Almost a year back, I posted 5 Reasons You Should Attend The Mystic Seminars. If you don't remember it or want to go read it, I'll be waiting here when you get back.

Good? Hope that made sense.

5 MORE REASONS TO GO

This time I wanted to give you 5 more reasons to attend the Mystic Seminars, which take place on January 5, 6, 7 and 8.

1) Though Jerry Ghionis‘ workshop is all sold out, Joe Buissink and the WedRockers still have a few remaining spots open. (I signed up for the WedRockers, by the way). Joe is a phenomenal presenter and teacher. I've always enjoyed his super quiet yet powerful approach to explaining why he does what he does. He always speaks from the heart and that my friends is a huge reason in itself to listen to a master photographer. The Wedrockers see things very very differently. Let me just stop there because to describe them in any other way would be nearly impossible. Go check out their work. I think you will get what I am saying. They are super nice guys (video of them coming up soon right here).

2) If you are a vegetarian like me, or have dietary restrictions, the diverse and ample helpings during lunch are not to be missed. Walter van Dusen, the event's founder and host, has promised me that it will be just as good as last year if not better. So, if you are a foodie like me, you won't regret your lunches. Check out this year's menu here. Yum!

3) If you live in a part of the world that hasn't and will never see snow, well, you will more than likely get your fill. Tell yourself that it's an opportunity to test your camera's white balance settings. [grin] On a more serious note, you will get to experience winter like most New Englanders and that just may be on your list of things to do in life. Don't forget to bundle up. Walter and his wife will always make sure there is enough coffee to keep you warm and water to keep you hydrated.

4) Andrew “Fundy” Funderburg is buying us beer. Who is Fundy? One of the sharpest minds in the business, who is always looking for ways to make our lives a little bit easier with his software programs. Check out Fundy SOS. Even if you don't drink beer, tap him for business advice or about his next amazing product for photographers. Have you seen the new Fundy Album Builder v4.0? It's slick! I am sure he'll demo it and you can ask him lots of questions (which you can't really right now, right?) about how to design and sell wedding albums.

5) The ultimate reason to go is to listen and watch some of the best in the industry. This year's speakers include the following: Joe Buissink, Jerry Ghionis, Ben Chrisman, Sergio, Susan Stripling, DQ Studios, Becker, Andrew “Fundy” Funderburg, Jeff Newsom, Michael Greenberg, WedRockers (Fer Juaristi, David Josue, Daniel Aguilar, Rafa Ibanez), Tony Corbell, Stephanie Zettl, Melissa Ghionis, Joseph Switzer, Ray Prevost, Jacklyn Greenberg and Walter van Dusen. Yes, these speakers may appear at other conferences but they won't be as accessible. That's a promise.

WALTER DISHES OUT ADVICE TO 2ND SHOOTERS & MORE

Walter just told me that he is closing all new registrations on Wednesday, December 14. So, if you want in you'll have to sign up by Tuesday, December 13.

DINNERS ON TIFFINBOX

Every person who has registered for either the seminars or the workshops AND mentions “Tiffinbox” (when registering) will be entered into a drawing. Dinner is on Tiffinbox!

Here is the ONE STEP you need to take to win your dinner (up to $60) for the first three nights, from me:

Comment below. Tell me if you are going to the event. Tell me what you think you will get out of going to this conference. To win, you have to attend the entire event. I need a name and a valid email address when you comment. If I don't hear back from you, the prize goes to the next person I will also randomly pick.

Increase your chances of winning when you take these two steps:

a) Tweet this: “I entered into a drawing to win dinners at @MysticSeminars thanks to @PicSeshu and www.tiffinbox.org – http://seshu.me/vkDcl1”

b) Fill in your Facebook status with these words: “I entered into a drawing to win dinner at @Mystic Seminars thanks to @Seshu Badrinath and www.tiffinbox.org – http://seshu.me/vkDcl1”

I am looking for ONE winner among 100 unique comments between now and Tuesday night. So, no multiple entries. I'll be double checking with Walter if you are indeed registered. You get to collect your prize (up to $60) in person. You have the option of joining me for dinner.

PLUS … woah!! Andrew “Fundy” Funderburg has offered to giveaway Blog Collage, to the winner. This $79 software program helps you create collages for your blog or for sharing across social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. Check it out, snap it up!

Winner will be announced here on Tiffinbox on Tuesday at 11.59 pm EST! So come back and see if you won!

