How Photographers Can Make Money During Slow Season Without Discounting Sessions

Instagram: @ciennaso

Slow season shows up every year, and the first thing most photographers think is, “Should I run a sale?” But here is the part most of you don’t realize. You don’t have to discount yourself just because things feel slow.

There are easier, smarter ways to bring in money without lowering your prices or booking sessions you already know you will regret later.

In this blog I'm going to introduce my Gallery Delivery Workflow Strategy and how it's designed to help photographers bring in extra income. Stop running sales and start making money from photos you already have.

My Gallery Delivery Workflow Strategy

Limited Digitals. Endless Upsells.

If you are new to my world or ever have a 1 on 1 with me, this is the first thing I teach because it sets the foundation for making more money without adding more work. It is the piece that makes everything else fall into place. And once this part clicks, the slow season ideas I am about to share slide right into place.

Rule # 1 - Stop giving photos away for free.

If you overshoot and end up handing every image to your client because you don't know what else to do with them, this is for you.

First, you are going to offer a set number of digitals in each photo package.

For example, a one hour session might include 15 digitals.

Now this is where overshooting finally works in your favor.

You are going to edit the full set of images you want your client to see and place them in their gallery. And when I say the full set, I mean the photos that pass your culling workflow and match your brand and style. Not every single frame. Just the ones that belong in your final story.

Once you have edited everything with your favorite Jaide and Jett Presets and built a strong, story driven gallery using the structure I teach, you will send it to your client with a watermark and let them choose their 15 favorites, using the example above.

Inside the gallery email, you will clearly explain how many digitals are included with their package and let them know the rest are available as an upgrade if they want more.

This is the baseline of my Pricing and Gallery Delivery Workflow Strategy. If you want the full step by step breakdown join the waitlist for my 1 on 1 mentor sessions here.

This is why I said to stop giving all your photos away. Once you shift your pricing strategy, these slow season money makers start working exactly how they should without running sales that barely convert. So let’s get into it.

1. Sell the Full Galleries Your Clients Never Purchased

By the end of the year, everyone has galleries sitting in Pixieset that are taking up space. This is the perfect time to announce that you are archiving old galleries to make room for the new year. When you do this, you are creating a natural moment for clients to decide if they want their full gallery before it gets vaulted.

The full gallery is already edited.

The work is already done.

So offering it at a discounted upgrade price does not cost you more time. It just gives your clients one last chance to grab the images they loved but never bought.

You can say something simple like…

“Your gallery is being archived soon to make room for my 2026 sessions. If you’d like to unlock your full gallery before it's archived, here is how you can purchase”

Words like “archiving” and “vaulted” are powerful because they signal a real boundary. It is not fake urgency. It is not pressure. It is just clear communication that access will not be available forever. You are a busy photographer that needs to make space for all the future sessions you have booked. You want to remind your clients of the memories they have locked.

This gives clients a final chance to own the photos they couldn’t stop scrolling through the first time.

2. Offer Gift Cards for the Holidays

Slow season overlaps with the holidays, which makes this the perfect time to offer gift cards. And not in a “buy a session” way. I recommend something cleaner and more flexible: a set amount that can be used toward a session.

This works better for a few reasons.

It feels more like a real gift, it keeps your full session price intact, and it lets the person receiving it choose the session they want without you discounting anything.

For example:

A client might gift someone a 100 dollar or 150 dollar credit.

It goes toward a session, not “covers the whole thing,” which keeps everything aligned with your pricing.

And your past clients love this, because they already trust you with their memories. Offering gift cards gives them a chance to share you with the people they love. It is wholesome, personal, and it makes everyone feel good.

Now, this part matters.

Whenever you offer gift cards, you need clear terms and conditions.

Not to be strict.

Just to protect yourself and keep everything organized for the future.

Include things like:

• the value of the gift card

• what it can be applied toward

• the expiration date (if your state legally allows this)

• your booking policies

• your cancellation rules

• how they redeem it

In my state, gift cards legally cannot expire, which is why having clear terms and conditions matters so much. You never want someone showing up with a gift card from ten years ago and you have nothing to protect yourself in worst case scenarios.

So, before you finalize anything, check your state’s gift card laws. Some states allow expiration dates, some do not. Some require you to honor the full amount for a set period. Knowing this ahead of time keeps future you from dealing with a headache.

Once you have your terms lined out, announce gift cards with a simple, warm message.

Something like:

“I opened holiday gift cards if you want to gift someone a session credit for the new year. It is one of my favorite things to offer because it lets me photograph the people you love.”

It is easy.

It is meaningful.

And it brings in income during slow season while also booking future work for you.

3. Sell Prints, Albums, and Wall Art From Past Sessions

Slow season is the perfect time to circle back to past clients and offer them something they already want but never slow down long enough to order: prints, albums, and wall art.

Your clients are busy.

They download their digitals and move on with life. Most of them never order prints unless you make it simple for them.

This is where slow season fits perfectly.

You can send a warm, low pressure reminder that your print shop is open for past sessions and that this is a great time to get their photos off their phone and into their home.

A simple message works beautifully:

“I’m opening my print shop this month for past clients. If you want prints, albums, or wall art from your session, this is a perfect time to grab them.”

Make sure your print pricing supports your value and that your packages are something clients actually purchase. If you want help building a pricing system that works long term, you can join me for a 1 on 1 mentorship session here.

4. Create a Full Black and White Gallery as an Upsell

This next idea is one of my favorites because it works even if you gave all your photos away in the past. If you cannot upsell a full color gallery, you can still create something new from the work you already delivered: a complete black and white gallery.

Not a handful of B&W edits.

Not five sprinkled into the main gallery.

A full, cohesive, beautifully edited black and white version of the entire session.

Clients love black and white for completely different reasons than color. It feels timeless, emotional, clean, and artistic. It hits a different place in their heart. And seeing their full session in B&W usually feels brand new to them, even though the images themselves already exist.

That is why this works.

You can take the original edits and create a full black and white version using your favorite Jaide and Jett preset stack. Once everything is converted and curated into its own gallery, send a sweet message like:

“I made a full black and white version of your session that’s available to purchase for a discounted price. It turned out so beautiful.”

And then offer it as an upsell.

Simple.

Aligned.

Zero new shooting.

Zero new posing.

Just an artistic rework of images you already created.

This strategy is perfect for photographers who cannot use the full gallery upsell because they gave everything away in color. A black and white gallery is still fresh, still valuable, and still something clients are excited to purchase because it feels like a completely new experience.

Black and white galleries are one of those slow season ideas that feel creative for you and meaningful for your clients, while bringing in income from work that already exists.

Slow season does not have to feel heavy or stressful.

When your workflow and pricing structure are set up with intention, it becomes a season where your past work continues to support you.

Every strategy in this guide is built around one idea:

you already created the work… now let it pay you.

Selling full galleries, offering gift cards, reopening print shops, and creating full black and white edits are all simple, aligned ways to bring in income without discounting your sessions or burning yourself out.

The more intentional your systems are, the easier slow season becomes. And if you want to build these strategies into your business long term, my 1 on 1 mentorships goes deeper into the full pricing structure and workflow that makes all of this feel effortless.

You deserve a business that supports you year round, not just when you are shooting nonstop. Slow season is not a setback. It is an opportunity to let your work keep working for you.

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

Let’s build your next era together.

✨ Join the Mentorship Waitlist

www.ciennaso.com/education

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