Cig Harvey, a photographer and author based in Maine will be presenting at the Inspire Photo Retreats conference again.

Cig is known for creating exploratory images that capture both the magic and the realism found in daily moments.

The slow passing of time and the natural surroundings of her rural home has made her alert to the magic in the mundane.

We sat down recently to talk about her work, her books, and her presentation at Inspire Photo Retreats this year:

Cig credits a welcoming community for her return to the Inspire Photo Retreats conference. She will be walking people through her process of creating photographs that are part of a larger personal story.

Her two books – You Look At Me Like An Emergency and Gardening At Night – are collector's items and are out of print. Meanwhile, here is a small sample of her work:

If visual storytelling is your thing, you won't want to miss this presentation at Inspire Photo Retreats.

Yup, you can register now.

This is a guest blog post by Rosie Suerdick, photographer and author of Show & Tell Selling: Making In-Person Selling Kindergarten-Easy.

Every year, I tend to sit down and come up with our loftiest goals, or resolutions, for the year to come.  If you are reading this, chances are, you probably did, too.  Everyone wants to improve on SOMETHING, and the start of a new year is a perfect time to do it.  

But, if you are like 92% of the population (according to the University of Scranton), you probably won’t be keeping those resolutions (and, depending on what side of this fence you fall on, you will either find this statistic comforting or sad).  

As a self-professed “goal getter”, I find this statistic alarming.  I mean, IMAGINE how amazing this world could be if people just held themselves accountable to achieving their goals?
Seriously.  Our lives, and our businesses, could be EPIC if we had the determination to achieve even one resolution to the end.  

Here are 5 ways to help you stick with your resolutions in 2016 so that you can have the best (most profitable, or most growth, or whatever you want to do!) year ever.  

1. Write it down, and put it somewhere very visible.

My whole family did this in 2013 by putting it on a giant white board right of our kitchen.  You would be surprised at how many people walked by it, looked, and then asked about our goals.  By constantly engaging in conversation about our goals, we were much more driven to complete them. It was almost like we added a level of peer pressure that actually worked for us! This year, we did the same thing, but in our new house: we wrote our family goals down, broken down person by person, and hung them up in our dining room.  We had some friends come over on New Years Day for ribs and sauerkraut (a German family tradition); and guess what? Our guests asked us about them!

Putting your goals front and center in your life is amazing, especially for long-range goals. For short-range goals (like getting your bookkeeping ready for your accountant), write or enter those into a calendar so you have a mental deadline. Also, keep your timeframes smart and attainable (for example, you should not start getting your books ready for your accountant on April 1st. Maybe you should start that process now, so that you are totally filed by April 1st).  

2. Have an accountability buddy

(I am not talking about a spouse or a significant other here)

An accountability buddy is someone who is in the same, or similar, industry that you are in. This person understands the busy-ness of your business, and can relate to you when you complain about something that only someone in your industry will understand.  

This accountability buddy is someone who is on the same level, experience- and quality-wise, so that neither one of you ends up feeling drained for resources/brainpower in the end. This person will know your resolutions, and will help to push, pull or prod you to achieve them, because he/she is counting on you to do the same for them.  

The key to an accountability buddy is consistency. I have two buddies this year- each pushing me to do different major goals- and we have already calendared our phone calls/meetings for the year. We need a “no-excuses” existence to our relationship so that we can keep the momentum going.  

3. Offer yourself rewards

Yeah, this is one that my husband would roll his eyes at; but it works for me!  

I am very rewards-driven, so I set incentives for each goal I achieve. When I trained for, and ran, a half-marathon, I rewarded myself with an expensive pedicure. When I woke up early to start this blog post, I rewarded myself with coffee (hey, it works!).  

Rewards help you drive toward the goal, almost like bonus check keeps employees happy during the holiday season. It’s like a little “thank you” along the way.  

