"Foto SF which runs on Mac or PC and makes previous studio management software seem like a mental assault course. Foto SF is a thoughtfully designed client database.

Oz Kharawala continues to amaze us. His studio, SF Digital, is successful; he conducts training courses for Nikon; he has produced a DVD explaining wireless flash location lighting for events and social photography.

Now he has harnessed the power of the best database ever designed, FileMaker Pro, to create a standalone application called Foto SF which runs on Macs or PCs and makes previous studio management software seem like a mental assault course. Foto SF is a thoughtfully designed client database which can be set to prompt all the necessary reminders (anniversaries, birthdays, seasonal shoots) and deliver well designed mailings or e-mail shots without using additional word processing or web design programs.

It includes modules for organising events and weddings - pre-shoot planning - as well as all the post-shoot selling and production. Oz has written this to meet his own exacting requirements and in the process delivers a 21st century update to all those photo business management progs which updates to Mac and Windows systems seem to have stymied.

Foto SF will also handle some basic sales and purchase ledger functions, replacing manual book keeping and raising very tidy looking custom designed invoices. But it is not an accounting program, does not offer an audit trial or deal with depreciating assets, Euro VAT, payroll and similar things. The idea is to use Foto SF to record all routine income and expenditure, control credit and stay on top of cash flow. The reports are suitable to passed to an accountant for VAT and annual returns. It is possible to try Foto SF free by downloading the runtime application. When purchased, you also receive FileMaker Pro 9.0, which comes with templates for dozens of other tasks and can even run a photo library."