Today's guest blog is by Tony Urban, a photographer based in Western Pennsylvania. Tony specializes in High School Senior Portraiture. Please follow Tony on Twitter.

At least twice a week someone who has just learned that I'm a photographer responds to that information by telling me that their uncle/coworker/neighbor/dog walker/classmate/etc. is a photographer too. So how is a working, professional portrait artist with a legitimate business supposed to compete with all of the new shooters who are, quite often, working for free just because they “really like to take pictures”? There are several options, but one of them is to stop “taking” pictures and to start “making” portraits.

The word photography, as most know, is based on the Greek words “photos” (meaning light) and “graphe” (meaning drawing) – drawing with light. Despite that, many senior photographers ignore lighting when it comes to creating their images and as a result, they produce a style that can easily be reproduced by anyone with a “fancy camera”. With the proliferation of natural light photographers, it's more important then ever to have a stye that will set your work apart.

I'm a full time senior portrait photographer and over the past 2 years I've transitioned from being a “natural light” shooter to a photographer who drags around lights on every senior photo shoot. It doesn't matter if we're hiking into the forest or wading into the lake – if I'm making the portrait, I'm lighting it too. We might be shooting in “God's Studio”, but we're using my light to create the image.

On one hand, my business has almost doubled from the time I changed from natural light to controlling the light.

I've spent way too much money on lighting equipment over the past few years. Small flashes, studio strobes, Pocket Wizards, Radio Poppers, light stands, boom arms, sand bags, power packs, etc. Sometimes I carry my gear, others I use a modified golf cart. I use translucent umbrellas, soft boxes, octoboxes and beauty dishes all outside while shooting on location. Not only does this gear take the portraits to a level that is unattainable by the guy who just bought a D5000 and opened up his business, but it gives my clients more of a “model” experience and makes them more excited about the shoot.

Is lighting a big deal to my senior portrait clients? On one hand, my business has almost doubled from the time I changed from natural light to controlling the light. On the other, not a single client has ever looked at their photos and said, “Wow, that's some beautiful lighting!” To the average client, I suspect good light is appreciated on a subconscious level. It makes them enjoy and appreciate the photos more, even if they aren't sure why.

If you're a professional photographer you really should understand the basics of studio lighting and taking the knowledge and using it outdoors isn't as intimidating as it first appears. Basically, you just have to compensate for the sun/ambient light (a light meter comes in handy with this) and, you have to deal with wind, rain and whatever else Mother Nature decides to toss your way.

The Strobist website is a fantastic resource and you'll find exhaustive amounts of information there about lighting. I haven't even begun to read a fraction of what is discussed there because I usually prefer to learn by doing rather than studying, but it should still be the first stop for any photographer looking to take their lights into the great outdoors.

There's no magic bullet when it comes to lighting outside. Sometimes I use Nikon Speedlights and Radio Poppers. Sometimes I use White Lightning strobes and Pocket Wizards. Both have their pros and cons. Speedlights are lightweight and easily portable but might be lacking in power depending on what you want to do with them. Strobes have tons of power but can be bulky and you need to use portable power packs to run the lights.

Maybe even more important than the lights themselves is what you use to sculpt the light. I prefer Beauty Dishes as they typically give you the most “bang for your buck” in terms of power. I always use them with the diffusion sock on though to soft the light produced. I, personally, love soft light and find it flattering for most senior portrait clients. It's important that you don't get too caught up in “lighting” the portrait to remember all of the other technical areas which need to excel – the pose, the composition, the subject's expression, etc. You can create the most stunningly lit photo possible but your client isn't going to buy it if the pose makes them look chubby or if their smile is a little goofy. Portrait photography is about making your client look amazing and the lighting is just one part of that.

The best light you can use is simple – it's the one that gets the job done. Play with your lights, experiment, see what works best for you and your style of photography. Once you've mastered using one light outdoors, move on to 2 lights – or 3 or 4 – or go crazy like Joe McNally and use so many that you lose count. But when you're working with your seniors, remember that your goal is to make them look great. Use your lights to give them unique portraits that all of the weekend warriors wouldn't even try to create. Your lights can be another tool to take your work to the next level and to help your portrait business stand out amongst a rising sea of “shooters”.

Do you agree with Tony that lighting can be the biggest differentiator? Tell us how you distinguish your work from others? And if you enjoyed this post, please “Share The Knowledge” by clicking on one or more of the social media buttons you see below! Thank you.

