I've loved Utah-based Jonathan Canlas‘ wedding photography for quite some time. I must have come across his website quite randomly about four or five years ago. His images continue to inspire me. The moments are real and the processing is just right.

Little did I know back then that he was a wholly film-based photographer. Yes, film. Some of us may remember that medium. With digital being all the rage – I mean who isn't addicted to chimping, right? – why would a photographer eschew Photoshop actions (that can make your digital images look like they were shot on film) and other “bells and whistles.” The answer is simple. Because he can, he wants to be different and his clients love him for it.

So, take a moment to look at his work again.

Now that you are back, do you see anything different? Do the images just appear more tactile, or have more depth to them? Or, is it my imagination? I believe it is the former.

Whichever way your answer sways, if you are curious about how Jonathan Canlas photographs weddings or portrait sessions using film, you have three options to learn from him.

You see, in addition to being a successful photographer, Canlas is a wonderful teacher. For several years, Canlas has offered the Film Is Not Dead workshops for those photographers looking for a solid foundation in film photography.

Canlas has also very patiently answered questions via Formspring. You should follow him on Twitter where most of these responses show up.

The last option, is a resourceful guidebook called FIND (Film Is Not Dead). There is a dedicated website where you can order this truly comprehensive offering. Jonathan generously offered me a review copy and I just got done reading it. As a photographer who cut his teeth on Tri-X and TMAX 3200, a lot of what he had to say in the book was not new to me. As a mostly 35-mm film photographer, though, I learned a great deal about medium-format cameras. So much so that I am now actively looking for a used Yashica-Mat 124-G.

Here is a breakdown of the table of contents:

This is a 95-page e-book that is sprinkled with great wisdom and some jaw-dropping images. If you are clueless about working with film, because you simply never had the opportunity or were too intimidated, then you need to run out and get this hefty PDF. Unlike other PDFs that may discuss a particular type of digital technology that is sure to change over time, I feel what Jonathan Canlas has produced for us will be as timeless as his own work. Indeed, its his generous spirit that allows us to share his vast knowledge about a medium long thought of as “old,” or worse, “dead.”

Thanks to companies like Kodak and Ilford, who continue manufacturing film, Canlas feels strongly that he will be working in that medium for a very long time and now so can you.

Buy the Film Is Not Dead guidebook by using the code “SESHU” and receive $45 off the final price. All I ask in return is that you subscribe to the Tiffinbox newsletter. Goodies like this will only be available in the future for my newsletter subscribers so you may want to get a headstart.

Full disclosure – I received a review copy of this PDF, but I don't make a dime for mentioning it here on Tiffinbox. If you liked this review and bought the PDF, please come back here and post your comments. I'll try and have Jonathan swing by and answer any questions you may have.

This is guest blog post by Michelle Loretta who loves to talk shop and discuss business strategy. So, in 2009 she started a blog: Sage Wedding Pros. This blog would evolve to cover all things business in the wedding and event industry. She has a background in finance, having armed herself with a BS in Accounting from University of Southern California and having spent her early career working for Deloitte LLP. She spent 5 years in the fashion industry as a sales manager for DDLA, and a visual merchandiser for Coach, Inc. In 2008, Michelle co-founded the wedding industry not-for-profit Get Hitched Give Hope.

Oh … the agony! Writing a business plan! It takes blood, sweat, tears… weeks turn into months turn into years. What a grueling process!

OR – that’s what people think.

Listen, I teach people how to write business plans daily. It doesn’t have to be this way. Let’s get some things straight here …

A Business Plan Is A Set Of Goals

Yep – that’s all it is. And, goal-setting challenges us to be better business owners. Goal-setting gives us a target to aim for. If you don’t have a target, how can you ever hit the bulls-eye?

Cover All Your Bases

The beauty of the business plan is that it forces you to look at four areas of your business: your company vision, your marketing, your operations, and your finances. So often we set goals with only a couple of these in mind. But a strong business needs to build on all four areas.

– What do you want your business to be known for?
– How are you going to sell that?
– How are you going to run your business to provide that?
– How are you going to make money doing it?

Make It Your Own

Unless you are seeking investors or financing, the business plan should be for you. If it’s 3 pages or 30 pages – just get some thing down on paper. It can be paragraphs or lists. Make it your own. And make it easy for you to write. Better yet: make it easy for you to USE.

Find a Buddy

Things are always more fun with friends. Find a coach, a friend, or a mentor to help you with this. Whether you meet monthly with an industry colleague to work ON your business plans – or whether you attend a workshop. This accountability makes it easier to get it done if you can have a little social interaction along the way.

