Matthew Jordan Smith first appeared on Tiffinbox to pitch his personal project, Future American President.

The FUTURE AMERICAN DREAM project is a personal way to educate, empower and inspire kids by creating a special edition version of the book, Future American President, featuring any child's photo on the cover.

There are only 5 days left for you to support Matthew Jordan Smith's Kickstarter campaign. I want you to imagine having this book at home or giving it as a gift by personalizing it. Imagine the look on that child's face as she or he grows up seeing what's possible of her or him. Imagine a world where dreams can come true with focus and hard work.

Can you see yourself inspiring a little one to the highest office in the land or something even greater? Can a book like Future American Dream do it? I believe it can.

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!

Back in the 1960's if you wanted to make it big in the entertainment industry, you needed to get a nod from Ed Sullivan. Most of this generation missed watching The Ed Sullivan Show but it was what launched The Beatles in America.

Yesterday, I was listening to This American Life and Act One was about a comedy duo, Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall who were going to be on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. As David Segal narrates it, the duo had rehearsed rigorously for their big break on the show. It was an exciting time for them, no doubt. They were going to be superstars. Or, so they thought. Then Mr. Sullivan, after watching their rehearsal, asked them to change their show up. Yes, right there and then. Weeks of planning had started to circle the drain for the couple. They really had no choice. They had to get in there and make the most of it.

If you listen to the show, you'll understand why Ed Sullivan requested a change in their skit. There must have been hundreds of 14 to 16-year old girls in the audience that evening. Ed Sullivan instinctively knew which comedy skits would work and which wouldn't. But Brill and McCall had no concept of their audience.

Why were the teenage girls in the audience? Yes, it was The Beatles they came to see that night. There were five or six other acts in addition to The Beatles but nobody really remembers any of them.

So, what does any of this have to do with photography and perhaps your photography business? Not knowing your audience is going to hurt you. Worse, you are going to be quickly forgotten. If you want to be a hit in your community, figure out who is going to scream their heads off for you and the work you love to produce.

Thankfully, Jamie Swanson of The Modern Tog, shows us how to do just that through her six-week marketing course called Marketog. She will help you define your ideal clients who not only love what you do for them but will gladly pay you for it without making a fuss. When there is a balanced value exchange between you and your clients, everyone wins. Right?

Enrollment for Marketog closes today, for the last time this year. The next time you will be able to take the course will be sometime next year. Jamie consistently adds content to the course and therefore more value. The fact that this course is being offered for only $79 a month (for 12 months) baffles me. You can also pay the one time payment of $799 and save yourself some money in the long run. Jamie is also offering a 45-day risk free guarantee. You can go through the entire course, do the work and see the results for yourself.

This is what Jamie says – “It doesn’t even matter if you’ve never booked a client in your life, or if you already have some experience under your belt. Because Marketog takes you from step 1 all the way to success.”

Now, can you afford NOT to be in front of the right audience? Is your big break just around the corner, but you are just not prepared for it? With Marketog, you learn the most powerful business skill – attracting the right clients for your photography business. I outline everything Marketog covers here.

Look, I am going to be real with you. If you are making $5000 to $6000 a month in your photography business, you could still learn to do better from enrolling in Marketog. But if you are retooling your business or starting from scratch, Marketog is the best thing you can do for yourself.

Yes, being careful about your spending is a wise move until you simply don't act when a great opportunity like this presents itself. That's what worries me about most photographers. I see their excitement to create photographs, but the thrill simply isn't there with the business side of things. Until you start attracting the right clients for your business, you are in essence a hobbyist. I suspect most of us started at that point, but when it comes time to upgrade equipment or software or pay our mortgage, a hobbyist wage isn't going to cut it. Your photography business is going to need a boost.

Couple of years ago, Marketog gave me that kick in the pants I needed to invigorate my photography businesses. It might help you too.

Remember, enrollment closes today. At least seven of your peers have used the links in this post already to begin their new journey. Will you join them or do you prefer to remain anonymous?

Looking for a sample lesson? Here you go! Also Jamie just released a short PDF on “How To Educate Your Clients On The Value Of Professional Photography.” Click the graphic below to download it for free. Not only do you get a bonus lesson out of it, you get a glimpse of Marketog's quality. Jamie's writing is engaging, lucid and always useful.

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!

It's unusual for me to be up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday. But there I was stirring my cup of hot tea before anyone else was up at home. I knew that by 6.30 in the morning my kids and wife would be down for their breakfast, but I made a quick left turn out of my driveway and onto New Haven at 5.30 that morning. It wasn't a particularly cold morning, but I still clung onto my NorthFace jacket as I boarded the Metro North train to New York City.

