Interviews Archives | Page 3 of 18 | Views, Reviews & Interviews For Photographers On Tiffinbox

Srinivas Rao Will Teach You To Be Better Than Best, He’ll Make You Unmistakable

July 29, 2016 by Seshu | Editor & Publisher Leave a Comment

The Unmistakable Creative podcast is one of the best. Why? The guest, the topics, the range of questions, the depth of the conversation, the interviewer.

Yes, all of those make it near impossible to stop listening and learning.

Srinivas, or Srini, Rao is the founder of Unmistakable Media and it's essentially his show. I've followed his online experiments and when he started the podcast, I immediately subscribed to it.

Now, after nearly 600 episodes, Srini is launching his fourth book, Unmistakable: Why Only Is Better Than Best. The book launches on August 2nd and there is still time to snag the cool bonuses he has to offer.

I sat down for a quick chat with Srini about the book, about his website and mission for creative entrepreneurs like yourself. Give the interview a listen:

Look, you are a photographer (I am going to assume you are, if you are reading articles on Tiffinbox). You chose an unconventional path to pursue. Kudos to you. As Srini will probably concur, having made that choice, finding success isn't guaranteed.

True success is playing by your own rules, creating work that no one can replicate. Don’t be the best, be the only.

Do you want to stand out in your business niche? If you are reading this, I am going to safely assume that you want to be unmistakable too. But being the best isn't the only way to stand out. In fact, Srini argues that being the ONLY one people think of in whatever space you want to reign supreme is the way to go. How do you do that? What are the steps to becoming “the only”? Well, you and I are about to find out in his new book.

So, buy Srini's book, Unmistakable: Why Only Is Better Than Best now. If Srini's podcast is any indication, I am will to bet the book is going to be super special too. Yes, I have ordered my copy!

5 Big Reasons Using JPEGmini Pro Is A No-Brainer For You

July 26, 2016 by Seshu | Editor & Publisher 2 Comments

JPEGmini Pro To The Rescue

There are five splendid reasons to use JPEGmini Pro. Before we get into those, though, I wanted to introduce you to Mitch Schneider, Director of Marketing for the slick and useful application.

Mitch and I ran into each other at the Photo Plus Expo in New York City. It's an annual event, and the trade show floor is packed with vendors and photographers from all over the world.

Having heard of JPEGmini Pro from a couple of photographer friends, I was intrigued to find out more. So, I stood a the JPEGmini booth and watched Mitch and his colleague patiently describe their software and demonstrate how quickly it minimized file sizes, and also how efficiently it did it without any perceptible loss of the quality of the final images.

My ears perked up as Mitch spoke because for years Photoshop had a “save as web” option and when Adobe released Photoshop CC, that option just disappeared. I missed that because creating web versions of my 20mb files was a quick two-step process. Now with it gone, it was just too laborious – I had to set the resolution and then manually open, crop and then save the images. One by one. Blech! Perhaps I was doing it all wrong. In any case, it was eating away at my productivity.

As a hopeful alternative, I even looked at Dr. Russell Brown's scripts, panels and actions, but for whatever reason, I simply couldn't get those to work on my system. I desperately needed a way to scale down the photographs quickly and optimize them for the web.

When I first heard about JPEGmini and the JPEGmini Pro option, I was genuinely hopeful that it would speed up my workflow. And it has. Remarkably so, with a few additional benefits that I didn't expect!

The Interview

A few weeks back, Mitch agreed to be interviewed online to chat about JPEGmini and JPEGmini Pro. He was just as excited as I was with the new Photoshop extension that allows photographers to export out their photographs directly from Photoshop CC.

My “save for web” option was essentially back!

A Personal Example

A few months back, I upgraded to a Nikon D750. The RAW file sizes are humongous. Try 27.5 megabytes on for size! The high resolution JPEG's are approximately 14 megabytes.

Imagine if you had to upload 500 or 800 of those to ShootProof? [Affiliate Link] It would take you forever. And frankly, juggling family and professional life, who has time to baby those files like that?

So, that's why I lean on JPEGmini Pro now. If I have a batch of five or more photographs to process, they are enhanced in Photoshop and saved to a special folder. I simply drag and drop the files into JPEGmini Pro and it does its magic.

It can either save over the original files (I recommend making a copy of your files just for safety's sake) or you can have those images sent to a new folder, directing the application to constrict the photograph's width or height in the process.

