Request-based booking
ShootPortal is photography booking software for client-commissioned work. Clients request a service from your menu on a branded form, get an estimate, and accept the shoot time you propose, all on one project that carries straight through to payment and delivery.
Why booking takes so long
Most of the friction in booking photography isn't the calendar. It's the details, the price, and the back-and-forth around the date.
The request arrives as a text with no address, no service, and no idea what the client expects to pay.
Every inquiry means retyping packages and prices into an email, and remembering the travel fee.
Three messages to agree on a time, then two more when the weather or the client's plans change.
Your personal calendar and your shoot calendar live in different places, so conflicts slip through.
Name, email, company, and address get copied by hand into a spreadsheet, an invoice app, and a folder name.
Your best clients have to explain everything again because nothing remembers the last job.
How booking works in ShootPortal
This is request-based booking: the client tells you what they need, and you confirm the time. Here is exactly what happens.
See it in action
A 31-second walkthrough of real ShootPortal screens: the client picks a service and a preferred date, gets an instant preliminary estimate, the project appears, and they respond to the time you propose.
Real ShootPortal screens from a live account. Client details are blurred. No sound.
Booking features
Service catalog
Build your services once, with descriptions, what's included, and "starting at" prices. Mark one as recommended or hide prices for custom work. The request form shows the catalog, so every inquiry arrives tied to a real service.
Essentials
from $175
Up to 25 photos
Signature
Recommendedfrom $325
Photos + aerials
Cinematic
from $575
Photos + video
Estimates
With automatic estimates on, a preliminary estimate is created and sent as soon as the request comes in, with an optional travel fee based on ZIP-to-ZIP distance. When you're ready, convert it to an official proposal with versions, an expiry date, and a PDF. The client approves the proposal or requests changes in the portal.
Estimate
Signature package · 214 Oak Street
Prepared for Avery Chen, Northside Realty
Scheduling
Propose a shoot date and time from the project. The client accepts, declines, or counters with another time, and either side can propose. If several times are pending, accepting one declines the rest. Reschedules happen on the same project, so the history stays with the job.
Submits a request
ClientPicks a service from your catalog, adds the property address, preferred date, and notes.
Preliminary estimate
SystemPackage price plus a travel fee calculated from ZIP-to-ZIP distance, if you enable it.
Official estimate
YouAdjust line items and send. The client approves or asks for changes in the portal.
Propose a shoot time
YouThe client accepts, declines, or counter-proposes. No text-message ping-pong.
Deposit (optional)
ClientCollect a percentage or flat deposit on approval through your own Stripe account.
Calendar
The ShootPortal calendar shows confirmed shoots with their project, client, and address. Connect Google and your own events appear alongside them, so you can spot a conflict before you propose a time.
Choose the right kind of booking
Both are valid. They suit different businesses, and it's better to know which one you need before you start a trial.
Self-scheduling tools
Best fit: Fixed-length sessions at a known price, like headshots or mini-sessions.
ShootPortal
Best fit: Commissioned shoots where location, scope, and price vary: real estate, drone, commercial, and video work.
ShootPortal does not offer self-booking into open time slots or availability rules. If that's essential, compare options in our real estate photography booking software comparison.
Before and after
Booking is step one
Because the booking is a project, nothing is re-entered when the shoot is done. These are the verified features at every stage.
Request
Estimate
Schedule
Shoot
Review
Pay
Deliver
Taking payment after the booking is covered on our photography invoicing software page, and what runs automatically from request to delivery is on the workflow software page.
Built by a working drone photographer
ShootPortal was built by Jackson Bridges. Founder & Developer of ShootPortal · Owner of Swift Aerial Media · FAA Part 107 Certified Drone Pilot. Weather reschedules, occupied homes, and last-minute add-ons shaped how requests, proposals, and counter-offers work.
Pricing
Simple pricing
$29/month
Or $24/month billed annually. One flat Studio plan with the full feature set: no per-listing or per-delivery fees. Card payments from your clients go through your own Stripe account at Stripe's standard rates.
FAQ
No. Clients submit a request with a preferred date, and you or the client propose a specific time. The other side accepts, declines, or counters. If you need instant self-booking into available slots, a dedicated scheduling tool will fit better.
Name, email, phone, company, the property or location address, one service from your catalog, an optional preferred date, notes, and a password for the client's account. You can switch it to an inquiry form with no service picker if you quote everything by hand.
It can. With automatic estimates on, a preliminary estimate is created from the chosen service and sent when the request arrives. The client approves the official proposal you send afterwards, so you always review the final price.
Shoots push to the Google Calendar you choose when they're proposed, accepted, or rescheduled, and your Google events show read-only on the ShootPortal calendar. It isn't a full two-way sync: editing an event in Google doesn't change the shoot.
You can require a deposit, as a percentage or a fixed amount, when the client approves the proposal. Clients pay by card through Stripe Checkout into your own Stripe account.
Yes. 14 days free, no credit card required. Sign up with Google or a five-field form, add your services in the guided setup, and send your request link to a client.
Keep reading
Acuity, Calendly, Square Appointments, Setmore, Aryeo, HDPhotoHub, Spiro, Tonomo and ShootPortal, compared on how agents book, how you price, and how shoots land on your calendar.
Map every stage of a shoot, from first inquiry to follow-up, decide what triggers each step, and turn it into a reusable workflow template you can run on any job.
Fifteen practical ways to win listing agents and keep them booking, from office presentations and personal outreach to Google Business Profile, reviews, and a delivery experience agents remember.
More of ShootPortal
Set up your services, share your request link, and watch the request, estimate, and shoot time land on one project.
14 days free. No credit card required.