Disclosure Of Material Connection

There are several phases of being a photographer. The obvious ones are beginner, amateur, professional and, perhaps at a stretch, “master.” You may disagree with that progression and that's fine. But I suspect you will agree with me when I say that at every level (yes, even if you self-proclaim yourself the Grand Poobah of photography), you are constantly learning.

Yes, that's right. Educating yourself never ever stops. It's what I find most exciting about photography. Every day, I am learning something new about the art and also ultimately about myself.

Several weeks back, I announced the 1st annual Tiffinbox Award winner. That photographer is David DuChemin, an author, blogger, teacher and foremost a visual explorer. I urge you to check out his blog and his books.

David is also the visionary behind Craft & Vision e-books for photographers of all stripes. Each of these books is $5. They are a fast read and are chalk-full of great tidbits of useful information that you don't just save in your head but are forced to go out and try out for yourself. To say that I have fallen in love with these e-books would actually be a bit of an understatement. They are exquisitely designed and of course contain some of the best photography I have seen. I eagerly wait for each new e-book because they are so remarkable.

Today, Craft & Vision is doing something different. They are actually giving away their latest e-book, 11 Ways You Can Improve Your Photography.

So, why is this 69-page e-book free? What's the catch, you wonder? There is none. Think of this book as a sampler. The authors of these chapters are representative of the breadth and depth of the topics you will find on the Craft & Vision website. The writing is lucid and engaging. The images are spectacular. If you are even remotely inclined to educate yourself or even elevate your photography, these e-books are a must. Being e-books, I carry them around on my iPad 2 and flip through them when I want a quick burst of inspiration.

I bet you are curious to know what those 11 ways are right? So here they are, in the order they appear in the free e-book (yeah, download it now):

1) Make Your Images More Dynamic by Piet Van Den Eynde
2) Tame Your Digital Exposures by David DuChemin
3) The Power Of The Print by Martin Bailey
4) Learn To Direct The Eye by Michael Frye
5) Understand The Stages by Alexandre Buisse
6) Create Projects And Collaborate by Andrew S. Gibson
7) Refine Your Composition by Nicole S. Young
8) The Power Of The Moment by Eli Reinholdtsen
9) Forget Lens Stereotypes by Piet Van Den Eynde
10) Slow Down And Learn To See by Stuart Sipahigil
11) Make Stronger Portraits by David DuChemin

Buy one or two, or better yet, buy them all (and save 20%). With the Christmas season around the corner, I don't think there is a better set of gifts than these e-books for the budding or experienced photographer in your life. I know I would appreciate it, if I was presented this incredible opportunity to learn from the very best in the industry.

Disclosure Of Material Connection

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. Did you splurge on Black Friday? What did you buy? I'll reveal my list of goodies soon. But with today being Cyber Monday, I wanted you all to get access to what I consider to be the three best deals for photographers:

Deal # 1: Web Marketing Guides For Photographers

Zach Prez is the prolific writer behind the best books on social media marketing for photographers. Yes, that's a testimonial based on my own experience. I have learned so much from Zach that I have decided to endorse his products here on Tiffinbox.

He is extending his Black Friday specials through the end of today. If you are struggling to get your social media groove on, you will be doing yourself a favor by diving in and buying one or all of his e-books.

Save 30% on my Web Design Guide $70 $49
Photographer's Guide to a Killer Web Presence has 122 pages that analyze the world’s top photography websites, blogs, Facebook and Twitter pages, and email newsletters to show you simple design tactics to attract new business.

Save 57% on my Intro Web Guide + Blogging Guide $58 $24.50

Save 50% on my Intro Web Guide $29 $14.50
usiness building recommendations focused on search engines (SEO), social media, and email marketing.

Save 50% on my Blogging Guide $29 $14.50
Photogrpahy Blog Success has 60 pages teaching photographers how to get more business from your blog.

Save 30% on my Self-Study Workshop $89 $62
Web Marketing for Photographers Workshop walks through SEO, blogging, social media, tracking, and everything you need for getting more sales online. Includes multiple ebooks, action worksheets, and videos.

Save 30% on Individual Coaching $500 $350 most savings
The fastest way to succeed is with personal phone consulting. I review your website and talk you through everything you need to know to excel in search. All my ebooks are included for your reference after our call.

Visit Photography Web Marketing Guide, to learn more about what Zach has to offer you.

Deal # 2: All Fundy Products at 30% Off!

Andrew “Fundy” Funderburg is the brains behind Album Builder, Image Brander, Prosper, Action Matic, Blog Collage, Workflow and Album Proofer. That's a dizzying array of products for sure and knowing Fundy, he is cooking up even more goodies for us in 2012. If you are a wedding photographer, you probably already know these products. He is offering them all up for 30% off today. Now, you've an even better reason to jump in and buy his products.