4. Understand that a resolution is WORK.

If you want to lose 15 pounds, you can rest assured that it won’t fall off of your body overnight, with no work. You will have to change your diet, exercise, and practice discipline for it to happen. Likewise, with business resolutions, they are work as well. You will need dedication, and you will probably have to do things that make you uncomfortable (such as waking up at crazy early hours of the morning). BUT, just like with losing weight, when you start to see results, it is SO worth it.
 
If you want to blog more and increase your SEO, you will need to….guess what…blog more and learn more about SEO! But, if you do achieve this particular goal, you will see the benefits in your inquiries and, most likely, in your income as well. Worth the work, right? 

5. Break your goal down into smaller goals

Do you want to make $30,000 more this year than you did last year? Well. If you only made $10,000 or $15,000 this year, then you have some work to do. 

If you only made $10,000 or $15,000 last year, then whatever you are doing isn’t really working (sorry, but it’s true) if you want to make $30,000 more this year. You have to change things up, such as your pricing, your marketing and your sales approach. 

In order to make a goal like this less overwhelming, think about what you have to do first, and write it down in an outline form, from smallest to biggest. Remember that old saying that the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time?  

Well, this is your elephant.  

For a goal such as this, I would suggest making changing your pricing a priority (and if you want an AMAZING guide on how to do do this in a simple way, check out Alicia Caine’s Profit First Photography. She will be re-releasing her e-book, Easy As Pie Pricing Guide, this year. Buy it.). Ahead of actually changing your prices, I would take an ideal client out (one who can afford the new prices- you probably know someone offhand!) and have him/her look at your new packages. Ask them how you can better market to them, and get solid feedback (really listen here!). This will help you be confident in doing the next step: updating your marketing.  

Once you have your prices and marketing down, you will have to anticipate a “lull” as your prices go up (and that’s OKAY! It happens, even to the best of us!) and build in a game plan for that. This may be a great time to consider in-person selling, if you want to really up your game. If you want to start doing that, but don’t know where to even begin, my e-book, Show and Tell Selling: Making In-Person Selling Kindergarten Easy, walks you through all of those steps as well.

Finally, as you start getting clients booked under your new prices, be sure to have a plan to actually MAKE that $30,000, as opposed to spending it on all new gear. Plan to meet with your accountant to come up with a solid budget.  

Boom.  Goal met!!  

If taken one step at a time, with a solid plan and with a support system in place, a resolution can be an amazing thing to have on your side. Charge at it, friends, and I can’t wait to see what you can achieve!

It's about a week into the new year. How is your photography project coming along? Some people start out with grand ideas of a “365” project – one that would allow them to photograph and publish one photograph each day of the year. Most fall off that wagon pretty quickly, including myself. Have you tried your hand at something like that? How about a “52” project; one photograph a week for the entire year? Again, people rarely stick to it.

Want to know why? There is no accountability. There is usually no one to hold you responsible if you start to slip. And when you do start to slide, you go down pretty quickly until that point where you don't want to have anything to do with the project.

The muse exits the building and you go back to spinning your wheels and feeling frustrated.

Yes, ideas we have aplenty, but executing on them is the toughest part. So, there is an easy solution to all this – one where you are guided to photograph weekly and get feedback on your work. If you are a parent or a photographer who happens to have kids, I want to tell you about a community online called ShootAlong.

Over the course of a year, you can learn (or re-learn) the fundamentals of photography with other photographers who are also documenting their families. It's a wonderful, low-pressure online forum that allows you to flex your creative muscles and get constructive feedback from other photographers. Last year, while I didn't participate on a weekly basis, I received their emails and really enjoyed how lucidly everything was presented.

I spoke with Heidi Peters, one of the co-founders of ShootAlong about this new forum. Like her business partner, Amy Tripple, Heidi runs a busy portrait photography business in the suburbs of Chicago. If lack of time (more like, a lack of focus) is an issue you are encountering, just see how these two ladies are rocking it with their businesses and running ShootAlong.

The first thing you will see when you log into ShootAlong is the “pinterest-style” Member Board (see above graphic). Your posts will show up here based on when you published it. You are able to tag the post under the week's category (see below for “rule of thirds”) or share your image(s) just for fun. If you are really in need of a critique, you can also tag your post with “critique requested” and the community members chime in.