USE IT!

What good is a plan if you don’t use it? (This is the real importance of making it your OWN.) Goals change and evolve over time. This plan isn’t set in stone. Refer to it daily. Make it a part of your business life. And, make the business plan a continuously evolving, living, breathing document.

About The Simple Plan

The Simple Plan is a no-sweat, no-fuss, piece-of-cake, easy-peasy approach to writing a business plan. We've taken out the dirty work and made this fun and collaborative. It is open to all wedding industry professionals: from start-ups just getting their feet wet to experienced pros who are looking to take their business to the next level.

Read all about The Simple Plan for event and wedding professionals

New York Workshop:
The Simple Plan – May 10-11, 2011 – 9:30am-4:30pm
At Jason Groupp Studio
Register now for the New York workshop!

Dallas Workshop:
The Simple Plan – March 22-23, 2011 – 9:30am-4:30pm
At Holiday Inn Express – Galleria
Register now for the Dallas workshop!

UPDATE: Michelle Loretta is offering Tiffinbox newsletter subscribers $50 off towards the NYC workshop. 1) Sign up for the Tiffinbox newsletter, 2) Send me an email to seshu at tiffinbox dot org so that I can confirm your email matches and 3) I'll email you back with the special code. Deal?

Stuart Little, is a Photographer, Writer, Blogger and Photoshop Educator with over 18 years experience in the field. Stuart has been teaching both Amateur & Professional Photographers since 1998 and he is based in the Scottish Coastal Town of Ayr in the West of Scotland. Visit Stuart’s website http://www.alittlephotoshop.com. Read his first post about creating rounded corners in Lightroom 3.

Thanks once again to Seshu for inviting me to create another LIghtroom video tutorial for your viewing pleasure. Today I am going to show you how to fake a Tilt n Shift lens effect directly within LIghtroom 3. Now I am not going to bore you with the history of this very popular style of image processing but needless to say there are 3 ways you go do this effect.

1. In Camera
2. In Photoshop
3. In Lightroom – Which is the way we are going to do it today.

There are two main reasons for doing this effect in Lightroom and Photoshop. 1) Shallow Depth of Field and 2) If you have an image taken from a high vantage point, then you can make it look like a miniature model partly because of the shallow depth of field blur and partly because of the subject and angle of the image.

In this video tutorial I show you how to create the effect from a shallow depth of field point of view which is how I mainly use the technique in Lightroom. If you want to go down the faking a miniature model look, then in my view you are better doing it in Photoshop. I have that very video tutorial over at alittlephotoshop.com if thats of interest to you.

Learn more about Tilt Shift Photography.

If you have examples of tilt ‘n shift work, please share them as links in the comments section. We'd love to see how you have used Stuart Little's technique, or your own.

Stuart Little, our next guest blogger, is a Photographer, Writer, Blogger and Photoshop Educator with over 18 years experience in the field. Stuart has been teaching both Amateur & Professional Photographers since 1998 and he is based in the Scottish Coastal Town of Ayr in the West of Scotland. Visit Stuart's website http://www.alittlephotoshop.com.

Thanks to Seshu for giving me the opportunity to share with you a really cool and utterly simple technique for creating a rounded border from within Lightroom 3.

When Adobe brought out Lightroom 3 they added 2 new features to the post crop vignette that made creating vignettes even better than before. So much so that the older paint overlay style has kind of been forgotten until now.

You can watch the video for all the juicy know-how but for those of you who just want to get stuck in via your RSS reader then slide all the post-crop vignetting sliders to the left for a black rounded border, job done, nuff said. Yep! its that simple But here is the another cool thing. If you want a white border then just take the amount slider all the way to the right.

Best thing of all. You can save the whole lot as a simple preset so that one click will take care of it all in future. Fire up the print module and set the background colour to compliment the border colour. Make sure you are using custom layout and then you can drag n drop the round images directly onto a layout ready for printing. Although if you are going down the inkjet route I would go for a white border and save yourself some ink. Enjoy the video tutorial and dont forget to swing but alittlephotoshop.com for more Lightroom 3 training and free workflow actions for Photoshop.

Stuart has offered to send me another blog post, this time about creating a tilt-n-shift effect in Lightroom 3. Here's the deal, though, for that to happen I need to see at least 20 comments from you. Ask questions or suggest an alternative way of creating round corners. But I do need to hear from you. So, will you chime in? If you liked this post by Stuart, I think you will enjoy the next one too.