Photo Reiter

I recently got an iTouch – too many calls when I was in a situation where I’d say ” Don’t have my calendar with me, can I call you back in a few hours” – not a great way to do business. I wanted my calendar and my music ( as constant companion as my dog Sid) in the same gizmo, I’m a committed Mac user, so the touch seemed like the way to go.
And, in case you’re interested, no, I wasn’t interested in an iPhone, for a ton of reasons starting with AT&T and ending with unlocked iPhones are just way too expensive for my blood. But I digress!
So I got the Touch and working really hard to resist “App Madness” I only looked at apps that could have a positive impact on my photography…so I loaded on a sunrise/sunset calculator, a weather service, all my music…and took a look at apps that could help me manage my photography business.
I looked at a lot, but it all came down to two words – Second Shootr.
In a nutshell, I honestly don’t know how I survived without it. To say its a data base of client information really short changes it. It certainly is that – holding phone numbers, email addresses, addresses all in 1 convenient location. But it also holds all those little notes that invariably get lost – like after the initial client conference you want to remember that detail photos make her very happy or her sister is a blinker or bring dog biscuits because otherwise you’ll be mauled by the family dog – there’s a place for all those notes, a place where you can put down who the gatekeeper of the invoices is so when you desperately need the check you know who to call.
Second Shootr started out as an app for wedding photographers, but the new version has expanded categories so its easy to customize it to all your photo business.
The key is it comes from Plinkk Photography in Hampshire, England – the husband and wife team of Tim and Helen are photographers so they know what  photographers need – and didn’t sugar coat the app with any unnecessary bells and whistles.
The only down side – inputting 20 or so jobs at once is a royal pain – but once you get caught up, its a snap to stay current.
Green too – no more a need to print a bunch of emails with directions, gallery passwords, cell numbers – its all there. And here’s the frosting – they ask for feedback so they can keep making the app with what photographers want! They answer emails…QUICKLY, and all the data gets backed up on iTunes so should your iTouch or Iphone ever need to be reformatted, the data is all streamed back in in some mysterious way from cyberspace.
You know what I think…best 7 bucks you’ll ever spend – forgo a couple of lattes and grab Second Shootr in the iTunes store – don’t have an iTouch or IPhone…that’ll cost you a bit more.

Here’s a link to their website , check it out.

Oh, since this is a photo blog, there needs to be a photo or two … so here’s a couple of photos I did of Eliza – lit only from the light off the screen of her iTouch ( a birthday present – she got one before me!)  and one starring  the alpha cat of the family – Boo, all 18 pounds of him.