Want more in-depth discussions? ShootAlong has those too, like a traditional forum you can post a question or an observation and get feedback that way too. One of the things that is new to ShootAlong this year are short inspirational tips via videos.

It's January 8th today, but don't feel like you can't join ShootAlong. At only $79 a year, it's an incredibly valuable resource especially if you are feeling unmotivated and need to get going in the new year. Start with ShootAlong, stick with it and watch your craft shift gears. Once you start seeing results, everything else magically starts to fall into place.

Happy New Year to you all!

Headshot photography – for actors, business executives or even people with social media channels – is simply a must these days. If you have a photograph of yourself online or offline where you have used an iPhone to create a selfie or cropped yourself out of a party photograph and think that's good enough, think again.

In a hyper visual world where you have nanoseconds to make an impression, why lean on the easy, almost lazy options that only produce photographs that are good enough, when you can easily get to great?

In a previous blog post, I introduced you to Dylan Patrick and his Cinematic Headshots. Today, however, I want to talk about Peter Hurley, a New York and Los Angeles based headshot portrait photographer who has stormed into the world and created a very unique niche for himself.

Much like Mark Seliger, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton have defined a genre of photography, so has Peter Hurley. His name is synonymous with headshot portrait photography.

Spend any time online and whether it is on Twitter or Facebook, you'll hear about him and his videos – It's all about the Jaw, It's all about the Squinch and Hold Your Sub.

Peter is responsible for leading nearly 9000 headshot photographers around the world through his forum, Headshot Crew. At only about $20 a month, it is a gold mine of information and networking possibilities. Indeed, one of the reasons I was able to so quickly get personally introduced to Peter was because I connected with Bruno Kongawoin first. Bruno is a magnificent photographer based in Perth, Australia.

Peter is also an author, speaker and teacher. His book, The Headshot, is a must-have for all headshot photographers.

Peter Hurley is one very busy guy. He has multiple projects going on. One of most interesting projects is called PsyPhotology. If you believe the interaction between a photographer and a subject is a psychological one, you must check this website out. Peter told me that there is much more coming in 2016 from this project and I am very excited by these new tools that are going to be available for photographers to make even better headshot portraits.

Lastly, if you can't make it to Peter Hurley's Headshot Intensive workshops in either New York or Los Angeles, you can study with him through his DVD's, downloaded from FStoppers. You can buy them here though my links as well – The Art Of The Headshot and Illuminating The Face.

For a limited time you can buy Peter's Pro Board for 30% off using the code – PROBOARD30 and you can buy his book at 15% off the retail price by using the code BOOK15. But given today is Christmas, I am going to wish that I could receive three of these H2PRO Water Ballasts for my light stands.

Now, for the ultimate teaching / learning experience, how would you like to be on the Headshot Crew Cruise? April 24th through May 1st, you can sail from New York to Bermuda, have a great time on board the cruise ship but also learn everything Peter has to teach you about headshot portrait photography.

SHABANG!

Bryan Caporicci is clear about who he is. Yes, he is a wedding and portrait photographer. But he is also a businessman. And with that comes the clarity that to run an efficient business, one must have streamlined workflows that gets the job done, using the least amount of resources while the output remains consistently high.

Not only does Bryan run an active and successful business, he is also the brains behind Sprouting Photographer (a blog, I worship) and Sprout Studio, a newly launched web application for photographers to run their businesses more efficiently and productively.

Teaming up with ShootDotEdit, Bryan is offering a free webinar on December 16th on this very topic. Register for “10 Must-Know Business Workflow Hacks Webinar” now.

I spoke with Bryan a couple of weeks back about this webinar and teased out of him one or two of these hacks for you. Take a listen and if you have any questions, list them out in the comments section.

If you have a hack or two you would recommend, mention those too below! Join Bryan and I as we collectively redefine “busy” and run photography businesses like pros.

Black Friday to Cyber Monday are typically the days when people in the US (and perhaps only in the US) go on a shopping spree like no other. Why? Well, because the deals are too good to pass up.

