If you have been at it as a wedding photographer, you've at one point or another wanted to create a wedding album for your clients. The process can be tedious, long and overly stressful.

Andrew Funderburg, or at least his company, Fundy Software, is a household name now. I interviewed “Fundy” several years back when I was attending the Mystic Seminars. His programs evolve … constantly. His applications Fundy Album Builder and Fundy Album Proofer are, by a very wide margin, the industry leaders in their respective niches.

I heard from Fundy that he was working on something revolutionary. In most other cases if someone came up to me and dropped that kind of language, I would be very skeptical. Not in Fundy's case because he has time and time again delivered on that promise and made the lives of thousands of photographers more efficient, and perhaps even more meaningful.

When you have an opportunity to interview the guy who defines and directs how wedding photographers run a major part of their business, you jump at the opportunity to see what he is cooking up next. Fundy and I sat down and chatted and he shared his screen with me, showing me the various features of Fundy Designer & Album Builder version 6.0.

The video is long, but well worth your time, if you are considering either buying or upgrading from your current version of Album Builder. We talk about his beginnings, where his ideas come from, what the new version of the software looks like and what we can expect in the future.

Do note that tomorrow (January 31, 2014) is the last day to upgrade at an insanely low price of $30! It would be absurd if you didn't upgrade.

February 1, early-bird pricing will end. Album Builder v6 will be $329, Upgrades from v5 will be $79, upgrades from v4 will be $179, and upgrades from v3 will be $279.

I believed in Fundy's ideas before he even launched his company and that belief is even stronger after seeing what he is bringing to the table now and what features are planned in the coming months. Frankly, it's time again to be excited about photographing weddings and designing wedding albums with ease, efficiency and elegance.

Younes Bounhar and Amanda Large of Double Space Photography are architectural photographers based in Ottawa, Canada. In a short span of time, since they launched only a couple of years ago, they have photographed for a great many clients in Canada and beyond. It's rather easy to see how and why.

I knew nothing about architectural photographers or architectural photography. I recall a time when I was asked to photograph the interior of a home for sale and I remember sweating bullets. When Younes and I connected on Twitter, now several years back, I knew I wanted to interview him for Tiffinbox at some point because I was intrigued about what he does for his clients. But his busy schedule (he and his wife Amanda are on the go all the time) prevented us from nailing a specific date down. During a few recent exchanges on Twitter, I asked him again if he could commit to a date and this time he said he had a window of about a week when he could sit down and talk about architectural photography, working with his wife, Amanda, and traveling the world.

So here is that chat with Younes. Give it a listen, and check out the images he and Amanda have produced for architect clients around the globe.

Like architectural photographers Younes and Amanda, are you passionate about photographing just one subject and knocking it out of the park? What genre of photography is it? Sound off below!

Mr. Farnsworth was a terrific music teacher. Affable, yet stern. He would tell me each time I would return to take drum lessons, “Seshu, failing to practice is practicing to fail.”

It’s taken me nearly 30 years to absorb that. Sometimes, it would be obvious that getting my stuff done in time was beneficial and sometimes procrastination would get the better of me and I paid dearly. Still, creating a plan or a workflow and being organized simply has not come naturally to me.

Is that how you feel at least a few times a year? Do you feel that being organized would create at least a semblance of efficiency? Have you struggled to keep track of your client contact information or sales tax deadlines? Are you sometimes delivering your client orders later than when you promised them?

My friend Eric O’Connor, a wedding photographer in Chicago, tried to get me to think in about workflow. Several times. I remain in awe at how his allows him to photograph 30 weddings a year and be a father and a husband.

“Creating a system,” he told me once, was the ticket to being stress-free and happy.

I have a short stack of scratch paper filled with workflow ideas and what I would do the minute a potential client rang me. I had steps that I would follow after the portrait session was booked. But what would come after the shoot and in what order? Sadly, I had too many ideas and no action. This is mostly because having and maintaining a system requires clarity of thought and the “D” word … discipline.

Thankfully, Design Aglow is the photographer’s friend. I lean on the team there to provide me with ideas and templates. Just in time for the start of the new year, they launched a photographers’ studio planner called The Big Picture.

Like all their templates, The Big Picture, does not disappoint when it comes to how it is presented. Minimalistic design meets elegance. The introductory section says, “it’s a repository for your hopes and dreams.” So true.

The Big Picture guides you through a short writing exercise where you enunciate your goals. Then you are gently coaxed into breaking down your goals into actionable tasks. Huge win for me.

There are templates for daily, weekly and monthly activities surrounding your studio. The exercise is in writing it all down and being able to refer back to it constantly. I think this is brilliant because it instills that sense of discipline and accountability to oneself that I mentioned above.

Keeping track of clients, venues and vendors (mostly for wedding photographers) is now easy as 1-2-3. There is a questionnaire and a time table that helps you through your online and off-line (local) marketing.

