Studio Ninja Review: The CRM That Actually Runs Our Elopement Business

We’ve photographed over 200 elopements across Scotland. Behind every one of those adventures is a mountain of admin that nobody sees: contracts, invoices, questionnaires, timelines and dozens of email threads per couple. Here’s an honest look at Studio Ninja and why it’s been running our business for years.

Why Photographers Need a CRM (And Why We Ignored This For Too Long)

When we started The Sassenachs, our “system” was a catastrophic mess of email folders, spreadsheets and the occasional Post-it note stuck to the fridge. We told ourselves it was fine. We were wrong.

The problem with elopement photography is that the admin load is disproportionate to the actual shooting. A traditional wedding photographer might work with a couple for a year, but the venue and planner handle most logistics. With elopements, we’re often the only vendor our couples work with. We’re helping Americans navigate Scottish marriage law, coordinating with celebrants across time zones, building timelines around golden hour at remote Highland locations and answering dozens of questions about everything from driving on the left to whether they need wellies.

When you’re managing 30+ couples at various stages of the planning process, things slip through the cracks. Has that contract been signed? Did we send the questionnaire? When’s their ceremony again? The mental load becomes exhausting.

A proper CRM fixes this. Not because it does the work for you, but because it creates a system where nothing gets forgotten.

What Studio Ninja Actually Does

At its core, Studio Ninja is a client relationship management tool built specifically for photographers. That last bit matters. Generic CRMs like HubSpot or Salesforce are overkill for most photography businesses. They’re designed for sales teams with complex pipelines, not couples who want to elope in Glencoe.

Studio Ninja handles the essentials: lead tracking, contracts and e-signatures, invoicing and payments, questionnaires, automated emails, task management and calendar integration. Everything lives in one place, organised by client.

The workflow system is what sold us initially. When someone enquires, we can see exactly where they are in our process at a glance. Have they signed their contract? Paid their deposit? Filled in the questionnaire about their ceremony plans? It’s all there without digging through emails.

The Features We Actually Use

We’ve been using Studio Ninja for years now, so we’ve got a pretty clear picture of what works and what we could live without.

Automated email sequences are genuinely life-changing. We can set up emails that go out at specific points: when someone enquires, when they book, three months before their elopement, one month before, one week before. Each email is personalised with their details pulled automatically from their record. For a two-person business photographing American couples from 5,000 miles away, this kind of automation is essential. We’re not manually sending reminder emails at midnight.

Contracts and invoices look professional. When you’re charging premium prices, everything needs to feel premium. Studio Ninja’s templates are clean and customisable. The online signing process is seamless for our couples, which matters when they can’t exactly pop round for a cuppa and a signature.

The questionnaires are brilliant for elopements. We use these to gather everything we need: ceremony preferences, vow details, accommodation, whether they’re planning any activities during their Scotland trip. The responses feed directly into their client record, so we’re not hunting through emails when we’re building their timeline.

Lead management helps us track where enquiries come from. This is useful for understanding which marketing channels actually work. We can see at a glance how many leads came from Google, how many from Instagram, how many from referrals. It’s not sophisticated analytics, but it’s enough to make informed decisions about where to focus our energy.

What Studio Ninja Doesn’t Do

No software is perfect. Here’s where Studio Ninja falls short for our specific needs.

It’s not built for the planning side of elopements. Studio Ninja handles client management beautifully, but elopements require a different kind of coordination: location scouting, timeline building around sunrise and sunset, vendor coordination, weather contingencies. For that, we use Elopement Buddy, which we helped build specifically for this purpose. It handles AI-powered timeline planning, vendor communication through magic links and even proximity alerts so we know if another photographer has booked the same clifftop for the same sunrise. Studio Ninja and Elopement Buddy complement each other nicely: one handles the business admin, the other handles the planning.

The reporting could be more robust. The financial reports are functional but basic. If you need detailed analytics or complex financial tracking, you’ll probably want to integrate with something like Xero or QuickBooks.

