Let me start with two very public disclosures – 1) I received a 24×36 Acrylic print of one of my own images from Pictage to help in this review and 2) I simply love it.

Here is the image I submitted to Pictage (I shot this at The Westin Boston Waterfront, when I worked with Nabil Kapasi):

I am sure you are wondering why I feel so passionately about this one product. I recall hearing a photographer at Mystic Seminars say that if you want to stand out in the crowd, you've got to offer unique products to your clients. Well, let me tell you, these Acrylic prints will definitely be something I offer to my clients moving forward because the sample I received is STUNNING.

The combination of extremely clear and flawless elements and ultra smooth (transparent) finish sets these materials apart from more common Acrylic materials. The material, I am told, is extremely hard and is therefore difficult to scratch. (but not impossible). The edges are flame polished (melted if you will), to a smooth, safe, finish. It may take some knocks but why experiment, eh?

From Pictage's CEO, Jim Collins:

“The print affixed to the acrylic panel is not a silver halide photographic print. It is a giclee’ print quite similar to a fine art print. (just on different paper). As you are probably already aware, this process yields a print that carries intense colors, blacks and contrasts and this is responsible for some of the increase in detail that you can see in the print.

The acrylic serves two purposes. I guess you could say it’s not just a pretty face. The first purpose is obvious. Sex appeal. This is a very cool way to package a keepsake.  The second purpose may also be obvious to photographers, but I’m finding that this isn’t necessarily the case. In much the same fashion as a glass globe intensifies the output of a candle the acrylic actually intensifies the brightness of the print. The clear surface gathers light. This is one of the reasons why you really can’t take your eyes off of your new acrylic. That effect almost makes you want to study every detail in greater degrees.”  

No doubt this is a premium product and it comes at what I would consider a very respectable wholesale starting price that Pictage has brokered for wedding and portrait photographers.

Acrylic pricing for photographers starts at $84.50 for a 12X18 (the smallest available size), and climbs to about $750 for a 40X60. Interestingly, due to the giclee’ process, images can be printed at significantly larger sizes than traditional photographic prints, so stunning clarity even at Wall Covering size is possible. This will be evident in the two 40X60 panels Pictage will have on display at PartnerCon. Square and panorama formats will also available.

Photographers interested in these Acrylic prints will have to become a member of Pictage.

These prints become available first to photographers via their wholesale catalogs and Direct Order Tool or DOT, and then to consumers via photographer opt in. Most photographers who have an account with Pictage would do well to offer these prints to their clients because I know they will love them.

The Acrylic panel I received has a “museum” or “gallery” mount, with aluminum studs. See the image below. The other hanging option will be a recessed standout frame. Personally, I prefer the museum mount due to its look and feel.

I was going to post a video review of this product, including clips of me opening the box and picking my jaw off the ground when I saw how beautiful this print looks. I can't wait to install it on my home studio wall and show it off to my wedding clients. The Acrylic panel print from Pictage will complement my other product offerings like hand-made albums and museum quality canvases from the finest vendors in the world. And Pictage, I am told has other very interesting products launching soon. So, stay tuned and hopefully I'll get to review them as well!

Tell me below what marquee product or service you offer to stand out in the crowd? Has it helped your business? How?

For editorial photographers, looking to archive and sell or license their images, PhotoShelter offers a solution that is hard to pass up.

I caught up with Allen Murabayashi, the company's CEO last week and spoke to him briefly about the state of the photography industry, what we can expect to see out of PhotoShelter in the coming years and why those meaty guide books the company publishes helps to educate photographers about the current marketing trends.

The complimentary guides help you grow your photography business:

PhotoShelter is offering all Tiffinbox readers the following discount when you sign up for PhotoShelter before midnight on October 31st. When your readers sign up at www.photoshelter.com, they can enter the promotion code TIFFINBOX1110. The code entitles readers to the following discounts:

1) Annual Standard Account for $305.00/year – a $55 savings versus a monthly plan.
2) Annual Pro Account $529.00/year – a $70 savings versus a monthly plan

I am told that as of today, all new and existing standard accounts will receive 60 GB of secure storage (it used to be only 35gb), providing all standard accounts a safe space to store thousands of extra files. This increase comes at no additional cost.

Now that you have watched the video, can I ask a favor of you? Post a comment below & tell your friends. You have a variety of options below to spread the word. Thank you!

For the last 6 months, there has been a low rumble in my brain to present an annual award to a photographer or photography teacher who universally inspires us all to be better photographers, perhaps even be better human beings. In my mind, it had to be a person who goes well beyond the ordinary – shares her/his knowledge openly, invites dialogue and challenges us to elevate our craft and vision.