Want to track your website and blog statistics? Yes, there is a rather intricate table for that too. The Big Picture also includes income and expense reports that you fill out and also a mileage tracker (which I have usually forgot to log in the past).

The Big Picture ends with a long list of recommended business books one should read to stay informed and inspired. There were quite a few in this list that I hadn’t even heard of before. So, Design Aglow, thanks for that too!

I don’t think this team has missed any detail when it comes to putting this studio planner together. I know as I launch my new website and business this month, The Big Picture is going to help me stay focused and remain efficient through the year. It’ll be a binder that I take with me to client meetings and I’ll refer to it when I am trying to assess my business. It promises to provide me a macroscopic view of my business and will tell me about its health from month-to-month. I no longer have to fret about keeping tabs on my workflow or if my quarterly sales tax payments are late.

Now, there are a couple of things I would have liked to have seen in The Big Picture download: 1) InDesign files to further customize the templates and 2) perhaps down the road, an electronic version that we can refer to while we are in the field, say an iPad application that could display all of these bits of information?

[UPDATE: Both InDesign & Photoshop files are included! I had failed to open all of the folders that came as part of the zip'd download file! Sorry about the error!]

That said, The Big Picture is a remarkable achievement because it so neatly brings so many elements of one’s business in an easily accessible folder or binder. I know there are several other options in the market but as a die-hard Design Aglow fan, I have to urge you to take a look at this product first.

On January 15th (that’s tomorrow), the introductory pricing of $69 ends. Make this the first business expense you enter into The Big Picture for 2014!

In other words, buy it now.

If you have been an avid reader of Tiffinbox, you've read David Jackson‘s popular guest posts.

If you haven't, here is the first one and here is the second one.

Dave is an award-winning advertising, commercial and entertainment photographer based in Appleton, Wisconsin. He and his crew are known to make graphically intense portraits for bands and businesses. He has the ability to sculpt light and create images that pop. Take a look at some of these images!

I first learned about Dave through Zack Arias. It's true, long before I became a friend, I was a fan. I watched and read Dave's whimsical blog posts and loved how his personality came through in every single one of them. He is definitely not afraid to show his clients who he truly is. Lean and tall, with a glowing beard and tattoos, he has an august presence about him. When you get to talking to him, you immediately see how humble, generous and really gentle this guy is.

In the last two years, I have flown out to Appleton, Wisconsin twice, to learn from Dave. I discovered through the course of his workshops that just observing wouldn't cut it. He expected me to play and learn and make mistakes and ask why. We listened to Dave for a bit as he showed a few lighting scenarios and explained how he approached a specific project. Then it was up to us to roll up our sleeves and work.

Dave is clear that the intent of his workshops aren't to leave with a set of “portfolio” images but feel really comfortable taking those first steps towards creating your own back at home. Both the workshops ran long, only because Dave wanted to be sure that all of the attendee questions were answered and that he had truly helped everyone out.

I can tell you that my lighting has improved dramatically since signing up with Dave. Please be sure that he didn't pay me to say that. Take a look at my work and follow me on Facebook where you will see my personal experiments with lighting.

As a busy studio that's nabbing all kinds of awards for their work, it's awfully difficult to get Dave and company to teach a workshop outside of Wisconsin. As I said above, I had to fly to Appleton, Wisconsin! In rare form, Dave is coming to teach at Inspire Photo Seminars in February.

Since he is going to be in Sturbridge, Massachusetts already, he figured he would give those photographers in the New England area a chance to sign up for his workshops closer to their homes – Breaking the Rules Workshop and F/What? Workshop.

You'll notice there is an option to register for both days and save a bundle. If you are new to off-camera flash lighting, you may want to consider the one-two-punch. However, if you are comfortable with your f/stops, shutter speeds and ISO's, then skip the first one and sign up for just the second. Either way, I know you are going to come away learning something new that you will use on a daily basis in your photography business.

So, register here and now. [There is a good chance I will be assisting Dave during his workshops in Sturbridge, MA, so if you do register, please say hello!]

Brent Robertson is a partner at Fathom, a progressive agency based in Hartford that helps companies recognize their culture and realize their dreams.

I had an opportunity to speak with him about how values, when tied to our work, can propel us in business.

I referenced Brent's blog, Possibility of Possibility and two of his blog posts. Here they are:

Live Your Value At Work – part 1 and Live Your Values At Work – part 2

This is the first of many such conversations I hope to have with business leaders about the meaning of work and working in the creative arts. If you would like to suggest or nominate other business leaders you would like to hear from – inside and particularly outside the photography industry – please pen your thoughts below.

Lastly, tell me: Are you pursuing photography by infusing your values into your work? How do your values shape what you do with a camera? Are you defined by your tools? Comment below!