Starting a photography blog is one of the smartest moves you can make as a photographer. While Instagram and Facebook are great for quick shares and engagement, they don’t give you the control, visibility, or revenue opportunities that come with owning your own platform.

A photography blog on WordPress gives you a professional space to showcase your portfolio, share your creative process, attract ideal clients, and even generate passive income—all while building lasting authority in your niche.

The best part? You don’t need any coding skills or technical expertise to get started.

The Imagely team has helped thousands of photographers build successful online presences, and we’ve seen firsthand how the right blog setup can transform a photography business. 

In this complete guide, you’ll learn exactly how to start a photography blog with WordPress—from initial setup to publishing your first post, growing your audience, and monetizing your work. Let’s dive in.

In This Article:

Why Start a Photography Blog?

Before we get into the technical setup, let’s talk about why photography blogging is worth your time.

• Showcase Your Work Professionally – Social media platforms compress your images and control who sees your posts through algorithms. A photography blog gives you complete control over how your work is presented and discovered.
• Attract Clients Through SEO – When potential clients search Google for “wedding photographer in [your city]” or “newborn photography tips,” your blog can appear in those results. Every blog post is an opportunity to rank for keywords that bring you ideal clients.
• Build Authority in Your Niche – Regular blogging establishes you as an expert. When you share behind-the-scenes insights, photography tips, and session stories, you demonstrate deep knowledge that builds trust with potential clients.
• Generate Multiple Revenue Streams – Beyond booking sessions, you can sell prints and digital downloads, earn affiliate commissions from gear recommendations, create digital products like Lightroom presets, or offer online courses.
• Own Your Platform – Social media platforms can change algorithms, shut down accounts, or disappear entirely. With a WordPress photography blog, you own everything—your content, your audience, and your revenue streams.

Getting Started: WordPress Setup

The foundation of your photography blog starts with WordPress. 

If you already have a photography website on WordPress, you can skip ahead to creating your first blog post. If you’re starting from scratch, here’s the quick overview.

Choose Domain, Hosting, and Install WordPress

You’ll need three things to get started: a domain name (your blog’s address like, www.myphotographyblog.com), web hosting (where your website files live), and WordPress installed.

For photography blogs specifically, you’ll want to make sure you choose hosting that can handle large image files. 

I recommend managed WordPress hosts like Bluehost or SiteGround, which offer optimized performance, ample storage, and one-click WordPress installation.

Plans typically start around $3-10 per month. Most web hosting providers for photographers will help walk you through the entire setup process, so even non-technical users can get set up quickly.

After that, you’ll have access to the WordPress dashboard.

For detailed step-by-step instructions on setting up WordPress, choosing your domain, and getting your site configured, check out our comprehensive guide on how to create a photography website.

Choose Your Theme and Essential Tools

Your WordPress theme controls your site’s design and layout. For photography blogs, you want a theme that’s clean, mobile-responsive, and puts the focus on your images rather than busy design elements.

The Imagely Pro plan includes the Imagely Theme with 84+ photography-specific templates, along with the NextGEN Gallery plugin for creating stunning galleries. 

This combination gives you everything needed for a professional photography blog and business platform in one package.

If you prefer to explore other options, look for photography-focused themes that are lightweight, mobile-optimized, and compatible with gallery plugins.

Step 1: Set Up Your Photography Blog Tools

Now that WordPress is installed, let’s get the photography-specific tools configured. The right tools make the difference between a basic blog and a professional photography platform.

Why Use Imagely for Photography Blogging

Imagely’s Gallery plugin is the most popular WordPress gallery plugin with over 32 million downloads, and it’s the core plugin that powers Imagely’s photography platform.

While you could use WordPress’s basic gallery feature, Imagely provides the professional features photographers need for a successful blog.

With Imagely’s gallery plugin, you get beautiful, customizable gallery layouts including mosaic, masonry, filmstrip, and slideshow options. 

The plugin includes a built-in lightbox for full-screen image viewing, which creates a professional experience for your visitors.

One of its smartest features is image optimization—it preserves your original high-resolution files while automatically creating web-optimized versions for faster page loading.

The plugin also includes powerful SEO features like deep linking and alt text management to help your images rank in search results. 

If you’re already using Adobe Lightroom in your workflow, you’ll love the integration that lets you publish galleries directly from Lightroom to WordPress. 

For photographers looking to monetize their blogs, the Imagely Pro adds eCommerce capabilities for selling prints and digital downloads, client proofing tools, and comprehensive image protection with watermarking.

To install the free version of Imagely’s gallery plugin (NextGEN Gallery), head to Plugins → Add New in your WordPress dashboard and search for “NextGEN Gallery.” 

Install and activate the NextGen Gallery to get started.