Yesterday we had John Pyle talking about how to specialize in photographing high school seniors.Today's guest post is by Jen Basford, a highly successful Edmond, Oklahoma-based photographer. Be sure to follow her on Twitter.

Like most photographers, I love what I do. I mean, I REALLY love what I do. And my biggest passion is marketing to seniors (which is JUST slightly above photographing seniors, however on most days I tend to love them just the same). And to be truly honest, I just love marketing in general. It is quite possibly one of the biggest factors in the success or failure of portrait studios in today's world. So you need to take a hard look at how you're approaching things.

First of all – who are you marketing to – the senior or their parent? In general, I am marketing to the senior. However, don't ignore the parents entirely or it can come back to bite you. So with that in mind, I look at ways in which to reach my target market most effectively. Oh, and I also should let you in on another little tip – I like to do EVERYTHING differently. And I like to do it my way. :)

For me, that means doing what everyone else ISN'T. I've done a LOT of research over the past several years into what gets the attention of teenagers. And I can tell you that it is NOT direct mail. Everyone mails pretty little postcards to seniors with the same things on them – here are some images of what we do, here is our latest campaign, and here is an offer to get you to come in and have your portraits made. And I can tell you that every single one of them looks alike. Sure, the colors may be a bit different, and many people use WAY too many fonts, but they all look like they come from a photography studio trying hard to get your business. Which will bore the daylights out of a soon-to-be senior.

Who, by the way, is quite possibly way MORE marketing savvy than you are.

Teenagers are marketed to nonstop from the moment they wake up until the moment they fall asleep (and some might argue even well past that point). They can spot a fake, a gimmick, or something cheesy from 3 states away. They aren't interested in discounts. They aren't interested in deals. And they aren't interested in the fact that you can photograph really great well-lit images (though you'd better at least be able to do that if you're calling yourself a professional).

What they ARE interested in is fame. Being important (or made to feel like they are). Helping others. Relationships. Being REAL. You get the gist here.

So how do we reach them? By developing relationships with them and giving them once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Our 2 main marketing ventures for high school seniors are our senior model program and our annual Lights. Camera. Fashion! show we put on every spring. And these two things work hand in hand with each other. We recruit our models each year from the current year's junior class, and give them options in which they can choose to participate. And this isn't your parents' ‘rep' program designed to make kids work for referrals and discounts. Our model program offers the kids so much more – fame, the chance to be a top model for our studio, the chance to be a national senior portrait artists (spa) model winner, and the opportunity to be a runway model in our annual fashion show. We do offer incentives for direct referrals, however our model program is designed such that if they don't directly refer seniors to us we still benefit from indirect referrals, and the model then becomes a full-paying client. It's truly a win-win in all situations for us.

Our fashion show that we hold each year is the biggest event of its kind in our area. The focus is on the upcoming fashion trends, and we show high schoolers what types of clothes they will be wearing for their upcoming senior portraits. We also show them what a great time they will have at our studio, and how senior portraits are SO much more than just having your photograph made. They are about an experience. A feeling. A passion. A love. About everything you've worked your whole life to be, and everything you're heading off to become. It's a point in time that will never be repeated, and we want to make sure they realize the value of their senior portraits and that our studio can provide them with the best experience possible.

To support and supplement our model program and our fashion show, we effectively use Facebook, twitter, our blog and our website to create personal interaction and relationships with our models, clients and potential clients. One thing you have to realize, however, when using social media is that you HAVE to make it personal. Making a connection with your audience goes a LOT further than making it ONLY about business. High schoolers especially will start to tune you out before they even really tune in. Simple posts such as ‘Monday-1, Jen-0' on your social media can spark connections with almost everyone, as all of your target markets can relate to this humorous quip in some fashion or another. Keep it fun, make it personal, and use it effectively to enhance your business.

And keep it up. Regularly. If you don't, your audience will soon become bored and wander elsewhere. So it's your job to continually engage them and keep them coming back for more.

Assuming you are good at your craft, by giving some attention to your marketing and looking at how you can differentiate yourself from the pack you will be able to drive your target client towards you without the need to compete in the same arenas as ‘everyone else'. You must find out what makes you different, and start to capitalize on that. Because if you continually do things the way everyone else is doing them, eventually you will burn out and find that you are just a commodity to your market base. And people compare commodities on price – a war you will NEVER win, no matter where your pricing falls.

So play hard or go home. Because if you're marketing isn't on its ‘A' game you're going to be left behind.

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.

