MS Awareness Week 2014 is from March 3 to March 9th this year. The timing couldn't be more perfect for me to speak with West Hartford, Connecticut photographer, Mike Marques about his long-term project, photographing people in and around Connecticut who are battling multiple sclerosis.

Marques' three-year project, a collaboration with National Multiple Sclerosis Society – Connecticut Chapter is called “I Am A MoSaic.” Here is a small selection of images from that impressive project:

Here is my interview with Mike Marques' about “I Am A MoSaic” project:

Learn about why Mike Marques began the project, how he collaborated with a national organization, hear what it took to connect with his subjects and finally discover how he chose to celebrate their lives.

Mike Marques inspires me and I hope he inspires you as well.

Regardless of photographic genre, the primary factor a client will use to make their photographer hiring decision is going to be the photographer's images; if they see that you can produce great photos, that's going to be the most important thing. But there are a number of supporting factors that distinguish a true professional photographer; things that aren't always visible in your photos; but they contribute behind the scenes to being able to consistently deliver a great client experience.

A Professional Has Redundant Gear

I never arrive at a photo shoot with only a single camera, lens, or light; and neither should you. Like everything else, camera gear will break, whether it's just worn out or accidentally damaged. An equipment failure shouldn't derail a wedding, senior portrait session, commercial shoot, or other client endeavor. Responsible pros will own or rent an appropriate amount of gear to work through the occasional problem.

A Professional Photographer Is Insured

As a professional, it's good business to have insurance. Equipment insurance will cover your essential tools you use to make photos. Liability insurance will protect you if a client trips over your tripod. Errors and Omissions insurance will protect against other failures such as missing a critical photo in a scene that can't be re-staged. If you're not yet insured, consider the risks.

A Professional Photographer Knows Other Professional Photographers

It's the night before a big wedding. Or the morning of a day in your studio booked solid with clients. Maybe you're slated to head out first thing in the morning to set up for a day of executive portraits on location for a large company. And now you're violently ill. What's going to happen? A pro is going to have established connections with other pro photographers in the area that could potentially cover in a pinch.

Be Professional and Proud

Be a professional; and be proud of that. Your clients want great-looking photos, but they also want assurance that you've done the work to make sure that can happen. Let them know about what makes you a pro; it's a benefit to your client and they ought to know that you've thought about these factors. I can help them understand the value in hiring you rather than that guy off of Craigslist that'll do the job for 1/4 of your rate.

So, do you agree or disagree with Aaron Hockley? What other factors would you add to this list? Sound off below in the comments section!

On November 17th, I excitedly published a post about SmartAlbums here. I was given access to the beta version of the program that allows photographers to quickly and efficiently design albums for wedding and portrait clients.

When I connected with Daniel Usenko, a wedding photographer based in Seattle who is a part of the team that created SmartAlbums, I asked to speak with him at greater detail about the program and how it is positioned to help photographers speed up the album-creation process.

So here is that chat:

Here are some screenshots from the SmartAlbums program:

Do know that there is a special sale going on right now through 11.59 pm PST (that's west coast of the US, for my international friends) for $199. The price will jump to $299. From what I have seen, I do recommend locking in the lower price now and buying SmartAlbums. Click the graphic below now.

Will you be using SmartAlbums in 2014 to design albums for your photography clients? Let me know below!

If you are in the US, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are huge days for online and big box stores. The savings can be enormous if you play your cards right. After searching far and wide I've curated the best offers I believe will elevate your craft and business.

BUSINESS

Psychology For Photographers is offering Irresistible Words for $199 and Portfolio to Profit Engine for $109 or get both for $299.

Joy Vertz offers $50 off her popular course, Referral Plan That Works

WORKFLOW & SALES

Queensberry Albums offers you 40% off the first year of any annual paid plan for Workspace

Preveal is being offered at a steep discount at $25 $49 – grab this!

ShootProof is offering its 1500 image plan at only $35 (regularly $100)

Jared Bauman's new Wedding and Portrait Email Templates – use: black2013friday

PHOTO EDUCATION & TUTORIALS

Photography Concentrate – 40% off all ebooks and tutorials

Modern Tog has several products for sale for a limited time:

Easy Client Manager at 66% off

Easy Client & Money Manager – $50 off

Easy Client & Money Manager + Photography Pricing Guide – $50 off

The Go To Guide To Client Emails – $50 off

Photographer's Questionnaire Library – 59% off

Enter here for The Modern Tog's iMac Giveaway

DESIGN TEMPLATES & SOFTWARE

Fundy Software is offering 30% off on the following products:

Album Builder
Blog Collage
Image Brander

BUSINESS FORMS

Business Forms By Nifty Knowledge Rocks – 75% off – use: “blackfriday”

Rachel Brenke's The Law Tog is offering 30% off of all of her business forms – use: “BlackFri30”

WEB RELATED

Get 27% off the awesome Photocrati theme

NextGen Galery Pro, one of the best known WordPres gallery plugins is 25% off for a limited time

Gravity Forms – one of the most crucial WordPress plugins you need to use on your site. Use: “wpbeginner”

Flothemes – Use: 25GOODNESS to receive 25% off any Flothemes WordPress theme

SEO Cookbook by Photography Spark: Easy Recipes To Rank Higher – $60 off –

LIGHTROOM PRESETS & PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS

Totally Rad – 35% off all presets and actions

Mastin Labs – 50% off the Portra 400 Preset Pack – film emulation at its best!

VSCO Presets

Adobe Cloud – Photoshop & Lightroom for $9.99/month

Code + Hustle – Storyboard and Batch+ at insane prices!

WEB HOSTING

WPEngine – Tiffinbox is hosted here! Totally awesome customer support. Get this if you can!

Small Orange – my headshot portrait site, Connecticut Headshots, is hosted here. Very reasonable monthly rates and also prompt email based support.

BlueHost – my old host but an old favorite if you are starting out.

HostGator – a well known low-cost web host that is quite popular as well.

BOOKS

Craft & Vision books are all 50% off for a very limited time

Simple SLR Complete e-book bundle

Christopher O’Donnell Ebooks:

The Art of Color Processing
The Golden Hours
The Golden Hour Portfolio
The Art of Bokeh
The Portfolio of Bokeh
The Complete Ebook Collection

Angela Pointon's ebook will get you thinking about how you are Worth More

Create, share and learn lighting at Strobox through their e-books that are now all $4.75 each.

Strobox Volume 1
Strobox Volume 2
Strobox Volume 3

Which vendors would you like to see here? Whom am I missing? Let me know in the comments below. I will do my best to include them as I update this post today, Black Friday and through Cyber Monday. So, please bookmark this post and keep coming back as I find other awesome deals for you.

Thank you again for supporting Tiffinbox!

My friends Lauren & Rob Lim of Photography Concentrate are Canadians. And, they celebrated Thanksgiving back on October 14.

But for the US Thanksgiving holiday and for Black Friday and Cyber Monday especially, they wanted to do something special. They have gone ahead and offered all of you a 40% discount on ALL their tutorials and ebooks. This is huge and it isn't something they will likely repeat for another year.

Look, we all want to be better at photography than we were last year. At least, I would hope those of you who read Tiffinbox feel that way. From several of you who have privately emailed me and thanked me for introducing you to resource, a website or a tool that has elevated your craft or business, I know I am pretty good at curating the very best offers out there for you.

The tutorials and ebooks that Photography Concentrate has offered in the past have always been mentioned here because Lauren and Rob Lim consistently produce useful, actionable resources for photographers. Every ebook I receive from them is so full of incredible examples that are not only expressed succinctly but also illustrated beautifully.

These are books you will use over and over again. I promise. How do I know? Because I use them again and again all the time.

The sale starts on Black Friday (that's this Friday) and ends on December 2nd, Cyber Monday. Buy the e-book or tutorial you really need for yourself or your business.

And Lauren and Rob are sweetening the deal even more, giving you a chance at winning a $1000 shopping spree at B&H. Bookmark this post and come back here between Black Friday and Cyber Monday to buy your favorite Photography Concentrate e-book or tutorial. You won't regret it!

Learn more about this special, time-sensitive offer here.