Raise your virtual hand if you are a photographer who uses an Apple Macintosh computer – laptop's like MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or the desktop iMac or MacPro.

So, you feel my pain then don't you? You know, when you insert a memory card from your camera into the card reader and instead of just having access to your files through the Finder, you are abruptly confronted by Apple's new Photos application.

It launches, like an unsolicited pop-up advertisement on your favorite website. The reaction is to go and shut the program down. Quickly. How many times in a day do you want to keep doing that? Imagine coming back from a wedding or a long photo session and having multiple cards and having to deal with that pesky program opening again and again.

I was quite frustrated, but clearly I wasn't the only one feeling this pain. Gerik Parmele is a photographer and videographer based in Columbia, Missouri Tweeted out that he had found a hack to stop the Photos app from loading on his Macintosh computer.

So, if you are running your photography business on a Macintosh and you want to stay super efficient and cognizant of your use of time, follow Gerik's suggestion in this short video below:

Gerik suggests buying and using Keyboard Maestro for this hack to work ($36). If you can suggest an alternative method for stopping the Photos application from launching, please share your ideas below.

Credit and kudos go to Gerik Parmele for coming up with this work around. So, please follow him on Twitter and support his projects whenever possible.

If you enjoyed this little tip and found it helpful, please share the link to the post with your friends via social media or on your own blogs. If you would like to see more such time-saving tips, please comment below and let me know.

The Youngrens, that's Erin and Jeff, based in San Diego, California are industry leaders, presenters and mentors to many photographers.

You may remember that a few months back, I interviewed them about why it is important for photographers, especially wedding photographers, to blog for their business websites. If you missed their free webinar hosted by ShootDotEdit, you can still check it out here. Just fill in your info and you'll be spirited into the replay section of the ShootDotEdit website.

One more thing, the Youngrens also have a free six-week course on effective blogging. I would jump on that right away! And, they walk their own talk. Check out their blog, too. Any surprise why they are so good at what they do and how incredibly popular they are in their community?

Another Free ShootDotEdit Webinar

On May 20th, the Youngrens are leading another free webinar thanks to ShootDotEdit on finding your ideal client. It's a topic that most photographers avoid until it is almost too late and then have to start from scratch. The Youngrens, suggest working on defining your ideal client first, so that you can begin serving them in a way that is going to make both them and you truly happy.

Imagine not having to take on clients who aren't a good fit? Are you suddenly awash with a sense of relief? I bet you are.

I caught up with Erin & Jeff to chat about this new webinar and why it is so crucial for photographers to identify and work with their ideal photography client. Give this short chat a good listen:

The Photographer's Shop

In addition to dispensing sound advice on blogging and business topics, the Youngrens also have a robust shop for photographers where you can buy contracts, email templates, workflow guides and schedule consulting sessions with Jeff and Erin. Coming this summer to the shop will be a self-guided “Discover Your Ideal Client” resource that the Youngrens are pumped about.

More about the “Discover Your Ideal Client” Guide:

The Youngrens will be launching a downloadable self-guided course in mid-June that will walk you through the steps of discovering and profiling your unique ideal client. With the course, you will walk away with a crystal clear picture of who your dream clients are and how to attract them to your business. To stay in the know about this head on over to their photographer site and make sure you’re signed up for their newsletter.

A few days back, I sat through a webinar. Yes, a webinar on SEO (Search Engine Optimization), that inevitably led the presenter to pitch me a SEO course for $497.

The Situation

It was a wonderful presentation except for one problem: the presenter didn't really speak to me and my business directly. She had no knowledge of the photography world and what I need as a photographer. I naturally began to tune out. Now, if she had addressed my concerns head on, I would have likely dropped my credit card and bought the full-blown course.

Don't get me wrong. She is extremely good at what she does. She is an industry leader, but she failed to make it about me. And that's really the situation in most cases isn't it?

When we are eager to make things better for our business, including attracting the right clients to our website, we often don't consider if the advice that's available to us is really meant for us. In my experience, I come away with the right solution when I am referring to the right resource. If the resources aren't a good fit, then they are both a waste of time and waste of money.