My wedding season is winding down, but my children's portrait photography sessions are starting to pickup. It's just the nature of things as we cycle from one season to the next.

In my pursuit to be better than I was last year, I looked around to see whose work and expertise could elevate me as an artist. One name that kept popping up to the top of my head was Tamara Lackey.

Let me at the outset tell you that Tamara is a friend. We first met at a workshop hosted by Jesh de Rox. Tamara and I continued to stay in touch (and that's one good way to be on top of someone's mind, eh?) but both our studios got busier and things got a little quiet. Then all of a sudden I heard that Tamara had written a book called The Art of Children's Photography.

Subsequently, I met her at Learnfest, another workshop hosted this time by Tamara, Audrey Woulard, Lena Hyde and Laura Novak. (Learnfest is now on an indefinite hiatus and that's why the link points to a very good review of that workshop!)

In early January of this year, Tamara announced that she had co-produced a DVD with Rex Ballard, called Inside Contemporary Children's Photography. I sent Tamara a message saying that I was intrigued by the DVD and wanted to know where I could buy it. Her prompt response was to simply ask for my address. A couple of days later I received her generous gift. So, let me be clear that I did receive this DVD gratis. This blog post, however wasn't solicited by her or me. It was truly an after thought because I absolutely loved what Tamara was able to teach me in 90-very-quick-minutes. I say “quick” because it left me wanting to hear and see more.

Her breakdown of different kinds of children and how to approach them was my biggest take away. I have two kids of my own whom I photograph constantly, but that doesn't make me an expert on all the different kinds of kids there are in the world. Tamara, of course, generalizes to some extent. But her opinions come from the vantage point of a lot of experience. Just look at her images and you will be amazed at how intact the children's souls remain. In some children, she is playful and down-right goofy. While working with some others – those who are cranky or shy, her approach is much more reserved and quiet. In any of the scenarios, you can tell that being respectful of children is very important.

There is also a fairly detailed section of the DVD where Tamara and her studio director talk about how to run a successful portrait photography business. If you are starting out, this is going to be doubly valuable to you.

I wholly recommend this DVD if you are considering specializing in children's photography or at least making it part of your business.

Be sure that your approach is going to be different (and Tamara and I hope that it will be), so please don't think of this DVD as a template for what you MUST do. Think of it as a template of what you CAN do. These are suggestions and very good ones that will help you make your business sing if you adopt even just a few of them.

I wholly recommend this DVD if you are considering specializing in children's photography or at least making it part of your business. Tamara's approach is genuine and her love of children is as clear as a sunny day. The DVD itself is very well produced. After all, Rex Ballard's litany of achievements as a Director of Photography and Cinematographer include National Geographic and The History Channel.

You can buy this helpful tutorial as a DVD or a download here. [This isn't an affiliate link and I don't get a dime for promoting it!]

BONUS: If you are going to be in New York City this Friday (October 29, 2010), Tamara Lackey will be presenting at Photo Plus Expo. She is an enthusiastic speaker and her presentation is not to be missed.

UPDATE: Tamara has generously given Tiffinbox readers a $30 discount if you buy her DVD by Friday – November 5, 2010. That brings your price down to $169. This is NOT an affiliate offer and I don't make a dime for promoting it here. Yeah, it's that good. Get it!

This is a guest post by Alethea Cheng Fitzpatrick, NYC based architect, interior designer, photographer AND mom! Alethea has her own business, nestingNYC (formerly alethea cheng fitzpatrick photography). Her first guest post here was “Please Don't Just Give Your Clients A CD or DVD!”

You know how many families want beautiful family portraits in their home but have a hard time getting through the entire process?

As an architect/interior designer and baby photographer, Alethea takes care of the whole thing from start to finish, meeting families in their homes and designing, creating, delivering and installing the perfect custom portrait wall gallery to complement their home and lifestyle.

My eighteen month old son is going through a very affectionate stage (well, apart from when he's screaming his head off in the stroller and looking up at me with teary eyes filled with betrayal because I won't carry him).

He comes up to me, pulls my arms around him and says “‘ug!”

Sometimes he says “mommy ‘ug!”

Yes, it is as heart melting as it sounds.

But it's also particularly meaningful because of an amazing piece of advice I recently received from Kristen Kalp, business and marketing genius at Brand Camp Blog and an incredible photographer in her own right at Essential Imagery.

“Coffee coffee coffee,” she said. “Take people out for lots and lots of coffee. And measure your success in hugs.”