As savvy photographers, I am sure you want to do your shopping and get some of the best products, services or courses at lower than regular prices. I don't blame you. I would do the same thing.

Thankfully, some of those vendors have an even earlier start than Black Friday. So, if you are poking around this site and you hit this post, you can start your shopping spree right now.

Here are three main reasons why clicking on an affiliate link and buying the products in this post is good for you:

1) You will be supporting this site – servers space, new plugins and even a redesign is in the works but they all cost money. By buying products linked here, you aren't paying anything additional. It's just that I get a small commission that I can tuck away to pay for my annual expenses to run this website for you.

2) I curate the very best products, services and courses for photographers. I am told in person and privately how much a particular resource has helped photographers become more efficient or in this case more economical because my goal is to save you money when and wherever possible. Hey, I am Indian and it runs in my blood to cut costs as much as I can!

3) You are going to be buying one or more of these resources for your business before the end of the year anyway, right? (hey, keep that receipt as it is tax deductible if you are running a photography business)

So, if you do decide to buy anything this Black Friday (or sooner) from this website, do know that I am particularly thankful to you this Thanksgiving holiday.

Like last year, I'll do my best to keep adding to the post or editing anything out whenever the need arises. I am watching social media sites and receiving emails constantly with offers that I am happy to pass along to you!

Ready?

1. Online Proofing by ShootProof

The Deal: Save 60% on ShootProof for your first year! Act fast as the discount reduces through Cyber Monday.

Here at ShootProof, we believe in the work that you do. We also believe in simple, intuitive design and freedom of choice for photographers. With beautiful client galleries, integrated professional labs for printing, and immediate digital download fulfillment, we empower photographers to upload, share, sell, and print their work. Plus, with the ability to use their own labs, create invoices and contacts, and design custom mobile apps to drive referrals, photographers can focus on what matters most and let ShootProof do the rest.

Friday 11/27 – New users get 60% their first year. Existing users will receive 30% off a plan upgrade.
Saturday 11/28 – New users get 50% their first year. Existing users will receive 30% off a plan upgrade.
Sunday 11/29 – New users get 40% their first year. Existing users will receive 30% off a plan upgrade.
Monday 11/30 – New users get 30% their first year. Existing users will receive 30% off a plan upgrade.

2. SEO, More Than Letters In Your Alphabet

Did you know Connecticut Headshots, my business portrait business is ranked #1 on Google? Go ahead and type in the words, “headshot” and “Connecticut” to check that out. That didn't happen by accident. Zach Prez of Photography Spark is one of the people I lean on for advise on SEO. Search Engine Optimization is vitally important if you want to be found online and fast. Get between 50% – 60% off his SEO resources. The ROI on this is HUGE, so don't wait around for this deal too long!

First up is Zach's SEO Cookbook for Photographers. For a limited time, get it for 50% off! It is regularly $99. You get it for $49.

Learn more about this resource by watching this video introduction by Zach:

Business Planning Cookbook is a book that Zach co-wrote with my friend Angela Pointon. If you are trying to get your business off the ground, you need this. Lots of worksheets to guide you through the process. This too is $99, but the special offer gives you 50% off!

3. When You Want The Law On Your Side

Nobody knows to help photographers through contracts and other legal intricacies than my lawyer/photographer friend Rachel Brenke. She runs the popular website and blog, The LawTog. If you haven't followed her work before, you will now because getting your legal ducks in a row means you are serious about your photography business.

Get 30% off all her contracts when you use the code – BF30

4. Pricing Your Photography To Perfection

Not sure how much to charge for your photography?

Do you hate math so much that you put off pricing and know you’re probably leaving money on the table?

Ready to transition away from shoot and burn and into a business model that you can keep going as you raise your family? A business model that can replace your current income from your ‘day job'?

If that’s you, know this:

Pricing is not something you need to struggle with. It can be easy, once you know what numbers to pay attention to.