You probably already know some them. You've attended their workshops, hung out with them at parties and chatted with them one-on-one about your photography work and or business. You've come away after each encounter feeling energized and enthused about your calling – photography. They have rekindled that fire in your belly and you know that today and tomorrow are going to be great days because of the time you spent with him or her yesterday. Ever feel that way? It's time to celebrate them.

2011 Awardee

The list of friends, and they have become just that over the years, is long. Choosing one among all of them for this first Tiffinbox Award was no easy task.

The photographer whose name I kept seeing again and again – thanks to his awesome Twitter presence, his phenomenal feat of writing 4 truly amazing books in 3 years, his workshops, his thought provoking blog posts and his positive spirit as he faced life-threatening challenges – is David DuChemin.

So, David, congratulations. On behalf of all the photographers who have been inspired by your spirit, your hard work as a photographer, teacher and mentor, I am honored to present you the 1st Annual Tiffinbox Award. You'll receive a real Tiffinbox in the mail, filled with goodies you can munch on as you embark on your next trip with Jessie.

Craft & Vision

“Gear is good. Vision is better,” is his mantra. This simple, yet profound philosophy to photography and business has been my guide for the last few years. Perhaps it has been for you as well. So, instead of buying more gear, David suggests expanding the way you photograph your subjects. To that end, David began publishing beautifully designed and written e-books for photographers. At $5 each, these won't break your bank. Want to know more, check out Craft & Vision. [affiliate]

The Giveaways

If you have been influenced or inspired by David's blog posts, Tweets or even the e-books he produces, let me/us know in the comments section below. Be as descriptive and specific as possible. How has he helped you? What steps did you take with your photography after reading one of his e-books or blog posts? Which particular blog posts spurred you into action? Feel free to show us “before & after” images via links to a post on your site.

If I receive a 100 comments under this blog post between today and August 31, I'll select 4 of the best comments to each win one of 4 of David's awesome books (yes, shipped anywhere in the world) on September 1. So, hurry!

UPDATE: I've reconsidered the 100 comment requirement and I am pulling it. The deadline will be the same. You want to win 1 of 4 David's books, then comment away. I'll read through each of them and pick 4 winners. Deal?

Here are the four books I will be giving away:

Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision
VisionMongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography
Vision & Voice: Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
Photographically Speaking: A Deeper Look at Creating Stronger Images

By the way, the annual Tiffinbox Award will always be presented on August 23. I'll let you figure out why. Also start thinking of whom you will nominate for next year's award.

WINNERS ANNOUNCED: This morning I chose the following to win 1 of 4 David's books – @kristaphoto @LaraWhite @nine9beans and @BelindaOlsen. Congratulations! Please contact me with your mailing address by September 7. All but one book will be shipped in September. David's latest is in process of going to print. If you already own one or more of his books, please let me know which one(s) so that I don't send you something you already have.

Right around the holidays last year, just about everyone I know bought or received a camera. No, these weren't the point & shoot variety (hey we have our iPhones for that right?). These were DSLR‘s or digital SLR's. The excitement over opening the camera was palpable. I know because I received several emails soon after asking me … “So, I got a DSLR, but my images still suck. Why?”

My first response was always, “did you read the manual?” The silence at the other end was quite telling. Most of us, I know fail to read our manuals. When I bought my first Nikon DSLR, which I believe was the D70, I don't remember diving into the manual either. On the one side, there is a new toy to play with and on the other, my ego was saying to me: “Yeah, I can figure this out. No problem.” That's until I started seeing images I'd be ashamed to show my mom.

So, if the manual is way too daunting, or even boring, what do you do? Until today, you could have scoured the interwebs and patched together a bunch of the info that may have helped elevate your game. That too is time consuming and unless you are nuts about photography or pursuing as a professional, chances are slim you would be inclined to curate that information, digest it and then deploy it on your next go around with your DSLR.
Rob & Lauren Lim, the duo behind Photography Concentrate, have just published Extremely Essential Camera Skills. I was one of the few lucky ones to receive a review copy gratis. Having seen some of their earlier tutorials – Photo Editing Skills and Album Design Skills, I knew this one was going to be special.

Think of Extremely Essential Camera Skills as the foundational course you forgot to take when you started experimenting with your camera. It's exquisitely designed – consistent with their other tutorials and extremely engaging website (which you must bookmark). When you open up the PDF, you are presented with a set of colorful tabs for the different chapters such as: The Camera, Focusing, Exposure, Lenses, Depth of Field and Camera Settings. I found the built-in navigation to be very helpful as it makes it easy to skip pages or navigate back to the ones you want to read again.