There’s a learning curve. It took us a few weeks to really get our workflows dialled in. The system is flexible, which is great, but that flexibility means you need to invest time setting it up properly. Don’t expect to sign up and be running smoothly within an hour.

The mobile app is limited. It’s useful for quick checks when you’re out shooting, but we do most of our serious admin work on desktop. If you’re hoping to run your entire business from your phone, you might find it frustrating.

How We’ve Integrated It Into Our Workflow

Here’s roughly how things work for us:

A couple finds us, usually through Google or sometimes through Phindr (a photographer directory we helped create where couples browse portfolios anonymously and match based purely on the work, not marketing spend). They fill out our contact form, which feeds directly into Studio Ninja as a new lead.

We reply manually because we believe that first contact should feel personal, not automated. If they want to proceed, we send a proposal through Studio Ninja with our pricing and package details. They can accept, sign the contract and pay their deposit all in one seamless flow.

Once booked, automated emails kick in. They receive a welcome email immediately, then questionnaires at appropriate intervals. We get task reminders to follow up, schedule planning calls and build their timeline.

As we get closer to their elopement date, we move the detailed planning into Elopement Buddy where we can collaborate on locations, build visual timelines and coordinate with any other vendors. But the business side stays in Studio Ninja: final payments, contracts, delivery tracking.

After they receive their gallery, Studio Ninja prompts us to request a review and handles the follow-up automatically.

Who Is Studio Ninja Right For?

Studio Ninja works well if you’re a wedding or elopement photographer who wants a dedicated system without the complexity of enterprise software. It’s particularly good if you’re working internationally, as it handles multiple currencies and the contract system works smoothly across borders.

It’s probably not the right choice if you’re a volume photographer doing hundreds of mini sessions, or if you need sophisticated marketing automation. It’s also not ideal if you need robust team features, though they’ve been improving this recently.

For our business, photographing around 30 luxury elopements per year with couples predominantly from the United States, it fits perfectly. Your mileage may vary depending on your niche and volume.

The Alternatives We Considered

We’ve tried or seriously evaluated most of the popular options over the years.

HoneyBook is probably the biggest name in the space, but it’s not available in the UK. If you’re based in the US, it’s worth considering. For UK photographers, it’s not an option.

Dubsado is incredibly powerful and customisable. Almost too customisable. We found the learning curve steeper and the interface less intuitive. If you’re technically minded and want maximum flexibility, it’s worth considering.

Ultimately, the “best” CRM is the one you’ll actually use consistently. We recommend trying the free trials and seeing which interface clicks with your brain.

Is It Worth The Cost?

Studio Ninja isn’t the cheapest option, but it’s not expensive either in the context of running a photography business. When we factor in the hours saved on admin, the reduced mental load from having everything organised, the professional impression it creates with clients and the bookings we haven’t lost due to forgotten follow-ups, it pays for itself many times over.

The peace of mind alone is worth the monthly fee. Knowing that nothing is slipping through the cracks, that every couple is being looked after, that the business runs smoothly even when we’re knee-deep in editing from a week of back-to-back elopements: that’s valuable.

Final Thoughts

Running a photography business involves far more admin than most people realise. The photographers who thrive aren’t necessarily the most talented with a camera. They’re often the ones who’ve built systems that handle the behind-the-scenes chaos so they can focus on what actually matters: creating beautiful work and giving their couples an incredible experience.

Studio Ninja has been a core part of our system for years. It’s not perfect and we use other tools alongside it, but for managing the business side of client relationships, it does exactly what we need.

If you’re still running your photography business through email and spreadsheets and things are starting to slip, a proper CRM genuinely does make a difference. Whether that’s Studio Ninja or something else, the investment in getting organised will pay off.

Got questions about how we use Studio Ninja or any of the other tools in our workflow? Drop us a message. We’re always happy to chat shop with fellow photographers.

— Matt & Jodie