In this 9 module webinar course, you’ll learn from one of the United States most profitable photographers, Sarah Petty, how to set profitable prices so you can move on and make a living doing what you love … PHOTOGRAPHY!

You save 70% when you buy this from November 25th through November 30th. Look, the regular price is $799, but you get this for less than $240! Save the money and put it towards marketing your business. I am sure Sarah would approve of that idea.

5. Photo Tutorials That Run The Gamut

Rob and Lauren Lim run a beautiful website called Photography Concentrate. They are photographers who simply know how to teach and they teach quite simply!

All their tutorials are 50% off from November 20th through December 4th. So, you can jump in and check out their site now. While you are there, do be sure to scroll down and enroll in their free 14 day course called, “How To Photograph Life: 14 Days To Better Photos.”

Total bonus, you don't have to buy anything at all, but you can enter to win a $500 gift certificate that you can use on Amazon. Again, scroll all the way down on this page!

6. Pampering Your Clients

Jamie Swanson's The Moden Tog gives you all the tools to really cater to your clients. Everything is $50 off during the sale – November 26th through November 30th. Personally, I would recommend buying the bundle deal where you receive her Photography Pricing Guide and the popular Easy Client & Money Manager applications. Thinking about the benefits, or what's in it for you? You'll get organized fast and your stress level will drop, especially during the holiday season. And who doesn't want that?

7. When Words Matter … Go Psych!

One of my favorite blogs is called Psychology for Photographers.

It's a smart, useful and timely resource and I highly recommend it. Jenika McDavitt who publishes the blog has two amazing resources – Irresistible Website (regularly $159, sale price is $109) and Irresistible Words (regularly $249, sale price is $199).

So, if my math is right, you will save $50 off of each. But if you buy them together as a bundle, instead of paying $408, you would only have to pay $299 (yes, a savings of $109).

If you have struggled to write your “about me” page or even a simple blog post that doesn't sound like all your other blog posts, I would say jump in now and get the bundle now.

Jenika's information is solid and her intent is to elevate everyone's web presence so that you are more customer oriented. I go back to my notes and the coursework often.

8. Keepin' It Real … Like Film

It's time for film emulation that actually looks like real film: clean, with a beautiful color palette and perfect tones.

If a preset is made with care, you don't need a separate toolkit of tweaks to get it right. It just looks right the moment you use it, with minimal fuss and a simple workflow so you can focus on your art and not on hours of post-processing.

Mastin Labs film presets are crafted from real film scans from a Fuji Frontier SP3000. This is the same scanner sought-after all over the world for its special 3D look and clean colors and tones.

If you haven't already tried these presets now is the time to do so. With our Black Friday Sale from Nov 23 to November 30, 2015 you can save 40% on the Fuji and Portra Preset Packs, and 50% on the Ilford B&W Preset Pack.

Mastin Labs rarely has sales, so don't miss out!

9. Look Slick, When You Click

Click Gear Clothing based in Carmel, Indiana is all about giving photographers like you an easy way to look great while you work your magic.

On Thanksgiving Night from 8pm-12am you get 50% off all tees and hats. Use the code: “thankyou”. On Black Friday you'll get up to 40% off everything store wide plus free US shipping and 5 different flash sales and extras during the day. So, watch for these! If you visit their site on Cyber Monday, the discount is 30% off everything store wide plus free US shipping and random 50% off flash sales.

How cool is that?

10. Twalk Like A Human Being

Do you find it tough to come up with the right words when a client emails you? Do you struggle with workflow – don't know what comes first and what comes next when working on your photo sessions or weddings?

Pencil & Lens is here to help ya! Black Friday through Cyber Monday, take 35% off all the templates you can find in the shop. Use the code – tiffinbox35 to get that special discount.

We create professionally written tools and templates for your photography business. Tools that give you a framework to create clear, courteous and prompt correspondence with clients and vendors. Tools that make you and your business look good, and provide you with a system of getting it done, done well and done on time.