The reason for the hustle and bustle? I was heading to the Big Apple to learn a fresh new approach to creating business portraits.

Making It To New York City

Dylan Patrick, was in town to walk a small group of us through his Cinematic Headshots approach. A few months ago, when I saw the crew at FStoppers promote their then new tutorial, I knew I wanted in. The headshots looked and felt different. I mean, go ahead and take a quick look for yourself.

Unlike the stodgy portraits against a maroon backdrop that we have all seen and perhaps avoided doing, Dylan Patrick's Cinematic Headshots offer something truly fresh and new. So, I had to make the three-hour one way trip into the city to explore and learn from him.

When I walked in to the studio Dylan and his wife, Sass, had secured for the day I was greeted warmly and we got down to business right away. Dylan set the tone of the workshop by making it clear that successful headshots were about three important things – your subject's expression, the quality of the light and body language. He walked us through with examples, talked about the gear and quickly jumped into showing the subtle differences between good headshots and great ones.

Dylan Patrick's The Cinematic Headshot Workshop

Dylan patiently worked with each of us, photographing us by turn so that we could each watch and listen to the way he photographed his subjects. I enjoyed how he prompted a change in posture or an expression by simply engaging with his subjects in a positive and jovial manner. Keeping it light and almost funny is his way of relaxing his subjects. Your approach may be different.

After a quick lunch, which was included in the price of the workshop, we jumped back into the two shooting bays to photograph each other. I have got to say that I really appreciated this opportunity to not only photograph my peers but also be photographed by them because it gave me a good idea of how my potential clients often feel on the other side of the camera. As soon as we were done photographing each other, we were introduced to Michelle and Ian, our models for the day.

Borrowing Dylan's Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens I photographed them both. Below are my favorites from this short session:

The Required Gear

The shoot requires essentially two strobes filtered through modifiers. Dylan used both Lastolite and Elinchrom octaboxes. A reflector below the subject was used as a fill light. The lights we used were Nikon SB900‘s and Nikon SB700‘s. Because I use a Nikon system, I wasn't totally paying attention to what my colleagues with Canon gear were using but they were also set up to create incredible portraits that day thanks to the Canon strobes loaned from B&H Photo Video.

Also a critical part of the set up were Dylan's PocketWizard MiniTT1 and Pocketwizard FlexTT5‘s. Allowing us to control both the flashes from the camera was a PocketWizard AC3 Zone Controller. A few test shots to get within range for your exposure and you are off to making some truly great portraits for your subjects!

The Interview

I was so thrilled with my experience at the workshop that I had to get Dylan Patrick on TiffinboxTV. Here is our conversation about The Cinematic Headshot:

The Cinematic Headshot Tutorial on FStoppers

Now, Dylan isn't on the workshop circuit and so catching him in New York City was a bit of a blessing. While he will be back in May, you can buy the tutorial download now.

The Cinematic Headshot by Dylan Patrick and FStoppers is sold for $199. But use this code: TIFFINBOXFS to receive a $40 discount through October 31st, 2015. Yes, I like to hook you all up! How does that sound to you?

Want to know more about The Cinematic Headshot? Just watch this video by FStoppers video :

Other Photographers Who Rock The Cinematic Headshot

Still not convinced? Other than Dylan Patrick, here are some other photographers who are rocking the cinematic headshot:

Christian Webb (New York, USA)
Linus Petterson (Sweden)
Bruno Kongawoin (Australia)
Michael Schacht (Chicago, USA)
Michael Moon (Houston, USA)
Josh Rottman (Baltimore, USA)

If you can, look these two guys up on Facebook:

Dean Webb (United Kingdom)
Rafa Móyer (Spain)

If you can't make it to one of Dylan's workshops, the alternative is to learn from him through the tutorial. Get the digital download for just $159 now through the FStoppers store. Remember, you have to use TIFFINBOXFS when you check out to get the discount for a limited time!

The drive to the nearest town was measured in how many songs she listened to on the radio, songs that included static as the car dipped through the valleys in the road.

She lived in the middle of what felt like nowhere. Her family roots in the county stretched back through multiple generations, deep enough that her great-great-great grandfather named one of the local towns.

Her habit was to stare at the fields and the forests out her car window, imagining that maybe one day she could make an impact on the larger world.

