CaliDiary lets photographers take bookings for portraits, headshots, family shoots and mini-session days on their own WordPress website. Clients choose a session, answer your questions about the shoot, and pay by bank transfer or a payment link; enquiries that need a check first are held until you confirm them.
Fernlight PhotographyBook an appointment
Live demoCheck and confirm
Demo only: a made-up business. Nothing is sent or stored.
Made-up businesses, real CaliDiary features. Each example names the features that do the work.
Fernlight Photography (a made-up studio) runs a mini-session day in the park: twenty-minute slots with ten minutes between them to reset. Families pick a slot online and the booking lock makes sure no two families get the same one. Each family gets a reminder the day before.
A client books a family shoot at their own home. The form asks for the address and how many people will be in the photos. Because travel varies, the photographer chooses I'll confirm each booking myself: the time is held while they check the distance, then they accept it.
A business booking headshots for its team uploads its brand guidelines and an example of the style it wants. The files arrive with the booking, stored privately on the photographer's own website (Solo and Pro).
Session fees are due before the shoot. The confirmation shows the bank details with the client's reference, or a Pay now button with the photographer's own payment link on Solo and Pro. Once paid, a numbered invoice is made on the photographer's site (Solo and Pro).
One person, one customer, a set length.
AvailableAppointments several people can book at the same time.
AvailableThe time is held until you accept or decline.
AvailableNo price, no payment step.
AvailableAn example to adapt: change the names, lengths and prices to your own.
| Service | Length | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Consultation call | 20 min | Free |
| Headshot session | 45 min | $150 |
| Family portrait shootRequests you approve | 90 min | $280 |
| Mini session10 minutes after each | 20 min | $90 |
| Photography walk8 places | 2 h | $40 |
Hold the time and decide yourself whether to accept or decline each booking.
Know what each booking is about before it starts, with no chasing details by email.
Customers send documents and photos with their booking; files stay private on your site.
Show your bank details with a reference, or a payment link per service, then mark as paid.
Hide a few free times so a new diary never looks empty, without pressure messages.
Your accent colour, light or dark, rounding, and a choice of layouts.
The free plan covers one photographer with up to five services, requests you approve, buffers and bank transfer details. Solo adds reference uploads, payment links, invoices, look busy and the "calendar beside times" design that suits a wide portfolio page. A studio where several photographers take bookings needs Pro.
A photographer's website is the portfolio, and a clunky booking page spoils it. The CaliDiary booking form takes your accent colour, light or dark mode and corner rounding, and keeps its own styles so your theme can't break it. Put it on any page with the block, the shortcode or the Elementor widget. On Solo and Pro, the "calendar beside times" layout shows the calendar and free times side by side on wide pages.
When you have just moved bookings online, a calendar full of free times can make people hesitate. On Solo and Pro, look busy hides a share of your free times from visitors (a little, some or a lot), the same times all day, while you still see and can book every one. It never shows "only 2 left" or any other pressure message.
Every shoot goes better when you know what to expect. The booking form can ask how many people are coming, what the photos are for, where the shoot is and anything the client is nervous about. On Solo and Pro, a question can appear only when it is relevant (the address only for location shoots, for example), and clients can upload reference images with their booking.
Bookings, answers and uploaded files are stored on your own website, never on CaliDiary's servers. Uploaded photos have their hidden location data removed, and only you and your signed-in staff can open them.
On Solo and Pro, clients secure a shoot with a card deposit, two-way calendar sync keeps your own calendar and your booking form in step, and a popular mini-session day offers freed slots to its waiting list. See every feature and its plan on the features page.
Ticket types, QR tickets and check-in at the door, for free and paid events.
Cookery and art classes, tours, escape rooms and training workshops.
Venue viewings, menu tastings, fittings and planning meetings.
Hot desks, meeting rooms and studios by the hour or the day.
Start on the free plan, with no booking limit. Upgrade only when you need to.
