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12 Claude prompts a photographer uses to answer client emails in 2 minutes
The price question. The quote nobody answered. The reschedule. Paste the real email in, run the prompt, read it once, send.
Go to the promptsWhy this list exists
Most of my inbox is the same 12 emails. I used to write each one from scratch, at night, tired. That is where the needy replies came from.
Now I paste the email into Claude with one of the prompts below. I read the reply once, change one word, and send it. Two rules make every prompt work. Paste the real email in, never a summary of it. And fill in every [bracket] with your real details, because a blank bracket gives you a generic reply.
They work in Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI chat. Written for photographers. They work for anyone who gets paid by email.
Part 1 of 4
The inquiry
Three prompts for the first emails a new client sends. Answer what they asked in the first line, then get to a date or a call before the price comes up.
The price question is the one most photographers get wrong. You send a number, they say thanks, you never hear back. Send the questions first. Save the number for the call.
A new client emailed me this morning about [type of shoot] on [date]. Their email is below. [paste it] Write my reply in under 100 words. Answer every question they asked in the first 3 lines. Confirm I am free on that date or offer 2 other dates. Ask one question back about what they want the photos for. No greeting longer than their name, no exclamation marks, no gushing.
The question back is what separates a booking from a price shopper.
Someone emailed me only "how much do you charge for [type of shoot]?" The full email is pasted here. [paste it] Write a reply that does not send the price. Ask the 3 short questions I need before I can quote. Where, how long, and what the photos are for. Offer a 10 minute call. Keep it under 70 words. Busy but warm.
A number in an email gets a thanks. A call gets a booking.
A lead replied "can you send me more info?" The whole thread follows. [paste it] Write a reply that gives them 3 concrete things. What a shoot with me looks like from booking to delivery. How many finished photos they get. How long delivery takes. Then one question, what is the date. Keep it under 120 words, no brochure language.
More info is rarely what they want. A date is.
Part 2 of 4
The quiet ones
Three prompts for the people who stopped replying. The rule for all of them is to write like someone who has other work and is fine either way.
If it is not interesting anymore, that is all ok. Say that, and most of them reply.
I sent a quote for [shoot] 6 days ago and heard nothing. What I sent is pasted below. [paste it] Write a 2 sentence follow up with no filler opener and no weather talk. Give them an easy yes or no. Are they still deciding, or did they go another way. Make it read like I have other work and I am fine either way.
Two sentences. A yes or a no. Nothing needy.
A lead told me they booked another photographer. Their email is here. [paste it] Write a 3 line reply that wishes them a good shoot and means it, and leaves the door open for next time. No discount, no asking why, no "if anything changes".
The ones who come back a year later are the ones you made it easy for.
I photographed [name] for [what] in [month and year] and have not spoken since. Write a short email that leads with something useful to them, a real reason to write, and mentions I have dates open in [month]. 80 words at most. No small talk opener and no pitch in the first line.
Lead with something for them. Catching up is not a reason to email.
Part 3 of 4
Money and dates
Three prompts for the emails that make photographers go quiet themselves. A late payment, a reschedule, and the discount ask.
Keep the price. Change the offer instead. Fewer hours, fewer finished photos, a different date. Make the price good enough to make it worth it, for both of you.
An invoice for [amount] was due on [date] and is [number] days late. Our last emails are pasted below. [paste them] Write a reminder that assumes they forgot, not that they are avoiding me. State the amount, the date it was due and the link to pay, in that order. Keep it under 60 words and friendly. Make it clear the photos are delivered after payment.
Assume they forgot. Most did.
A client wants to move the shoot from [date] to [new date]. My rule is [your rule, for example one free move and the deposit stays]. Their request is pasted here. [paste it] Write a reply that says yes if the new date is free, restates my rule in one plain sentence without sounding like a lawyer, and confirms the new date and time back to them.
Yes first. The rule second. The date confirmed at the end.
A client asked for a discount on [shoot]. Their message is pasted after this. [paste it] Do not lower the price. Write a reply that offers a different option instead, fewer hours, fewer finished photos, or a smaller team, with a lower price for that. Two options at most. End by asking which one fits them, so the next email is a yes and not a negotiation.
A different offer with a different price point. Never the same offer for less.
Part 4 of 4
After the shoot
Three prompts for the emails after delivery. The delivery itself, the revision round, and the ask for a review and a referral.
The referral prompt is the one I would keep if I could keep only one. Give them one sentence they can forward. Nobody writes that sentence for you on their own.
I am delivering [number] finished photos to [name] from [shoot] today. Write the delivery email. First line is the link. Then say how long the link stays live, how to download the full size files, and that they can share them with the photo credit. One line asking them to tell me their 3 favourites. 100 words maximum.
The 3 favourites become your next post. Ask every time.
A client asked me to [what they asked, for example smooth the skin or swap a photo]. What they asked for is pasted here. [paste it] My delivery included [number] rounds of changes. Write a reply that says yes to what is inside that, says clearly what is not and what it costs in time, and gives them a date. Kind and short. No apology for having a rule.
Round 14 only happens when round 1 had no rule.
[Name] told me today they love the photos from [shoot]. Their message is pasted below. [paste it] Write a reply that thanks them in one line, asks for a 3 sentence review at [review link], and gives them one sentence they can forward to a friend who needs a photographer. 90 words maximum. No "it would mean the world to me".
The forwardable sentence is the whole prompt.
Prompts are level one
Level two is when the inbox answers itself.
These 12 prompts save me the writing. What saved me the inbox was giving Claude my past emails, my prices, my rules and my calendar, so the first draft of every reply is waiting before I open the email.
That is not a prompt. That is a small system, and it is what I build for people who are the only one in their business who can answer the email.
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