topic Managing a small photography team is harder than the actual photography in General Discussion

Managing a small photography team is harder than the actual photography

mohsin025 — Fri, 22 May 2026 07:12:39 GMT

Honestly the shooting part I have figured out. Lenses, lighting, post processing, all of that feels natural now. What caught me off guard was the moment I brought two people on board full time.

Suddenly I'm dealing with who showed up for the early morning corporate shoot, who left early, whether the editor actually put in the hours they billed for. I was keeping track in my head for longer than I should admit.

A friend suggested looking into a proper time attendance management system instead of the notebook and gut feeling approach I had going. Ended up trying Vertex HCM and the honest truth is I wish I had done it six months earlier. Not because it's fancy but because it just got that one thing off my plate completely.

Anyone else here running a small team and went through the same mess before figuring out a system that actually worked?

Re: Managing a small photography team is harder than the actual photography

Tintype_18 — Fri, 22 May 2026 12:53:01 GMT

I was in a management position with four employees. Never again. I know of too many people in an ownership position or management who had ulcers.

Re: Managing a small photography team is harder than the actual photography

ebiggs1 — Sun, 24 May 2026 14:20:24 GMT

I only hired people per job usually one or two. We did the job, got paid and parted until perhaps they were needed and available for the next. BTW, another thing the novice photographer doesn't know is how little time you spend actually shooting the job compared to the editing work in Photoshop afterwards. I'd say ten to one.