Ask a client what they remember about booking a photographer and it's rarely the contract. It's the moment the photographer said “I know the perfect spot” — and then proved it.
The location is where a session becomes real. It sets the light, the mood, the wardrobe, the whole story of the photos. And yet the way most photographers handle it is the weakest part of their client experience: a text thread of Google Maps pins, a few screenshots, maybe a PDF that was current two seasons ago.
What a location guide actually does
A location guide is your answer to the question every client asks and no client knows how to answer: where? Done well, it does three jobs at once:
- It sells your expertise. A curated set of locations — with your photos at each one — is proof you've stood there at golden hour and know exactly what it gives you. Nobody can screenshot their way to that.
- It removes decision anxiety. Clients don't want fifty options. They want a confident shortlist they can browse, compare, and fall in love with.
- It surfaces the practical stuff early. Travel fees, parking, walking distance, permit quirks — the things that cause awkward conversations when they show up late, and build trust when they show up first.
PDF guides were a good idea. They just don't age well.
The Canva-PDF location guide was a genuine step up when photographers started making them, and plenty still look beautiful. The problem is that a PDF is frozen. Find a new field? Re-export. A venue changes its rules? Re-export. Update travel pricing? Re-export — and hope nobody keeps the old file.
A static guide also can't do the one thing that would make it useful in both directions: it can't tell you what the client liked.
What an interactive guide changes
With an interactive guide like Postcards, the guide is one live link. Update a location once and every client sees the current version. Clients explore a real map instead of flipping pages, see what each location costs in travel before they get attached, check the golden hour for each spot, and heart their three favorites — which land back in your inbox as a lead, with everything you need to reply with a plan instead of a question.
The guide stops being a brochure and starts being the first conversation of the session.
Where to start
- List the five locations you'd defend in an argument — the ones you actually shoot, not the famous ones.
- Pull your three best photos from each. Real sessions, not stock.
- Write one honest paragraph per spot: what it feels like, when the light is right, what to know before arriving.
- State the travel fee, if there is one. Upfront. Always.
- Put it somewhere clients can explore — and if that's Postcards, it's one link from now on.
Postcards turns the places you love to shoot into one branded, interactive map — travel fees and golden hour included. Clients heart their three favorites, and the lead lands in your inbox.
See how Postcards worksCommon questions
- What is a photography location guide?
- A photography location guide is a curated collection of the places a photographer loves to shoot — with photos, directions, the best light, and any travel fees — shared with clients so they can choose a location with confidence. It can be a PDF, a web page, or an interactive map like Postcards.
- Do clients actually use location guides?
- Yes — location choice is usually the first real decision a client makes after booking, and it's the one they feel least equipped for. A guide replaces “where should we do it?” anxiety with browsing, comparing, and picking favorites.
- What should a location guide include?
- Real photos from past sessions at each spot, a map, what the location is like underfoot (parking, walking, permits), the best time of day for light, and any travel fee — stated upfront, not discovered later.