If you’ve purchased Imagely Pro, you’ll also need upload and activate the Pro version.

Once activated, enter your license key under Imagely → Other Options → Pro License Key to unlock all the advanced features.

Step 2: Create Your First Photography Gallery

Before you start blogging, let’s create a gallery to showcase your work. This will serve as your portfolio and can be featured in blog posts.

With Imagely’s new streamlined interface, creating a gallery is faster than ever. From your WordPress dashboard, click Add a New Gallery under the Imagely tab to get started. 

Give your gallery a descriptive name like “Wedding Portfolio” or “Landscape Photography,” then upload your images.

You can choose images from your computer, select from the WordPress Media Library, or import an entire folder of images at once. This is perfect for photographers who shoot hundreds of photos per session.

Once your images finish uploading, click the Customize tab to select your gallery layout and fine-tune the display. 

The interface uses a simple tabbed workflow that keeps everything in one place.

Choose from beautiful layout options like mosaic, masonry, or basic thumbnails, then adjust settings like images per page, number of columns, and whether to enable features like slideshow links or animations. 

You’ll see a live preview of your changes, making it easy to get your gallery looking exactly right. Next, click the Settings tab for final configurations.

Here you can add a gallery description, select which lightbox style will display your images, and enable eCommerce features if you’re selling prints or digital downloads from this gallery.

When everything looks good, click Publish and your gallery is ready to use.

Now comes the easy part—adding your gallery to a page or post. Navigate to the page where you want to display your gallery (like your Portfolio page or a blog post).

In the WordPress editor, click the + icon to add a new block and search for the Imagely block. Insert the block, then simply select your gallery from the dropdown menu. 

Your beautifully formatted gallery will appear on the page, ready for visitors to enjoy.

For step-by-step instructions on creating your first gallery, check out our detailed documentation guide.

Step 3: Write Your First Blog Post

Now for the heart of photography blogging—creating compelling content that combines your images with storytelling and valuable insights.

Blog Post Ideas for Photographers

Not sure what to write about? Here are proven content ideas:

Client Session Features – With permission, blog about your sessions. Wedding photographers can share ceremony stories, portrait photographers can feature family sessions. These posts give clients a beautiful way to share photos with friends and family while showing potential clients what working with you looks like.

Behind-the-Scenes Content – Share your photography process, equipment choices, location scouting stories, or challenges you overcame during shoots. People love seeing what happens behind the camera.

Photography Tips and Tutorials – Share your knowledge about lighting techniques, composition principles, camera settings, or post-processing workflows. Educational content establishes expertise and attracts readers searching for photography advice.

Personal Projects – Document passion projects, photography challenges (like 365-day projects), or experimental work outside client services.

Seasonal Content – Create location guides for photography spots in each season, share tips for seasonal portraits, or promote mini-session offerings. This aligns with what people actively search for throughout the year.

Gear Reviews and Recommendations – Share your experience with cameras, lenses, and equipment you use. These posts can also generate affiliate income.

Writing an Effective Photography Blog Post

Here’s how to structure posts that engage readers and rank in search engines:

1. Craft an SEO-Friendly Title

Be descriptive and include relevant keywords naturally. Instead of “The Johnson Family,” write “Golden Hour Family Portraits at Riverside Park” or “Rustic Barn Wedding Photography in Vermont.”

2. Write an Engaging Introduction

Hook readers immediately—set the scene or highlight what makes this post special. Keep it concise: two to three sentences that make people want to keep reading.

3. Showcase Your Images

Embed image galleries or insert individual images with descriptive captions. Your photography should do the heavy lifting. Share what’s happening in the photo, technical details, or emotional moments captured.

4. Tell the Story

Share the experience of the shoot, memorable moments, or what made this session special. For client features, include how you met, what they were looking for, and how you brought their vision to life.

5. Optimize for SEO

• Use headings (H2, H3) to structure content
• Add alt text to all images
• Include internal links to related posts or galleries
• Integrate keywords naturally
• Write a compelling meta description

See our complete guide on SEO for photographers for more information.

6. Include a Call-to-Action

Invite readers to take the next step: encourage comments, invite booking inquiries, link to services, or prompt social shares.

Consistency Matters

I recommend batching your blog writing. Set aside time to write three to four posts at once, then schedule them to publish over the coming weeks. This creates consistency without daily writing pressure.

Aim for publishing two to four blog posts per month—sustainable and enough for SEO benefits.

A Note on Using AI

AI writing tools can help brainstorm ideas or create outlines, but your authentic voice and unique photography perspective are irreplaceable.

Use AI as a starting point, but always infuse posts with personal experiences and insights. Readers want to connect with you as a photographer, not read generic content.

Step 4: Grow Your Photography Blog

Creating great content is half the equation—you need to optimize for search engines and actively promote your work.