Click here to visit Fundy SOS and learn more about what he has to offer you and your business.

Deal #3: Kubota Tools: $50 Off Photoshop Products + Receive $50 Kubota Bucks!

Kevin Kubota and his team in Bend, Oregon sure know a thing or two about Photoshop actions. While I wrote about Lightroom and Photoshop Adobe Camera Raw presets yesterday, all … and I mean … all my images are retouched using Kubota's Photoshop actions. If you are interested in seeing some examples, ask me in the comments section below. For more details about this offer, please contact Kubota Tools.

I know I had said 3 deals, but I just stumbled across this last one and figured you should know about it.

Deal #4: Zack Arias' OneLight DVD

The opportunity to learn from a modern-day master of lighting is what I called a “no-brainer.” And that's what you'll be doing when you buy Zack's truly awesome DVD. You will learn the fundamentals of lighting. You will learn to be at ease with off-camera strobes. You will learn to not spend a crap load of money on useless doo-dads but keep things simple. This DVD liberated me personally from the fear … yes, I was afraid … of using my flash. At 50% off, it bears repeating … this is a no-brainer. You should get it. It's $75, but only till 11.59 pm EST. (btw, I don't make a dime for endorsing his DVD) Or, buy the OneLight Field Guide and save 25% off.

Disclosure Of Material Connection

As a portrait and wedding photographer, it's awfully tempting to jump on the latest shining thing that comes along that claims to cut post-processing time down by a significant margin.

After all, what would you rather do, have the time to photograph or sit there in front of your machine for hours processing images? No one I know has opted to do the latter. It just wouldn't make sense to them. So, the search for that holy grail continues.

MY POST-PROCESSING WORKFLOW

My process after an event, be it a portrait session or a wedding, is to download my images off of my CF cards (for the curious, I use Sandisk 8gb Extreme III's). I cull my images in PhotoMechanic, as it allows me to quickly view my raw files and then I mark the ones I want to keep. The ones I edit out are moved into a different folder and out of sight. I then edit images in either Lightroom or Photoshop, depending on how many images there are in the “process” folder. Choices, choices. In the past, I would chug through a wedding with more 1500 images to edit. Lately, I have been thinking of sending them out to Colorati and having them tweak the images for me.

PRESETS FOR AND BY PHOTOGRAPHERS

There is however one other option. Yes, that bright and shiny thing I mentioned earlier on. It's called Visual Supply Company, or VSCO. If you use Nikon or Canon cameras and you shoot RAW files, your ears should perk up about now. Once you've imported your raw files into Lightroom or Photoshop's Adobe Camera Raw, you are able to apply presets based on your camera's profiles. So Nikon users would use Nikon presets and Canon users would use Canon presets. A select number of Nikon and Canon cameras were used to test these presets to create custom profiles. From what I have been told, the company will continue to add more profiles as they are tested and as newer cameras come into the market. I personally like this progressive aspect of the company a lot. Here is the current list of cameras that have been profiled so far.

FIRST STEPS

From my experience with the presets (which I bought), I needed to have correctly exposed and white balanced images before beginning to work with the presets. So, that should be your first step (getting the exposure right in the camera) and then batch correcting the white-balance, if you have that option after you get home.

EMULATE THE LOOK OF FILM

I don't know about you, but I started out in photography using film. I have shot untold number of rolls of Kodak Tri-X and T-Max 3200. I miss the rich, textures that digital files have all but obliterated. Yes, in the words of Jonathan Canlas or Kirk Mastin (both awesome film-only photographers), I could pick up a film camera again instead of making a digital file look like film. They have a point. Yes, I could do that. But VSCO gives me the opportunity to emulate the look of film without the added expense of working in that wonderful medium. For me, it's really the best of both worlds.

BLACK & WHITE EXAMPLE

>Straight Out Of Camera, or SOOC

>First Tweak – Just Clicked on the TriX-400++ Preset

>Second Tweak – Used the Vignette++ Preset

>Third Tweak – Used the Dark Skies+ Preset (notice how the t-shirt in this is darker?)

So, in three clicks, I arrived at what I consider to be an acceptable final image, ready to be shared with my clients. The images will definitely go through another round of tweaks, in Photoshop if the clients were to order this image.

COLOR EXAMPLE

>Straight Out Of Camera, or SOOC

>First Tweak – Clicked on the Kodak Portra and Contrast++ presets

>Second Tweak – With the above image being a little “hot” in the highlights, I used the “recovery” slider to bring back some highlight detail.

