brand
Status Select Lead Booked Delivered Lost
Email Email
Next action Text One line. What you do next.

Do not rename Name. Everything else matches on that value.

2. Shoots

Create Shoots. Title: Name.

Property Type Notes
Name Title Unique. Galleries and invoices match on this.
Client Relation → Clients Limit 1
Date Date Date only. When you are on site.
Location Text Venue or studio. One line.
Status Select Inquiry Booked Shot Edited Delivered
Fee Number Shoot fee, USD, 0 decimals

Wire the Client relation after both databases exist. Limit 1.

Home view: Date is This week. That is your week board — not a second calendar.

3. Galleries

Create Galleries. Title: Name (usually the shoot name plus “proofs”).

Property Type Notes
Name Title Scannable.
Shoot Relation → Shoots Limit 1
Delivery status Select Not started Sent Approved
Gallery URL URL Pixieset / Pic-Time / your host. Notion does not host files.
Expiry Date When the proofing link dies.

Undelivered Home view: Delivery status is not Approved. That is who still owes you a gallery selection — or who you still owe proofs.

4. Invoices (who still owes you)

Create Invoices. Title property: Number (INV-0001, unique).

Property Type Notes
Number Title INV-0000
Client Relation → Clients Limit 1
Shoot Relation → Shoots Limit 1
Amount Number USD, 0 decimals
Status Select Draft Sent Paid Overdue
Due Date Date only

Invoice Status is the source of truth. If the final is late, set Overdue. Do not hope.

Home view: Status is Overdue. Sort Due oldest first. Empty state means you are current on money.

This is a tracker. It does not file VAT, send dunning email, or replace an accountant.

5. Gear checklist (optional)

One database. Title: Item. Select for Wedding / Portrait. Packed: Yes / No. The night before a wedding, filter to Wedding and set Packed to No, then tick as you load the bag.

6. Home

One page. Three linked views. Do not duplicate the databases.

  1. This week — Shoots, Date is This week.
  2. Overdue invoices — Invoices, Status is Overdue.
  3. Undelivered galleries — Galleries, Delivery status is not Approved.

If Home takes more than one scroll of attention, you added too much.

First-day rules

  • One Next action per client. Not three.
  • Shoot Date is on-site day. Gallery Expiry is when the proofing link dies.
  • Invoice status is the source of truth for who still owes you.
  • Sample rows are for wiring. Delete them after your first real client.

If you do not want to build it

I packaged this as Cove Shoot OS. Duplicate into your workspace. Works on Notion Free. Clients, shoots, galleries, invoices, gear, Home already related.

Disclosure: these are my paid templates.

Affiliate: none. Not tax software. Not legal advice. Does not host galleries.

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