11. In Business, Or In Front Of A Camera … Confidence Is Key

Mimika Cooney's Crushing On Camera Confidence course is now available to those of us who have to get in front of the camera and not behind it. Now, if you are thinking … “I'll never be that person that needs to get in front of the camera.” You are dead wrong. Here's why – do you want to be on your local TV station talking about your business in a way that inspires clients to sign up with you? Or, have you ever been interviewed by bloggers (check out TiffinboxTV)? Or, how about when you need present in front of your clients (sure they don't have a camera pointed at you but imagine if they did). You get the picture?

Crushing On Camera Confidence is available now through November 27th at 50% off. Used the code: THANKX15.

12. Be Seen & Heard Online … Standing Out Has Never Been Easier (you still need the elbow grease)

The truth is, you have so many things to focus on in your business, the idea of writing blog posts or planning out your social media is one of those things that goes by the wayside – and you know it is hurting you.

You believe in the power of storytelling marketing, but you just don’t know where to begin – and you’re not sure anyone is going to be reading your site anyways.

You are frustrated because it seems like everyone just cares about what you charge for your work, and they don’t understand how passionate you are about why you do what you do.

You wish that you had a plan to make marketing easy.

That plan? It's called Business Brilliantly and it is being taught by Christine Tremoulet. Read all about it here. If there is anything you need to rock 2016, it is Business Brilliantly.

13. Selling Your Photography In Person

Selling doesn't have to be scary at all. In fact, here's a quick mindset shift that I force myself to make every time I schedule a sales session. I tell myself it isn't “selling,” but “helping.”

Here are two courses that you can consider. One is definitely more in-depth than the other.

First up is called Salesographer. Chris Scott who developed the Preveal app now owns this course and so his deal is this – the sale starts on November 27th. The first 20 people to enroll will get a free copy of the Preveal app and $50 off their first year of his other product called Swift Galleries.

Rosie Suerdleck of Reflections by Rosie has a short ebook for sale right now for only $25 that goes over her Show & Tell Selling System. She swears it is “kindergarten-easy” to master. Give it a shot!

14. Got Photographs, Now What?

Look, I'm there right with you. You have a short stack of photographs that you are proud of and feel like these might be your jam. Then you start thinking if only other people could see them. You know hobbyists do? They drop those bad boys into Flickr and call it a day. Now, if you are a hobbyist, that's a great way to go, but if you want your clients to take you seriously, you need a WordPress based blog or website to show of your wares.

Allow me to introduce you to Imagely. Imagely is the WordPress photography company. It is offering 40% off it's powerful NextGEN Pro WordPress gallery plugin and the epic Photocrati WordPress theme for photographers. To celebrate the upcoming launch of their turnkey WordPress websites for photographers, they're also offering 3 months free website hosting to anyone who signs up pre-launch. 

NextGEN Pro with Ecommerce – 40% off, Regularly $99, Now $59
NextGEN Plus – 40% Off, Regularly $49, Now $29
Photocrati WordPress Theme – 40% Off, Regularly $79, Now $47

15. Jonathan Canlas Has Portrait Photographers Covered

Quick, what comes first? Your business or your photography? My answer: your photography. Gotta learn craft first. And Jonathan Canlas, who shoots using film, is one of the best to teach you. His FIND: Ohana Family Guide is top class. If you are a family portrait photographer like me, you'll want this guide. At 50% off for the Black Friday through Small Business Saturday, this is a STEAL at only $125!

So, you have your craft figured out but your business is tanking? No fear. Canlas has a business guide that tons of photographers swear by. Canlas walks you through his successful system and gives you useful and executable tips on setting up yours. This too is 50% off. Buy it now for only $174.

Buy them both as a bundle for $290 and you will be all set.

I'll add more offers as I hear about them here, so please bookmark this post and share it with your photographer friends and family enthusiasts!

There is something here for everyone this holiday season. I am truly honored that you are supporting this website by buying what you need for your photography business from the links you see on this site.

Again, thank you for shopping here on Black Friday and Cyber Monday!

Tyler Wirken, a documentary wedding photographer based in Kansas City, Missouri is presenting at Inspire Photo Retreats this coming February, in Newport, Rhode Island.