>The Final Image – Took this image into Photoshop and used brushes to smoothen out natural blemishes, bring some light back into the eyes and sharpen the image up.

For both sets of images, I used the Visual Supply Company Studio Version. I also processed the images in ACR. With the processing engines the same in both ACR and LR, sometimes it is more convenient to fire up ACR (for a small set of images) versus Lightroom (which I use for image sets that are 100 or more). Wanting to emulate the film look, I was more enamored by the way VSCO's Film helped me produce black and white images. In fact, I might use this almost exclusively to create black & white prints for my clients.

IS THIS FOR EVERYONE?

In one quick answer, no. It's not. I would recommend you look at your needs first. Figure out whether your clients (if you are a professional) would not just see but also appreciate the look you will be producing for them. If you are an amateur or hobbyist, just looking to create images with a different look, these presets will help you achieve that. Let me put to you even more simply – if you are inclined to produce images that you want people to merely look at, then you should pass on this. However, if you are the type of photographer who wants your viewers to dip into a well of emotion and feel the image, then you should definitely buy these now.

THE SWEET DEAL THAT ENDS ON NOVEMBER 29th!

Until Monday night (that's tomorrow night), you can get the Standard, Pro and Studio versions for quite a bit off of their regular prices. I bought the Studio version as it includes both the Lightroom and ACR options for both Nikon and Canon cameras. In the event I work with a photographer who shoots with a Canon system, I can now very easily tweak her/his images as well. If your business is primarily shooting portraits, I would nudge you more towards the Pro version.

From Visual Supply Company's Twitter feed:

“All prices will increase after Monday at midnight PST #VSCOFILM. Standard $59 will be $79, Pro $99 will be $119 & Studio $179 will be $199.”

STILL NOT CONVINCED?

You should also read John Keatley's review of Visual Supply Company's Presets. And Jonas Peterson's review too. Just look at the images they have on display.

SHARE YOUR IMAGES

If you bought the Visual Supply Company presets, please share your images with me and tell me in the comments sections below which presets you liked the most. Do you use other

Disclosure of Material Connection

In the US, you are all just about ready to sit down and have a good meal with your family and friends. Here's wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving, from my family to yours.

What comes next is usually considered the biggest SALE day of the year, or Black Friday. I haven't done that 2 am mall run in ages and have no desire to send you looking for stuff at such a witching hour either. Life isn't a scavenger hunt. Instead of buying “stuff” that will collect dust in no time, how about giving your brain a boost and learning some new techniques or getting your photography fundamentals down?

Full disclosure: Rob & Lauren of Photography Concentrate are friends. I love their products, I have used them myself and have learned a tremendous amount from them. Yes, even professionals need to keep learning. All the time. So the links you will find here are all affiliate links.

If you are just beginning to use your digital camera, consider buying Extremely Essential Camera Skills. Regularly priced at $49.95, if you buy it before November 29 (midnight), you'll save $19.98. I reviewed this gem of an ebook (comes with videos to explain a few necessary fundamental things about your camera) and everybody who has bought it through my affiliate link has thanked me later. With a whole lot of you buying cameras – be they point & shoot or DSLRs, you'll want to get this truly foundational course to get you going.

Once you have your photography skills down pat, you'll need help with editing them. The team at Photography Concentrate have a tutorial called Super Photo Editing Skills. It too is on sale. Instead of paying $79.95, you can buy it for $47.97, saving you $31.98. If you ever wanted to learn how to use Lightroom, this is a great video tutorial. What's awesome is that you can pause it, rewind and watch it again and again until the concepts and the steps make sense to you.

When you are done editing your images, you have a couple of choices. You can save them on hard drives or you can share them with the world. Albums are always a good choice because they have staying power. Awesome Album Design Skills, is another tutorial that Rob and Lauren have produced for portrait and wedding photographers. They show us how they use InDesign to quickly and efficiently create custom albums for their clients. This too will be selling for $47.97 through the end of November 29th, so you'll want to jump on this deal if you are ready to go pro. It's regularly priced at $79.95.

In addition to the sale, Photography Concentrate has a new free eBook – The Camera Buying Guide (do they just think of everything?) and giving away a Fuji Instax camera (brings you back in time to your Polaroid days doesn't it?).

Please remember that the sale starts NOW and ends on November 29th at midnight EST. If you do buy these products, please come back here and let me know what you thought about them. Your feedback is valued greatly.