This little piece of advice has changed everything for me – how I think not only about my business but also about my life.

I don't interpret this advice literally. It might not be coffee, it might be a two and a half hour lunch… with cocktails… on a weekday. And hey, I live in New York City, some people kiss and hug everyone … and some people don't really like to hug at all.

But what it means, to me, is that you should surround yourself by people you love, and who love you. It means business dates, not business meetings. It means connecting with people, asking them what their biggest challenges and dreams are, and finding out how you can help them.

It means believing that you have something amazing to offer – and offering it.

It means that all of a sudden something has clicked for me and I finally understand how to grow my business in a way that feels good.

It means that I have fallen in love with marketing.

I've never hated marketing, and as an architect, I probably was “into it” more than most. I started my own business after having my son as a) I went crazy taking photos of him and gained a new appreciation for the power, meaning and value of portrait photography and b) I wanted the flexibility so I could continue to be mostly at home with him. It's also true in retrospect that I've always wanted to have my own business, ever since I started one as part of an extra-curricular activity in high school, but I had become waylaid from that goal over the years.

Even with over ten years of experience as a creative professional with lots involvement on the business side, and even though small business owners are always talking about how surprised they are at how much time they have to spend marketing … well, there's no other way to say this. I was still surprised! I feel a little silly about it now but yes, I suppose I did somehow think that I could put up a website, tell all my friends, and run a few facebook and craigslist ads and I would be up and running in no time!

Well, needless to say it has taken a little more work than that. It's one thing to hear that running your own business involves a lot of marketing, but actually experiencing it is a whole different thing. I have been truly humbled by how much there is to learn, but it has also been thrilling to learn so much so quickly… and think of how much money I've saved by not going back to school to do it!

The good news is that the “hug” approach to marketing means that marketing and, ugh, the even more dreaded (to me) “networking” don't feel like marketing or networking – it feels like living your life. In other words, it feels very natural.

I do think that it means you have to be in the right place to begin with. You have to not only love what you do, but you have to love where you are and the people that you get to meet and work with. Where that is will change over the course of your life. It certainly did for me when I became a mother in a way that was completely unexpected to me – I wanted to be a mother all the time!

Now I know that to some, that may sound like a complete nightmare, and they enjoy their professional life where they get to exist outside of parenthood. I can totally understand that. But for me, that was the last thing I wanted to do, and it still is.

“Being a mother all the time” does not, for me, mean spending all my time with my son, at least not since he was a tiny baby. That would not be good for either of us. But it means building a professional life for myself that integrates well with being a mother not just practically in terms of hours and flexibility, but conceptually. It means building a professional life for myself based on who I am as a person. It means integrating the professional and the personal much more than I ever dared to do before.

Being a mother is part of what enables me to be the photographer, designer and business owner that I now am – it's one of my assets and I draw on it constantly. And it explains why returning to my old and formerly much loved professional life suddenly seemed and continues to seem so unfathomable. I don't want my professional and personal life to compete, I want them to complement one another and feed off one another.

I hear a lot of talk in the photography industry these days about shooting from the heart, following your passion, and doing what you love, and not just from crunchy granola types either. Again, these are easy words to say, but I'm starting to experience how true it is, not just from a creative perspective but from the business side too.

Measure Your Success In Hugs

So simple, yet so powerful, it impacts everything – who you talk to at the next event and how, what your website looks like and says, what your offerings are, the relationships you establish with other businesses and vendors, and how you work with and follow up with clients.

I'll have to come back in a year to tell you the longer term impact, but so far, all signs indicate that it's going to be really great.

I love connecting with new people, telling them about my business and following up with them. Everyone has been so excited and supportive.

I really look forward to filling my monthly newsletter not with sales and marketing copy but with information that I hope will be valuable and interesting to new and expectant parents and families with young children. I feel good about forwarding it to people, rather than self-conscious that I am “marketing” to them.

I've had some fantastic business dates with people I have quickly come to love and I can't wait to see what those relationships bring. I know it will benefit them, their clients and my clients as well as my business – it's win/win/win/win! And honestly, I'm more excited about what I can do to help them than what they can do for me.

In the same way, I'm no longer afraid to ask for business, because I'm not asking for something, I'm offering something.

Finally, I get to create beauty out of joy and happiness every day… and people hug me for it. It doesn't get much better than that.

Who are you going to hug today? And who will hug you?

If you're looking for amazing insight into where you should be going with your photography business, check out Brand Camp Blog and talk to Kristen!