Tyler is a highly regarded teacher and mentor to many photographers. His workshops, or “Wirkshops”, are always sold out. The CreativeLive class he taught, “Documentary Wedding Photography: Capturing Reality,” was one of the most popular courses on the site.

Given that Tyler was one of the first speakers announced by the Inspire Photo Retreats crews, I snagged the chance at interviewing him about documentary wedding photography, his role in promoting that genre of photography and finally about his presentation at the annual conference.

I asked Tyler to share some of his documentary wedding photography with us and so here you go:

Inspire is a retreat-style conference for professional wedding and portrait photographers. The conference is comprised of sessions on a variety of subjects, from business practices to shooting techniques, to artistry and personal vision. Inspire retreats are structured to enhance opportunities to foster deep relationships with other attendees, build community, and create a culture of ongoing peer-to-peer mentoring and support in our industry.

Learn more about Inspire Photo Retreats and sign up for the conference. Among photography gatherings, it is on my top 5 list! Full disclosure, Tiffinbox is partnered with Inspire Photo Retreats.

Thanksgiving is a week out and we have a lot to be thankful for as we gather around with our families for the holidays. Still, there are thousands of children who are waiting to be adopted into loving homes. Ever wonder what their lives are like as they wait to be adopted?

Tamara Lackey did. She is a photographer, speaker, teacher and author based in North Carolina.

As she went through the process of adopting her children, she saw first hand how challenging their lives were; lack of electricity, running water, working bathrooms etc. So she decided to do something about it. She launched Beautiful Together, to give these children better opportunities towards education and health, as they waited to be adopted by families around the world.

But running a non-profit takes money. In addition to raising funds through innovative auctions and local fundraisers, Tamara who just published the Family Posing Playbook, is giving 10% of the proceeds from the sale of the book to Beautiful Together.

We sat down to talk about the book, how it will help photographers like you and how the book's sale will help Beautiful Together:

So, if you are a portrait photographer who struggles to quickly create beautiful, loving portraits of families, you are going to want to buy the Family Posing Playbook. It's chalk-full of great advice and tips for family photographers like me who can sometimes find ourselves in front of clients who either feel awkward at the sight of a camera or simply don't know how to gather together as a family for portraits.

When you buy the Family Posing Playbook, you also receive a quick reference guide that you can presumably print and carry with you in your camera bag. Tamara walks you through 24 different options and the reference guide gives you easy to read bullet points for each pose that you may choose for your clients.

Tamara, I can tell, is natural teacher. As a Nikon ambassador she often speaks at conferences and trade shows, inspiring thousands of photographers along the way. She also hosts reDefine, an inspirational web series where she speaks with a wide variety of creative and interesting people about their passionate pursuits. Her courses on CreativeLive are also wildly popular (I think I own every one of them!). Also, are you looking for animal-friendly and environmentally responsible album company for your family portrait clients? Check out Tamara Lackey's Lush Albums by Finao now.

You can connect with Tamara on Twitter and Facebook.

How many of you don't offer portrait or wedding albums because you either don't know how to design them or you believe they are too cumbersome to lay out?

This is what I believe: You aren't truly serving your clients if you simply photograph their event and hand them their digital files (don't do that, do this instead)

You can easily overcome your fear of designing and printing your album because there are new tools today, like Fundy Album Designer, that make it super simple to do so. Yes, design and send the files to your favorite album manufacturer.

Look, years ago, I stumbled upon a free option. I was new. I like the sound of free like the next guy and so I dove in. I created a 56 page wedding album from scratch. The software was buggy, the support was spotty at best and my client was PISSED.

To top it off, some alignment had shifted and a bunch of images were somehow sent off-kilter on a bunch of pages. Yikes! Green behind my years, I was panicked and frustrated of course. I didn't want to lose the confidence of the client even though the emails back from the groom (the bride had given up on me) sounded angrier and angrier.

