Long title, I know.

But you've gotta check out this interview I did with Dani Diamond about his project called, um, The Project.

When I first saw it on Fstoppers, I was hooked. Here is a photographer who goes around photographing his peers in the photography business for free. I am sure you are as curious to know why as I was, right? Well, watch the video below.

Here is how it went down: I found out that Dani lives in Waterbury, Connecticut. That's just about 30 minutes from where I live, so I didn't waste any time in setting up a time to meet up with him. He invited me to his home as the Barnes & Noble bookstore we originally intended to use lacked a quiet spot where we could both sit and chat.

Anyway, in this interview, I ask Dani about The Project; why he started it, what motivates him and what he plans on doing with all these amazing headshot portraits. His responses will bring a smile to your face. I promise you. So, watch the video now.

Dani does an amazing job. I mean just take a look at these images below. He uses one camera (a Nikon D800) and one lens (a Nikon 85mm f/1.4). He places his subjects in amazing light and then waits till he thinks they have revealed a little bit of their personality to him. He says this has helped him fine tune his skills photographing couples. I can only imagine how lucky his clients feel when they encounter Dani who is so eager to master his craft.

What personal project are you working on? Share it with us below and if it catches my fancy, I'll reach out to you to interview you just as I interviewed Dani Diamond about his mission to create amazing headshot portraits of his fellow photographers.

My friends at Photoshelter have packed a one-two punch by launching two guides about growing your portrait photography business.

Part 1 of the series will interest portrait photographers who photograph families, kids and high school seniors.

This one has tips from seasoned portrait photographers to target an audience, determine pricing packages, master people skills, and influence word-of-mouth referrals. Plus the guide has tips to:

– Build a portrait photography business from the ground up and grow a presence online.
– Capture a subject’s personality, read body language and be an expert storyteller.
– Demonstrate a unique style when shooting kids and seniors.

Learn more about this guide here.

Part 2 of the series is geared specifically to editorial and commercial portrait photographers.

Portrait photographers will get pointers to:

– Prepare for a shoot, including the top questions to ask before you arrive.
– Build connections with clients with great customer service.
– Impress photo editors with an exceptional online portfolio.
– Get smart about pricing and negotiating contracts and licenses.

The guide also contains interviews with some great portrait photographers, including Brian Smith and Jim Jordan, to get their tips on shooting killer photography, plus the secrets to great portrait lighting.

Learn more about this guide here.

After you download both guides, would you please come back here and let us know what you thought of them? What did you particularly take away from them and how will you deploy those tips into your portrait photography business. Inquiring minds want to know! Comment below.

Angela Pointon is the founder of Angela Pointon Photography and Steel Toe Images, which offers advice and inspiring motivation for photography business owners. Angela's weekly email newsletter is packed with advice for photographers, which can be subscribed to for free here. In addition, she has authored multiple books for photographers, is a monthly columnist for Professional Photographer Magazine, blogs at Steel Toe Images and posts to Facebook, G+, Pinterest and Twitter.

You don’t need a plan or a path. I mean, really. You don’t. But, if you're in the photography business and you want to successfully compete, earn healthy revenue and achieve goals, then you actually should have an idea of where you're going. Here's what I mean…

Anyone (and I mean anyone) can start a photography business today. You've probably read about the insane low barrier to entry for the photography industry. And while this low barrier to entry creates a photographer, not a creative ass-kicker, it also creates a business owner.

Assuming we eliminate the hobbyists out there, those photographers using a camera to earn money encompass a definitive universe of people. And within that universe of people, there are a small number that you actually compete with. If you serve a certain geographic area or a certain genre, then the others that also try to do that same thing are your competition. (By the way, your competition is also your clients that choose to “shoot it themselves” or not hire you at all.) But for now, let's focus on the small part of the universe that you actually compete with every day for dollars.

What Sets You Apart From Them?

My images are different.

Yea, maybe.

My clients love me.

You're getting warmer.

I've won awards.

You're getting colder.

I'm a better business owner.

You're red hot.

Running a successful photography business involves being a better business owner, marketer and also a better person. If you put yourself in your potential client's shoes, it's really hard to hire a photographer if they're a poor business owner and a really shitty marketer, isn't it? Even if their images are breath-taking.

But you can gain competitive advantage for out-marketing and out-pathing and out-businessing (new words) the next guy or gal.

A Photography Business Plan Can Set You Apart

So many photographers launch businesses (daily) with absolutely no clear plan. They're not specific on what they're shooting. They're not certain of where they're going. They only know they're on a new road called photography.

This presents an opportunity for you to one-up this trend.

By creating a photography business plan, you're not merely laying out your plans for growth, revenue and success. You're planning your opportunity to more successfully compete as a business owner. And perhaps most importantly, you're positioning yourself and your business to be better, whatever that might mean to you.

Download A Photography Business Plan Sample

I wanted to create a photography business plan that made sense for my own photography business. If you've searched around for one, like I did, you found lengthy documents that are more appropriate for photographers looking to get bank loans. In other words, they looked like documents a banker would enjoy reading. They didn't, however, look like plans that would actually help a photographer compete and move forward.

So I decided to just create my own photography business plan based on what I learned from being a customer of Gazelles at a past marketing agency. It includes the few things that photographers will find useful and it fits to just one page of paper.

I wanted to make it accessible to other photographers, too. So I am offering it for download here. The best part about it is you get to name the price you want to pay for it. It has a suggested price of $27, but when you place it in your cart you can edit the price.

Think you'll get tons more value out of it? Go ahead and make it more. Is your photography business budget just too tight? I totally respect that. Go ahead and make it less. No, seriously.

Check it out here

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As a creative person in business, I am sure you strike that fine balance between craft and commerce. Most of us toil on the craft but forget that what we love doing can and also should earn us a living wage.

I've been listening to a few industry leaders who not only talk-the-talk but also walk-the-walk. Their solution is this: approach your genre of photography with a system in place.

You see, when you have a process to follow each and every time you photograph someone, you actually gain a creative edge, not lose it. