Mike Olbinski is more than just a wedding photographer. Much, much more.

You see, in the off-season, he takes off from his home in Scottsdale, Arizona to find, chase and photograph storms. It's no easy task but he started small, with likely the wrong equipment, but he pushed on undeterred. Clearly, this man loves what he does.

I have long watched Mike's work in utter awe and thought it was high time he and I got together to talk about his art. So, here is that conversation.

What I am moved by the most is Mike's relentless pursuit of experiencing these storms. Clearly he determines the risks and knows where to go and how to photograph the storms in a safe manner. I trust that while you might be inspired by Mike Olbinski, you don't jump head in without doing your homework. In fact, feel free to ask Mike any questions about his process below in the comments section.

Mike has been tirelessly working Monsoon II, a short movie showcasing the time-lapse videos he has been creating along the way this past summer. Take a look at the movie first below and then read what Mike has to say about the project:

I've been chasing the monsoon in Arizona for about six to seven years now. This summer was different though. Back in late July, I was wondering why it felt like I was out chasing more than ever before. And then I remembered. I had a job last summer. This year I didn't. I went full-time photography in November of 2014 and haven't looked back.

I was free to roam and had virtually no limitations. I even had multiple chases where I never actually wend to bed, but instead chased all night. I took the kids to New Mexico at one point early in the season.

Last year I counted roughly 31 total days that I chased a storm during the monsoon. This summer: 48. Yikes.

17,000 miles driven, which was about 3,000 more than last year. Perhaps the biggest difference this year was shooting nearly 60,000 more time-lapse frames than I did in 2014. 105,000 total. And what sticks out to me even more than any of the other numbers above, is that only 55,000 of those 105,000 frames made it into Monsoon II.

What that means is I was able to stuff this new film with only the best of the best. We missed out on some of the huge dust storms like I've captured in years past, but overall, I think this represents some of the best weather I've ever photographed in Arizona. There are stunning shelf clouds, gorgeous rain shafts, lots of blowing dust, tons of lightning, and even multiple mini-supercells or mesocyclones. The brief mesocyclone over Cottonwood at the 3:38 mark is one of my all-time favorites.

I can't talk much more about the film without addressing the music real quick. The song is called Palladio (Rebuilt) and it's once again by the amazing Kerry Muzzey who donated it to me for Monsoon II. He also let me use another song of his for my previous film, The Chase and I'm beyond grateful for his generosity. I mean, how do you thank someone enough for that? Click here to find the song on iTunes and please support his work! I've said it a million times … the music is at least 50% of these movies I make. Kerry's art helps bring my films to life. Thank you my friend!

When I'm out there capturing footage for these films, I'm constantly thinking about the story I want to tell. For example, I wanted a lot of erupting, towering cumulus at the beginning to launch into the meatier clips. I started laying out the film back in mid-August. Certain clips I already knew would be in certain places in relation to the ups and downs of the song itself. As the season wore on, I gathered more and more clips and began to lay out the entire film. I'd remove clips when I got something better. There was exhausting editing, re-editing, looping music, reluctantly dropping clips that didn't work or were unfixable and watching it over, and over and over, to make sure I was telling the story I wanted to tell.

At one point, about halfway through … I was telling Jina that I have a lot of great stuff, but still haven't shot the final scene yet. I had no idea what it would be, but I knew I didn't have it. And then that very night (or maybe the next day) … I was out west of Tonopah and I knew on the way home that the monsoon had finally delivered my ending.

That is what is so amazing about doing this. You hit the road with zero idea about what you're going to see over the course of a summer. You might imagine scenarios or have ideas, but they get blown out of the water by reality. And that's what I love about it.

My hope is that you can see and feel that love in this film. The beauty of the monsoon in Arizona. This is where I'm from and this is home.

This video, also by Mike Olbinski, was a Staff Pick on Vimeo:

Meanwhile, watch the drool as you peruse through some absolutely fantastic storm photographs by Mike Olbinski below:

For a limited time, you can buy “Superstrike” for 25% off. I've got my eyes on a 20″x30″ metallic print, Mike!

Asha's essay, “Sales. Never dirty. Always Soulful” made me sit up and take note.

Thanking one of her fans for following her, Asha said this:

“I have always seen the sales a sacred dance for sure (as long as we are offering products that we believe in). Such a powerful profession to connect with people, to test our own integrity, to be of service, and to experience our worth both in the vocation sense & the financial sense.”

Are you as jazzed about what she says about “selling” as I am? I certainly hope so.

Asha is a spiritual and business coach based in Massachusetts. I invited her to be a guest on TiffinboxTV because or her long history of working with creative entrepreneurs, including photographers. In fact, she readily admits that Glen Cooper, a successful wedding photojournalist, who happens to be her husband, was one of her first students.

For most photographers, October is a busy month. Thankfully, right? Both portrait and wedding photographers are hustling and delivering their images to their clients and there isn't a moment to even think about next year. Yet, Asha says this is really the time to to start thinking about what's going to happen with your business in the new year.

She is on a mission to work with creative entrepreneurs – women and men – who are looking for powerful inner transformations. Discover your inner genius here. She leads mastermind courses at the beginning of the year for her students. If you don't want to wait till January, Asha has a new seven-week course called: Take Your Inner Genius To The Bank. It is now open for enrollment for a very limited time.

We sat down to talk about a variety of topics including sales, branding, workflows and creating systems:

Are you ready to uncover and monetize your genius? If you are clear with your goals, laser focused on what needs to be done on a daily basis and feel that you are not in business just for the sake of making money, but really interested in making an impact in your community or country, consider Asha's new program that will get you on the right path.

One of the things Asha says is this:

“When you raise your prices, we are really asking for greater excellence of ourselves and greater excellence of the kind of clients we attract.”

Would you like to raise your prices in a way that feels authentic to you and you are able to truly serve your photography clients in an excellent way? Then it is time to take your genius to the bank!

P.S. I am not an affiliate partner and I did not receive a monetary compensation for hosting this interview. I truly believe in Asha's mission and feel you might be encouraged to sign on to study under her so that your business flourishes. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask in the comments section below. Thank you!

By the end of September, Pictage, a service you may have either used or have heard of, will be dead. If you banked on storing all your high resolution photographs on their servers, you may want to start downloading them now and backing them up.

Are there alternatives to Pictage? Yes, there are. But the one I depend on is ShootProof. I have enjoyed using ShootProof so much that I signed up to be an affiliate partner. So, yes, I make a small commission for promoting them, but I do so from the perspective of an actual user.

Photography Storage & Archive

ShootProof‘s business model is different from any other company's out there. Most want you to pay a monthly fee and then make some more off of you if you sell a print. ShootProof, instead, gives you the option of choosing a plan based on the number of photographs you have in your active galleries. You could start with a small plan of 1,500 photographs and pay just $10 a month. Or, you could be that busy wedding studio and have an unlimited plan for just $60 a month. ShootProof also lets you test the waters and upload 100 photographs for $0 per month.

Now, any gallery you move to an archive – that is, out of the gallery and into a “storage” area – is charged a modest sum of $.04 cents per gigabyte per month.

Lab Integration

I don't know about you, but when I create photographs for my clients, my end goal is that they place an order. In that regard, ShootProof gives you the option of having your prints printed at either Bay Photo, Black River Imaging or ProDPI (my top choice). The integration is seamless. ShootProof pulls the base prices from these professional labs into their system and gives you an opportunity to mark them up (as you should to reflect the time, skill and effort you have put into creating that work of art for your clients).

With my lab, ProDPI, for instance, I can either approve the order manually as it comes in or have it automatically shipped from Denver to my client's home without it ever coming to my home studio first. This is a huge time saver in those instances when my client does not live in the same town as I do. Read all about the ShootProof lab integration here.

Gallery Control

One of the things I always wanted in an online proofing site is some control over who sees what and for how long. Thankfully, I can set those limits within ShootProof quite easily. I can create a custom link, using the event name or client's last name, for instance. So, instead of a string of numbers, your clients will see their own recognizable name in the link. You can set expiration dates for the galleries. So, if you give your clients a deadline to order prints, they will see that deadline when they log in. You might still need to remind them, but at least you have given them the information from the get go!

Some of my business clients expect downloads. For the longest time, I used Dropbox to transfer files over to them. That worked to an extent, but ShootProof allows me to create an option at the top of the gallery to download all of their images in one go. So cool!

Customizing The Gallery

I've already mentioned how you can create a custom domain for your galleries, but the customization goes beyond that with ShootProof. You are able to set the colors of background for your galleries, upload and display your logo in all the obvious places. The user interface is intuitive and easy on the eyes. Everything is where it should be and there is no second-guessing where certain features are placed.

Creating A Workflow For Your Photography Business

Whether you are a wedding or portrait photographer, I would recommend you create a gallery for your clients ahead of the event or the session. Are you wondering why? Here's an awesome little feature in ShootProof that I love – you are able to essentially pre-register all the guests who are interested in seeing your photography BEFORE the gallery is released to the public. Whoever registers at the gallery gets first dibs at seeing your work. Plus, you have just legally captured their email address. Imagine that you can contact them before a national holiday letting them know about your other services or special sales on the photographs you created at an event they visited. Huge win, if you ask me!

One other reason you should create a gallery in advance is because it makes it easier for you to upload finished images from a folder on your computer or directly from Lightroom, via a plugin.

Sharing Is Caring

Lastly, you can share your galleries and photographs via social media. You can enable this or disable this feature but why wouldn't you want to have your photographs go viral online? Plus, there is the free ShootProof iPhone app that gives you the ability to share a gallery with your clients who in turn can share it with their friends and family. You can customize this free app with your studio logo and every time your client shares the gallery with someone they know, your company branding goes along with it. Quick and easy marketing, right?

Back to using the online gallery, did you know ShootProof works with Triple Scoop Music to bring you nearly 13,000 songs to use in your slideshows? If you have an unlimited plan, you can add up to 20 songs to any gallery or slideshow! Read more about this partnership here.

So, I hope I have given you enough reasons to move on from Pictage or any other online service and join ShootProof. I almost forgot to add that as a ShootProof user, you will have a say in the next features the company is working on. There is an active private Facebook group where each of us trades ideas, questions and suggestions on how to make ShootProof even better than it is right now.

Won't you join me? Try ShootProof out right now. Upload those 100 images and play with the interface. If it is a good fit for you too, then great!

Meet Brandon Wong, a wedding photographer based in Orange County, California, and listen to the story behind how he and his wife Katrina Santos decided to launch Photobooth Supply Company.

As a busy studio they began to cap off at 30 weddings a year. Savvy business owners, Brandon and Katrina were looking for ways of expanding their business and bring in more revenue without having to be personally involved in the service. They hit upon the idea of offering photo booths but the only ones available were expensive and kludgy.

After sinking nearly $15,000 into a photo booth set up that didn't work for them at all, Brandon and Katrina resolved to bring to the market a more elegant, cost-effective solution that creates a revenue stream for photographers.

I wanted to know more about how Brandon and Katrina decided to launch their photo booth and so I spoke with Brandon earlier this year (yes, when it was winter time and I was wearing three layers of clothes here in Connecticut).

Learn more about Photobooth Supply Company here. If you decide to lease one or buy one, please come back here and let me know what you thought of it. Let's say you go in for the top photo booth (that's $9300 right now), and you charge $1500 an event, it will only take you six rentals to recover the cost of the set up. Surely, if you are a wedding photographer or an event photographer, you can persuade your clients to have one of these fun and easy to set up photo booths at their event!

Here is a few frames of my buddy Dave Jackson and I at Inspire Photo Retreats. Hat tip to Lulawed and Maine Snapshot Studio for making a Photobooth Suppply Company photo booth available for all of us at the photography convention to play with and experience first hand!