Her best friend wanted to be President of the United States, so she promised to run as her Vice President. They would be a mighty duo that would work diligently to bring joy and peace to their country and the world.

Life continued on, the girl started college, got married, quit college, and had three children. But the dream was still there.

Sitting there patiently, the dream was just ahead of her. Her life experiences, her hobbies and interests, her successes and failures, all were building the path to her dream that lay quietly up ahead.

She was walking in faith that she would one day reach her dream.

When would it be? Then I looked around and knew that the path I was walking already was my dream. That each person I encouraged, listened to, and hugged was bringing peace. I was slowly creating brilliant spots of joy.

I looked back at the chain reaction of what one person could do on her own. I looked ahead to where I wanted it to go.

I took stock of my talents, my education, my experiences, and my gifts. Then, I set out to change the world.

This, my friends, is how you and I together can spread joy to families across the globe: by not creating photos of those families.

Yes, you read that correctly. You can bring joy to a family without ever taking their portrait or ever seeing them.

What is this mad, crazy method I speak of? It is the lifeblood of the first stage of an experience that is a catalyst for family memories.

The experience is called a vacation in the United States and called a holiday in many other parts of the world.

The first stage of the vacation or holiday is the planning stage, choosing where to go, where to stay, and what to do during the experience.

The lifeblood of this first stage of vacation is photos. Photos of places. Photos of activities. And most importantly, photos of where a family spends half their time – in bed.

Many people spend their vacations at hotels, but more and more families are traveling to stay at what is called a vacation rental. A vacation rental could be a house, condo, apartment, boat, or even a tree house at the base of a volcano in Hawaii.

Vacation rentals are offered through the owner directly or through a management company, but every single property needs photos. Travelers rely heavily on the photos of a property when choosing where to lay their head each night while away from home.

And most of the vacation rental property photos you see online are horrid. They are dark, uninteresting, and unappealing.

How many properties need help? Millions.

Go take a look at the two largest listing websites, HomeAway.com and AirBnB.com. The majority of those vacation rental properties need professional photos.

They need a professional photographer. They need you.

At one point in your life, you may have had the strong conviction to change the world … somehow. And, you can.

And simply by reading these words, you have already joined me on my path to carry encouragement and joy to families everywhere.

If you would like to learn more about vacation rental photography, I have written The Ultimate Guide to Vacation Rental Photography just for you.

It launches officially on September 15, 2015, but I also have a free excerpt available when you sign up for my newsletter here.

And let me know how I can help you on your own dream path.

Once suicidal and depressed, Corey Hudson, a photographer in New Haven, Connecticut has embarked on a personal mission to photograph The Hearts of Strangers. Similar to StoryCorps, Corey spends his time getting to know complete strangers and asks them a series of questions about their life.

I've always been curious to see how this could be done at the local level after seeing the Humans of New York project take off. But Corey's approach is different and remarkable because he dives in deep to ask people those very things that they might often suppress within themselves. That might be due to feeling disconnected from society or unwanted by their family members. By giving people a channel all their own to express themselves, Corey hopes that their stories will inspire others and convince most who read these stories that they are not alone at all.

Project has had a cathartic effect on Corey, who is now clean and sober, is not on any anti-depressant medications and sees every day as a special gift. He feels more connected to society and thanks to a fully funded Kickstarter campaign is set to get on the road to discover strangers all across the US who will talk to him and allow him to photograph them in this intimate manner.

We chatted quickly about the project. Give this is a listen:

Some of the “strangers” Corey has photographed. Remember, their stories can be found here.

Please spend the time watching this interview Corey gave to WTNH's Ann Nyberg:

Would you like to support Corey's project? You can by buying his first book from this project called Every Heart Has A Story To Tell. Feel free to follow Corey and the project via his Facebook page.

Can embarking on a personal photography project help you overcome your obstacles and challenges? Brené Brown who wrote “Daring Greatly” explores the power of vulnerability. I highly recommend you read it!

What I find remarkable about Corey is his perseverance to pivot from a lousy situation and find purpose and meaning in his life through photography, writing and sharing stories contributed in large part by strangers. In the video, I tip my hat to Skip Cohen who at Shuttefest presented a fantastic idea to photograph local business owners and celebrate them through blog posts or social media channels. Imagine for a second if you are feeling like nothing is going right in your business or life and you suddenly start to connect with these strangers in such a positive manners. What could happen to your business and you? There is no downside to knowing more people in the world in an intimate and authentic way.

Are you working on a project you would like to share with us? Contact me to tell me more. I'll be in touch with you right away.

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!