Quality & Quantity

When a couple I photographed in Connecticut ordered a 20″x30″ canvas print for their home in North Carolina, I attempted to send a 14 megabyte file to Pixel2Canvas. Their online system, however, only accepts files that are 10 megabytes in size or smaller. JPEGmini Pro to the rescue!

I dropped my file into the application and it generated a 7.5 megabyte file – essentially a 47% reduction in file size – for production. And yes, I couldn't see any loss of quality and the client was thrilled with the final results.

Still not convinced? I ran into this video that shows a graphic artist who is printing large photographs for a photographer client of his. Clearly the graphic artist is stumped by how indistinguishable the regular JPEG file and the JPEGmini files are!

5 Reasons To Use JPEGmini Pro

Ok, let's get into the five reasons JPEGmini Pro is a no-brainer for any photographer.

1) Save Space

Thousands of photographs that take up space in your hard drives right now could take up even less space if you ran them through JPEGmini or JPEGmini Pro. The larger your JPG files, the greater the need you have to shrink them down. Imagine you could reduce your hard drive needs by 47%. Space saved is money saved.

2) Save Time

Do I have to tell you that uploading a 20 megabyte file takes longer than a 5 megabyte file? The time you save is money made.

3) SEO Benefits

Search engines are assigning a higher rank to those websites that load faster. If you have photographs on your site and they are 200 kilobytes or more, they are slowing your site down. Run your photographs through this app, shrink them down in file size and then upload them to your website. You'll see the difference and so will Google!

4) Extensions For Photoshop & Lightroom

Each of us has our own workflow and style. Some of us like to save full resolution JPEGs to a folder, copy the folder and then drag the files into JPEGmini Pro. Others, would prefer to send those files directly from Photoshop or Lightroom. And now you can! The company announced easy-to-install extensions into Photoshop or Lightroom that will give you direct access to JPEGmini. This again saves time (and money) in my opinion. This option is only available if you buy JPEGmini Pro, though.

5) The $99 Price

On the heels of their announcement about the Photoshop and Lightroom extensions, Beamr, JPEGmini's parent company also announced a price reduction to $99 for JPEGmini Pro. So, the price is right, right now. But this is for a limited time only.

JPEGmini or JPEGmini Pro?

I wondered that too. If I had continued using my Nikon D700, I am sure JPEGmini would have sufficed. But with the Nikon D750, the file sizes are so much bigger that I had no choice but to lean on JPEGmini Pro. That's one factor in choosing between the two options.

JPEGmini Pro as I mentioned above is now only $99 (regularly $149), whereas JPEGmini is $19.99. So, if your budget is tight, you may have to make some hard choices between the two options.

One of the five reasons should have included – speed – because JPEGmini Pro is some eight times faster than JPEGmini. It's just the way the application uses the core engines in your computer to make that magic happen.

Ok, I know making a decision sometimes can be challenging. That's why when I started to poke around this app, I downloaded the free trial to see how it worked. I suggest you do the same. Give it a try to see how much space and time you can save. I believe there is a limit of 10 photographs you can process per day. But the free trial is limited by how large your files are to begin with, so take that into consideration.

So, are you ready to give JPEGmini or JPEGmini Pro a spin?

FujiLove Supreme: Your Hub For All Things Fuji Mirrorless

July 21, 2016 by Seshu | Editor & Publisher Leave a Comment

What's a pianist, husband and father doing on Tiffinbox? Well, Tomasz Trzebiatowski happens to also be a photographer and the founder of FujiLove, a website dedicated to photographers who, yes, love everything Fujifilm.

I've been following Tomasz's work for about a year and been amazed at how quickly he grew the FujiLove website.

Since launching the website, he has also launched a beautiful magazine, Fujilove and on July 23rd of this year will launch the first FujiLove Global Photowalk.

Impressed with his persistence and drive, I had to speak with Tomasz. As a busy pianist, father, husband, photographer, and blog publisher he was genuinely hard to pin down for a quick chat, but here it is:

Thanks to Tomasz, I received three issues of the Fujilove magazine to check out. It's absolutely divine and I highly recommend you subscribe to it.

If you are going to be free on July 23rd (Saturday) of this year, I also recommend you see if a location near you is going to host and participate in the 2016 FujiLove Global Photo Walk.

If you watch the interview above all the way through, you'll hear Tomasz offering a special giveaway to one of you – a year-long subscription to the Fujilove magazine! Here's what you need to do to win it.