Agreed?

The Solution

As your curator, I'm happy to introduce Zach Prez. He is the founder of PhotographySpark. In the last few years, he has created some incredible resources for photographers. Take for example the Business Planning Cookbook he co-authored with Angela Pointon. Or, The Pinterest Marketing Guide for Photographers he produced with Design Aglow. Both runaway best sellers among photographers. They both are packed with actionable steps and worksheets so you aren't just given the information and left to figure it out on your own.

Today, he is relaunching another popular book called “Recipes to Rank Cookbook” as SEO Cookbook (3rd Edition). Zach is also introducing us to his new SEO Cookbook Course this week.

If you are a photographer and you are confused by what to do when it comes to SEO, you can't go wrong with Zach's advice. His recipes, and that's what they are so you can take a few at a time to deploy on your site to see how they work out for you, are simple and easy to follow.

I insisted that I speak with Zach because what he has done is revamp his earlier versions of the book. But he has gone a step further in the right direction by also launching the SEO Cookbook Course. I wanted to know what the two options were about. The launch price is $249 (regular price is $299) and you can't go wrong by signing up now for the SEO course.

SEO Course For Photographers

When you sign up for the SEO course, you'll receive the following:

– 60-page SEO Cookbook PDF
– Video Course with 30+ videos
– Bonus Worksheets
– Support area to ask Zach questions
– Exclusive webinars with Zach 4 times per year

If you watched the video interview above, you'll know what the differences and advantages are of signing up for the SEO course. Yes, you do receive the ebook as well when you sign up for the course, but it is the video clips (screen sharing) of the recipes that are pure GOLD. Know of anyone else who will patiently show you how to set up your website's SEO?

The Course is your best option for understanding the critical success factors in search, and get answers to the difficult questions about your personal SEO goals.

If you have listened or read or watched all the wrong people on the Internet to learn about SEO, isn't it time you listened, read and watched the right people? Learn more about the book and the course here or click the big graphic below. If you do decide to buy the course, please come back here and let us know how things have changed for you and your business.

Ryan Jones quit his corporate job and instinctively knew he had to be come a photographer.

After working at the Fresno Bee as a freelancer and starting a commercial photography business on the west coast, Ryan decided to pull his roots up and move to New York City. He currently lives and works from Brooklyn, New York as both a street photographer and a wedding photographer. I urge you to check out his portfolio and website.

Ryan's work struck me as well-crafted and thoughtful. His photography can be labeled as off-beat or even a bit odd, but his portfolio is full of arresting images of daily life that place you in the scene as if you were actually witnessing it for yourself.

While some of his documentary style could be attributed to his attending the Foundation Workshops, it is Ryan's love for chaos on the streets and making sense of it all that informs his actions. His raw or organic approach to street photography lends itself well to also those commercial clients who seek him out for just that kind of work.

Ryan also curates a blog called An Unlikely Scene. He created it in 2013 and invites other street photographers to submit their work to be considered for inclusion.

A couple of weeks back, Ryan and I sat down to chat about his career and why street photography is so important to him. We discussed his blog An Unlikely Scene and one of his favorite street photographers, Richard Baker.

Some of Ryan's finest work:

Jen Rozenbaum is a celebrated New York City boudoir photographer. Thanks to ShootDotEdit, she will be presenting a free webinar on the Art of Posing Women, on April 29th, 2015.

A little bit more about Jen – “Jen embraces her femininity while allowing women to embrace their own. In just five years, Jen has found a burgeoning audience in the intimate photography market. She proves that you can own your world if you live fearlessly, think audaciously, and act spontaneously. Jen has been featured in such places such as Good Morning America, AOL, and Entrepreneur Magazine.”

Being one of the best in the business, I wanted to find out more about the resurgence of boudoir photography in the last 10 years and her role in making it so popular among women. So we sat down and talked about it and also about her forthcoming free webinar on ShootDotEdit.

If you have ever felt challenged to pose women, I recommend you stop by and check out this webinar. I bet you and I both will be taking notes from what Jen has to teach us about posing women and making them feel truly comfortable and feminine.

Register for the free webinar here.