I love meeting and getting to know kindred spirits in the photography business. When I photographed South Asian and multicultural weddings, I looked to a few people to inspire me. Knowing that I wasn't alone as a wedding photographer in a very specific niche was a God-send. I include Petronella among those who kept my spirits alive.

So, who is Petronella?

Petronella Lugemwa, is a multicultural wedding photographer based in New York. She has a wonderful and diverse background that includes a degree in chemical engineering and a MBA as well.

We talked about her beginnings in Uganda and her upbringing in Alabama before she clearly redefined an identity for herself as a multicultural wedding photographer. She says that she “specializes in helping multicultural and interracial couples celebrate their love in a modern way.”

Find out how Petronella, a usually introverted woman chose to photograph and celebrate diverse cultures. She talks about being asked to photograph her first wedding in Mexico and quickly immersing herself in other people's lives. Lean in and listen to Petronella's energy and enthusiasm for multicultural weddings. Do you hear it too?

Learn how a two-day conference called Making Things Happen turned things around for this young, vivacious documentary wedding photographer. We also talk about how she worked through the exercises in the Sexy Business Workshop that helped her overcome her fears – such as how she thought people perceived her name.

And, here are more incredible images from other multicultural weddings Petronella Lugemwa has documented for couples around the world:

Bill Holland is a wedding photographer in Colorado and blogger at The Art of Delight.

“The Art of Delight helps small businesses design with purpose delightful experiences for their customers. This enables these businesses to not only differentiate themselves in an increasingly heterogeneous marketplace, but concentrate on creating and shipping their art–in whatever form that takes.”

Give this interview a listen if making your customers happy is one of your primary goals! Bill Holland suggests some simple tips to make your client interactions a win-win.

The Art of Delight is a blog and a consultancy. If you are struggling with creating positive customer experiences, give Bill Holland a call. He has a remarkable knack for setting things right for you and your business.

Jessica Del Vecchio, a portrait and wedding photographer based in Washington, D.C. is going to be leading a workshop at Inspire Photo Retreats. Her early interest in alternative photographic processes led her to learn how to create salt prints. Her workshop at the conference will enable photographers to explore photography using this fascinating approach to printing images.

Here is a small selection of images from Jessica's portfolio, some showing how the final salt prints will look after one has processed them.

Hands-on workshops like these distinguish Inspire Photo Retreats, where everyone is encouraged to roll up their sleeves and play and do something completely out of the ordinary. Jessica's workshop will be on Monday, a time when I have already signed up for another workshop, but I hope to learn more about salt prints from her when we meet in Portland, Maine.

Inspire Photo Retreats is unique gathering of photographers that takes place every year. This year, it will be at The Westin, in Portland, Maine, from February 9th through the 11th. I hope you have registered for this sold-out conference!

Paul Friedman, founder and owner of LensProToGo, is a sponsor at Inspire Photo Retreats. He is as excited as I am to return to Inspire Photo Retreats, this time being held in Portland, Maine, from February 9th through the 11th.

Paul's company may be located in my backyard, but that's not why I lean on them for my equipment rental. They ship across the country and are favored by the likes of Scott Kelby when he needs gear shipped to him. Check out my brief interview with him and find out why LensProToGo is my first choice for photographic gear rental.

Check out the speakers scheduled to speak. Here is the final schedule. Learn more about Inspire.

The conference takes place at The Westin, and the organizers have a ton of amazing things in store for you (if you haven't registered already, the event is sold out!) See you there!

Oh, do you see the graphic below? LensProToGo is offering 15% off their gear rental in February, if you use the code: FEB15. Orders must be placed and received/delivered between February 2nd and February 27th, 2015. Get to it people!

CJ Chilvers is a writer, and dare I say, “thinker,” behind one of my favorite blogs for photographers called, A Lesser Photographer. By profession, he is a technical writer based in Chicago. In addition to “A Lesser Photographer” he writes at This Life of Leisure.

I cornered Chilvers into a quick interview because we very rarely see him or hear his voice. I was curious to know more about why he started A Lesser Photographer, what made the blog so popular.

I was pleased to know that Craft & Vision was going to be publishing his book by the same name very soon. Well, that book just appeared today on the Craft & Vision site. You can grab it here – A Lesser Photographer: Escaping The Gear Trap To Focus On What Matters – for only $4 before the price bumps back up to $5! [aff]

David duChemin writes about the book, “The Lesser Photographer by CJ Chilvers is about escaping the gear trap and focusing on what matters: the things that actually make better photographs. Things like creativity and authenticity. So instead of worrying about your f-stop, you can concentrate on doing more with less. Less gear. Less comparison. Less “should” and “ought” and “if only,” and more of you, reflected in your work.”

Anyway, before I get completely sidetracked here is my conversation with CJ Chilvers:

The book on Van Halen CJ mentions is called The Van Halen Encyclopedia [aff]

You might as well jump!! [if you got that reference comment below] Subscribe to TiffinboxTV now and see all the interviews before they appear here!

Please also check out the Craft & Vision interview with CJ Chilvers.