So, the album arrived and yes, it was full of errors and mistakes – some caused by me but some also caused by software that simply did not work. As I held the errant album in hand, I learned a lesson that day. Trusting a free app to do your work is extremely dangerous. While the buck stops with you, the photographer, seeking out an album design company that will stand by its product was paramount.

This was about the time that I heard Andrew Funderburg was going to launch a new product that would solve the very problem I was having. That product was of course version 1.0 of Fundy Album Designer. Since then, the app has morphed into something truly fantastic. In addition to designing albums, it is now closely integrated with a bunch of labs and album manufacturing companies. Anytime something is “off” and I am notified right there on the screen.

For a portrait or wedding photographer, this is truly a wonderful time to get into quickly designing and printing your client's family heirloom. Let that sink in a bit. You are responsible for creating a piece of art that will remain with your clients for ages and will likely get passed on from generation to generation. Wow! Doesn't that create the warm and fuzzies inside of you? I think of my clients as grandparents showing off their albums to their grandchildren. An awesome responsibility but the work it takes to put those albums together should not stress you out.

I spoke with Fundy (as he is known to his friends) about this and other topics dear to our hearts:

Now, I didn't speak with Fundy about stress-free album designing because our connections run deep or because I am being compensated (I am not, except for receiving a copy of his program to review).

I spoke with him because I believe Fundy Designer can radically change your business, giving you more free time to spend with your family and making your clients genuinely happy with your service.

Want to learn more about easy-as-apple-pie album designing? Check out this free webinar on November 4th, thanks to ShootDotEdit. Register for it now. Even if you can't make the live call, the recording will be made available to you.

Be sure to bookmark ShootDotEdit‘s free content page where you can find guides, webinars and case-studies that are extremely useful for photographers just like you.

Melissa Welsh is a lot more than a photographer. She is a problem solver. Especially, if it is a problem photographers are having.

One major topic of contention among photographers is how to respond to clients who ask for digital files. If you are reading this post, I know you have had a client who has asked or demanded for “their” digital files. And, you have struggled to find the right words that will satisfy both them and you.

Am I right?

Most of the wedding industry now “gives” the files to the couple. Some portrait photographers sell the files. Some photographers bundle it with other products. There isn't one industry standard that makes everyone happy. Either the clients are miffed because they were expecting or assuming the files would be included in the fee, or the photographer is upset because she or he is now having to deliver more value with no or a negligible monetary return.

Something had to be done and Melissa Welsh, a Victoria, British Columbia photographer with 20 years of experience as a photographer set out to find a solution that will be a win-win for all. Information about the Pixel Cents app is available here.

So what is this elixir? It's called Pixel Cents. It's both an ebook and a iOS application. The ebook is smartly bundled together with a few other tools you will find useful.

Photographers can use our industry standard cents per pixel (cpp) rates and calculate the value of their photos for all types of personal, commercial, editorial and advertising photo use.

A few weeks back, when Melissa was about to launch Pixel Cents, she emailed a bunch of her friends to introduce the idea to us. Some of us received the Pixel Cents ebook to read in advance and to possibly review.

Most often, I download an ebook, I let it sit for a few days before reading it. Pixel Cents was different. I dove in and couldn't stop reading it. If you could have seen me then, I was nodding in agreement to what Melissa has written. It's a well-crafted, lucidly written alternative to the craziness that is currently our lives. I quickly wrote back to her and asked if she would spend a few minutes speaking to us about her big idea – Pixel Cents. So click the video below and watch the interview:

Pixel Cents is bringing both efficiency and profitability to my family portrait photography business. And, I am no longer struggling to explain whether digital files are or are not included. Who wins? Everyone. Clients receive their files and I am compensated fairly. Hand wringing is history.

Need more convincing? Here in a nutshell is Melissa's solution.

The Pixel Cents Formula is the simple, easy way to value your photographs for personal, advertising, editorial and corporate use.

I trust this post will stir a pot a bit and we are all open to having a healthy dialogue here. So, comment below. We would love to hear from you. If you buy Pixel Cents, let us know what you think. Could this business model be the new industry standard? I really think so.

So, let me ask you again, do you have any Pixel Cents?