1) Visit Fujilove
2) Find a blog post on that site that intrigues you
3) Post that link here in the comments
4) Based on your link choice, I'll randomly pick a winner and let Tomasz know

This couldn't be easier and I am slightly envious of you (whoever the winner is going to be) because I'm going to have to pony up for my subscription!

Please be sure to use your real name when commenting. I'll publicly respond to your comment, telling you if you have won. So, you do need to come back and visit this post to see if you are the winner. If you are brave enough, include your email address in the comment, making it easier for me to contact you.

Good luck!

“Out Of Many, One” Children’s Portrait Project Takes Off

July 10, 2016 by Seshu | Editor & Publisher Leave a Comment

We Are All Connected

Kristin Chalmers, a editorial and portrait photographer based in Boston is a dynamo. Going from Philadelphia to Boston to Los Angeles and then back to Boston, she has used her resources and her skills to pivot when necessary.

Well, this summer, she “took a minute” and did just that.

What began on a whim, as a photography light test during a block party, is now a major portrait project for the Beantown photographer.

The Genesis Of The Portrait Project

A quieter than usual season got her thinking about all the political barbs one sees or hears about now on the daily news or social media. Perhaps out of a sense of frustration and a pinch of hope she embarked on her photography project, Out Of Many, One.

In of or her recent posts, Kristin says this about her portrait project:

Children have a perception of the world that’s different than adults. They are not hindered by the experiences and prejudices that we gain as we grow up, and are able to look past the differences that divide us. Every child, no matter what they look like or what country their ancestors came from were adopted into the American heritage when they were born. This project strives to dissolve barriers and bring us back together into the wonderful melting pot that is America. Through these portraits, we strive to show that physical characteristics, or names, do not define us as a nation. All of these children identify as Americans.

The Interview

Like other photographers, Kristin's passion and drive to make this photography project happen caught my attention and I had to speak with her:

Out Of Many, One … Portfolio

Kristin Chalmers has been on a tear. Here are 52 portraits for you to check out:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Want Your Child To Participate?

From Kristin:

“I am looking for children to be photographed and included in this campaign to show we are all multi-ethnic and American. If you are interested in having your child or children be a part of the #OutofMany1project, follow my Facebook Page and be on the lookout for a scheduled portrait session in your town soon.”

As she says in the video interview above, she will be in Philadelphia, on August 5th. The folks at WeWork are offering her a space to photograph children from and around Philadelphia. As I hear of more information, I will be sure to update this post with it.

Meanwhile, check out and LIKE her Facebook page for this project, Out Of Many, One. Find a way to support Kristin to make this project sing.

If you have any contacts at The White House, let them know of Kristin's desire to photograph Sasha and Malia Obama. Yes, it would be wonderful to be a part of this portrait project.

Want More Inspiration?

Kristin mentioned John Cena's recent AdCouncil video. If you haven't seen it, check it out below:

And a recent video by momondo, a unique travel company, showcases how connected we all are:

If you feel the words and actions in recent months has left you frustrated, lean into this blog post and watch the interview with Kristin again. Take into account what John Cena's message is. And lastly, think beyond your borders. You simply never know how intertwined our lives are.

Here's to connecting, building bridges and peace.

Are You Living A Creative Life?

July 8, 2016 by Seshu | Editor & Publisher 1 Comment

A Little Navel Gazing

As the weekend arrives, I figured I ask this important question of you – are you living a creative life?

You may be a painter, a sculptor, a dancer, a musician or even a photographer and you may consider living a creative life.

But even that's rather myopic.

A creator is creative. The act of creating something, anything you are being creative. But there is always that special something that makes your heart sing when you do get into making it.

What is it? And what stops us from pursuing it?

Play Essential For A Creative Life

To answer that and other questions I want to introduce you to Melissa Dinwiddie: artist, performer, happiness catalyst and creativity instigator.

What's interesting is I met Melissa at Michael & Amy Port's Heroic Public Speaking tour, where we were both learning a new skill – public speaking; something that takes practice, experience, guts and some amount of creativity to do really well.

As we talked about each of our professions, I was immediately intrigued by Melissa's bold statement: “When you play, it is a world changing act!” I had to know more and insisted that we connect online to chat about this idea of play being critical for living a creative life.

The Interview

Want to learn more from Melissa? Subscribe to her podcast – Living A Creative Life. If you love Melissa's energy, join her Creative Sandbox.