Unlike other tutorials that teach but fail to train, what I loved about Rob & Lauren's latest offering is that they are serious about making sure you get the concepts they have just taught before moving on to the next chapter. They do this through tips, exercises, videos (more on this in a bit) and pop quizzes. Though it is incredibly thorough, Extremely Essential Camera Skills is not a read it and forget it kind of manual. The lessons you will learn, each one at your own pace, will stick with you for a lifetime. The definitions and demonstrations are easy to understand and absorb.

As a professional, most of the concepts were familiar to me. But that's only because I use my camera every day, so it does become intuitive. Having a guide like Extremely Essential Camera Skills will help you get to that point where you too can easily make images you are proud to show your family and friends.

If there was one area where I could see the authors develop more content, it's the section on using an alternative to that pesky flash that everyone insists on deploying. To their credit they do say this: “The built-in flash on cameras generally sucks.” So true. May we see a sequel to this guide that will dwell on off-camera flash? I hope so, but I do believe this guide will lay the foundation for better images using flash. So, I do urge you to get this one first.

The 7 videos by Lauren are fantastic. Her even, conversational tone and excellent examples helped me better understand the concept behind exposure compensation. So, the take aways are many. With Rob & Lauren's permission, I am considering using this guide book for photographers (I really don't want to call it a manual) in the beginning photography class I teach high schoolers. Yes, it's that good and it is perfectly fitted to meet the demands of amateurs and semi-professionals too.

As I have already stated, I received a review copy Extremely Essential Camera Skills and loved it. If you are struggling to use your DSLR, this guide book will help you get comfortable. For the next two weeks starting today, Rob & Lauren are offering a launch sale. You can get Extremely Essential Camera Skills for $29.97, that's 40% off the regular price of $49.99. In addition to the 89-page PDF and videos which you can view on your computer or your iPad, you will receive the Extremely Essential Camera Skills Field Guide, which you can print and tote around while you are photographing.

Full disclosure: As an affiliate, I receive a commission on the sale of this PDF to support Tiffinbox. If you enjoy the content on this site, I ask that you use the links in this post to buy Extremely Essential Camera Skills. Thank you!

I've described my photography workflow before. At its core is the belief that by keeping things simple, my workflow will cut short the time I spend in front of the computer and allow me to return to making images or spending more time with my family.

Fortunately, I am not alone in this line of thinking. Paul Gero, a friend and fellow photographer based in Orange County, California has published a lucid, step-by-step guide for a vast majority of photographers who have no clue about post production or who are frazzled by all the tools and options presented to them. The guide book is called Simple Photo Workflow.

With over 20 years of experience as a photographer – first at newspapers and then documenting weddings and portraits – Gero is one photographer whose words and work I trust. You may recall his excellent guest blog post on Tiffinbox – Control & Chaos: Two Genres of Photography.

Now, go on check his blog out. It's a source of weekly inspiration for me. Set aside for a moment the way Gero expresses the light and life he sees in front of him. I think he is a master at photographing the unguarded moment. However, take another look at the way the images are processed.

To my eyes, there is nothing complicated about them, yet they are brilliant. I see natural skin tones, just the right amount of grain, light vignetting that draws your eyes to the main subject of the frame and the black & white images that have both depth and drama to them. With Photoshop and other image processing tools, it's much too easy to go crazy and drop layer after layer of actions, until your vision of the final image is not only blurred, it's obliterated.

Getting back to saving time, the post production work Gero introduces us to in his new e-book, is simple, yet elegant. It won't stress you or your computer out. Gero expresses his thoughts simply as well. Chapters on exposure, editing, raw processing, using Lightroom and photo finishing (retouching) are all punctuated with exceptional examples and step-by-step instructions, so you'll never falter. As a bonus, Gero has a “cheat-sheet” at the end of the book that walks you through all of the processes he goes through when he is editing his own images! This is like looking over his shoulder and watching him work, except you'll be doing it yourself and learning from it.

If you already use Photomechanic, Lightroom and Photoshop and use them well, then this ebook isn't for you. However, if you do use these programs in your post-production work and you are just stumbling along, I urge you to . Yes, I called it an ebook before, but it's much more than that. You'll want to print it out (as I have) and use it as you edit your images. Once your post production become intuitive, then you can go in and customize the system.

Full disclosure – I received a complimentary copy of the ebook to review but I am not an affiliate and I do not make a dime off of the sale of this wonderful book. I am recommending it here solely on its merit.

Want your own copy? Use “seshu” between today and August 29 to buy it for $47 (regular price is $77). I am sure you want to save $30.