SEO Basics

Install an SEO Plugin – Use a tool like AIl in one SEO (AIOSEO) to optimize each post with meta descriptions, titles, and sitemaps.

Optimize Images – Compress images before uploading, use descriptive filenames (not IMG_1234.jpg), and add alt text to every image. Imagely’s plugin automatically creates optimized display versions while preserving originals.

Use Keywords Naturally – Research what potential clients search for using tools like Google Keyword Planner. Focus on location-based keywords (“Austin wedding photographer”) and niche terms (“newborn photography tips”).

Write Comprehensive Posts – Longer, detailed posts (1,000+ words when appropriate) tend to rank better. Provide real value, not fluff.

Internal Linking – Link between related blog posts and galleries on your site.

Local SEO – Include your city and region in content. Create location-specific posts and claim your Google Business Profile.

Promotion Strategies

Social Media – Share every post on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Instagram Stories are perfect for teasing new posts. Pinterest is especially powerful for photographers since it’s highly visual.

Email Marketing – Build an email list from day one. Offer something valuable for signups (photography tips guide, posing guide, or discount). Send newsletters featuring latest posts and updates.

Engage Your Clients – When you feature a client session, email them the link and encourage sharing. Their networks become your potential client base—word-of-mouth marketing at its finest.

Guest Blogging – Write for other photography blogs or lifestyle publications in your niche. Include links back to your blog.

Community Engagement – Comment on other photography blogs, participate in forums and groups, and collaborate with complementary creatives like wedding planners or makeup artists.

The Long Game

Blog growth takes time. Many photographers don’t see significant traffic for six to twelve months, then hit a tipping point as SEO authority builds. 

Photographers who blog consistently—two to four quality posts monthly—see dramatically better results than those posting sporadically.

Every post you publish is a long-term asset that can drive traffic and client inquiries for years.

Step 5: Monetize Your Photography Blog

Your blog can become a genuine revenue-generating asset beyond attracting photography clients.

1. Sell Your Photography Directly

With Imagely Pro’s built-in eCommerce, you can sell digital downloads and physical prints directly from your galleries with zero commission (you keep 100% minus payment processing fees).

Digital Downloads include high-resolution files, stock photography, or desktop wallpapers. Create custom pricelists for different usage rights and price points.

Physical Prints are where automated fulfillment shines. Imagely integrates with professional print labs—when clients order prints, orders are automatically sent to the lab for production and shipping. You never handle fulfillment but earn profit on every sale.

Setting up eCommerce with Imagely Pro has been completely redesigned to be straightforward and guided. 

The new unified eCommerce system walks you through setup with clear, step-by-step tabs that track your progress. 

Once configured, you can create pricelists with a visual, organized interface. 

The new pricelist builder features tabbed navigation for different product types (prints, canvas, digital downloads), clean table views showing costs and prices at a glance, and bulk markup tools to quickly adjust pricing across multiple products.

2. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing can be a great way to monetize your photography blog. You can recommend products you use and earn commissions when readers purchase through your affiliate links:

• Camera gear (Amazon Affiliates, B&H Photo)
• Editing software (Adobe, Luminar, etc.)
• Photography education (courses, workshops)
• Props and accessories

Create helpful reviews or “best of” guides. Only recommend products you genuinely use. Disclose affiliate relationships transparently.

3. Digital Products

Create and sell your own products:

• Lightroom presets
• Photoshop actions
• Photography eBooks and guides
• Posing guides
• Business templates for photographers

Digital products require upfront creation but generate passive income with no inventory or shipping.

4. Online Courses and Workshops

Teach what you know: photography fundamentals, lighting techniques, post-processing, business skills, or niche-specific expertise. Platforms like Teachable or WordPress membership plugins make this accessible.

5. Sponsored Content

As your blog gains traffic, brands may pay for product reviews, tutorials featuring their equipment, or sponsored posts aligned with your niche.

Revenue Reality Check

Building passive income through blogging takes time. Focus first on creating excellent content and building an audience, then layer in monetization gradually.

Most successful photography bloggers generate revenue through a mix of client work (attracted through blog SEO), print sales, and affiliate income. Diversification is key.

Frequently Asked Questions: Starting a Photography Blog

I hope you found this article helpful for starting a photography blog.

If you liked this post, you may want to check out the following articles too:

• How to Create a Photography Website
• How to Sell Photography Online
• Best WordPress Plugins for Photographers

Ready to start your photography blog?

Get Imagely Pro – Complete photography platform with Imagely’s gallery plugin, eCommerce, client proofing, and the Imagely Theme.

Start with NextGEN Gallery Lite (Free) – Try basic gallery features and upgrade when ready for advanced functionality.

For more photography tips and WordPress tutorials, check out our blog.