More On Being Creative

Curiously, just as I was finishing up with this blog post about living a creative life, I came across Dave Conrey's recent video – “How To Be More Creative” (see below):

Check out Dave's podcast and vlog, too!

So, tell me whether it is this weekend or the following week, what are you going to commit to yourself to live a creative life?

Here’s How You Can Launch A Profitable Photography Workshop In 60 Days

July 6, 2016 by Seshu | Editor & Publisher 1 Comment

Marie's Soft-Touch Marketing Idea

The last time I interviewed Marie Masse, it was to introduce you to her awesome website Fearless & Framed.

If you are photographing families in your community, documenting their reality may be your thing as well, but how do you go about persuading people to work with you? What would convince them more than anything else that this genre of photography is a good fit for them?

“You teach them,” said Marie.

Jaw dropped, I said, “Say what? Can you tell me more about this?”

Marie suggests conducting timely but profitable photography workshops for moms (and I suspect dads are welcome too).

Teaching Sells

If you are a photographer, I am pretty sure you have had someone in the past roll up to you and asked you about a feature or two on their DSLR that they simply do not get. The fact is, most people who own DSLR's are using it in “P” mode or “A” mode and never in “M” mode.

As a professional photographer, you've been rocking your sessions on manual mode forever and feel very comfortable talking about the exposure triangle, the rule of thirds or anticipating peak moments.

You are a pro, after all.

But for most moms and dads there is a mismatch between what they envisioned their photographs of their children would be like and what their skill set is with their fancy cameras.

A photography workshop that you can offer them, bridges this gap, giving them the rudimentary skills to get going and most importantly to value what you do as a professional.

In some ways you are disabusing them of the notion that to create a photograph, of a quality worthy to be displayed on their walls, all they need to do is to push a button.

By teaching them the basic in's and out's of photography, you are in some ways letting them know that what you do isn't as easy as that; it takes years of training and experience and most of all patience.

When they come to value what you do and see the artwork that you create for other clients, there is an excellent chance they will recruit you to be their family photographer.

Bingo!

Structuring The Workshop

At this point you must be thinking, “do I have to teach them for free?” The answer is a resounding: NO!

Educate your potential clients from the very beginning that your time is valuable. So, conducting these photography workshops for moms and dads in your community could be a boost to your bottom line if you do it right.

You are going to want to publicize it and of course, launch your first photography workshop. I have done three so far at the local library, but you may want to choose a different spot in town. Regardless, there is a structure that you can and perhaps should follow to set it up correctly.

Marie Masse just launched a course called Profitable Photography Workshops For Moms and based on the webinars she has conducted over the last few weeks, it might be just the thing for you.

The Interview

We got together for another chat, specifically about this new resource for professional photographers like you:

Profitable Photography Workshops For Moms

From Marie's website, here is what you can expect to receive when you invest in Profitable Photography Workshops for Moms:

The Complete Guide to Running Photography Workshops for Moms ebook – this 50-page guide will walk you through everything you need to know, step-by-step. From planning the workshop, filling workshop seats, how to create an incentive plan to book workshops from workshops, running this workshop in-person as well as getting started with taking this workshop online, and how to make lasting connections AFTER the workshop that can turn into more business through running a Facebook Group (which will be a gold mine for information direct from your ideal clients). No topic was left behind in this guide!

Connective Email Templates – inside of the guide, you’ll get email templates to help you fill up your first workshop, welcome new students to the workshop and questions to get to know your new students before the workshop, keep your workshop hostess pumped up and on fire to fill her workshops up, a reminder email to students, and after-workshop communication emails to encourage a continued relationship through a photo challenge, a Facebook group, and recommended resources and equipment list. The how and the why behind all of this communication is laid out inside of the guide.

Marie’s Beginner Photography Workshop 4 part Video Series – listen to this real demo again and again until the content flows off your tongue with ease. Feel confident knowing Marie has sold out her workshops using this specific class. You’ll see Marie’s slideshow packaged and put together inside this demonstration video series.

Marie’s Workshop Video Transcript (aka Word-for-Word Demo Swipe Files!) – all four videos come with a transcript for you to read and use as your outline to practice your class demo until you feel confident

Clean & Simple PowerPoint Slideshow Template – Marie’s demo includes all of the words with a license for you to use, so all you have to do is drop in your photos to make this workshop your own. The template has a variety of slides from title and engagement slides to single image slides and collage slides. We kept the professional design of this slideshow minimalist and clean, so your images shine and the slideshow has a timeless look and feel.

Cheat Sheets for Students Galore – Camera Settings Scavenger Hunt (pdf), Light Guide Template (InDesign file so you can add your images to the light categories), Exposure Cheat Sheet (pdf), and My Photo Wishlist (pdf).

Workshop Planner to create your blueprint to launch your workshop in 30 days (pdf). The planner a fillable pdf for you to map out all of the details, your workshop plan and policies and even a slide planner to help you cull your photos. Get organized in no time flat!

Two Organization Tools: a Sign-In sheet & an Open Date sheet to use at your workshops to keep track of who showed up, collect email addresses and to inspire your students to book their workshop, advanced class or session.

Bonus: Real is the New Perfect Photo Challenge – the exact quiz, beautifully designed to challenge your students during the workshop to help inspire their documentary shooting ideas and potentially needs for their own session (pdf)

Bonus: Access to the Private Facebook Group just for Workshop Instructors to unite. The Facebook Group is a place for instructors to support one another and grow together through your ideas + success stories you bring to the table. The online group is a place to connect, problem solve and gets questions answered from other instructors. The Fearless and Framed team will be inside and active in the group answering some questions, but this is not a place to receive 1:1 support from Marie/Fearless and Framed.

Wowza! Marie pretty much sets you right up for success!

A Testimonial

This is what one reviewer said about Profitable Photography Workshops For Moms:

I’m naturally good at teaching and inspiring others, but the concept of creating a workshop was intimidating and therefore I’ve never gotten it off the ground. I didn’t know where to start, how in-depth to go on certain topics and only setting it all up from scratch was just not something I had the time for. So you could imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered that Marie had created the Profitable Photography Workshop for Moms bundle. Finally, I would be able to take the leap and do something that I’ve been afraid of doing for so long – and best yet it's practically all set up for me all I have to do is insert my images and branding, market it and bam, I’m done.

A Challenge & An Offer

So, here's my challenge for all of you – in the next 60 days will you launch your profitable photography workshop? What's stopping you from trying to reach an even greater number of people in your community who could very reliably become your clients for life! Comment below.

Here's my offer to you all. If you use this affiliate link to buy Profitable Photography Workshops for Moms, and you send me your receipt (seshu at tiffinbox dot org), I'll schedule a 30 minute Skype call with you to discuss your workshop plans. This offer is only for those of you who jump in and buy between now and July 31st, 2016, though.

Sound good? I look forward to speaking with you about your profitable photography workshop.

Did You Know That Silk Inspire Is India’s First Wedding Photography Festival?

July 1, 2016 by Seshu | Editor & Publisher Leave a Comment

The Dream

Sephi Bergerson, a photographer originally from Tel Aviv, Israel and now living in Goa has some big dreams indeed.

After starting from scratch some 15 years ago, Sephi, no stranger to adventure and to live a fully immersive life, is set to launch India's first wedding photography festival. Sephi is well-known documentary wedding photographer in his own right, publishing what I consider one of the best books on the subject: Behind The Indian Veil.

Now with help from some very talented wedding photographers, Sephi has envisioned a gathering for photographers in picturesque Goa. Silk Inspire will be held October 4th through 7th – four days of fantastic presentations and fun activities at each day's end.

What is Silk Photos

Silk Photos describes itself as follows:

We represent a select group of talented wedding photographers, both stills, and motion, specializing in Indian weddings and destination wedding photography in India, and around the globe.

The Interview

So, what can you expect at Silk Inspire? I sat down with Sephi to talk about his plans for the festival, how it came about, why it was necessary to launch this now and where he hopes to take it in the future.

The Invitation To Attend

If you are in India, and you are a wedding photographer, registering for this wedding photography festival is a no-brainer! You must go. The place is right, the timing is right and the price is very right.

If you live outside the country, let me tell you that October in India is a wonderful time. I have friends who say they always want to go to India, so this is a great opportunity to not only learn from some of the best in the industry, but also travel through the country.

The Instructors

Here is who will be teaching at Silk Inspire: India's First Wedding Photography Festival –

Check out each of their websites to learn more about them individually:
Apresh Chavda, Christophe Vieseux, Franck Boutonnet, Joseph Radhik, Mahesh Shantaram, Sephi Bergerson, Susana Barberá, Two Mann Studios

If our schedules permit it, I hope to sit down with each of them to find out a little bit more about them and why being at India's first wedding photography festival is so important for them.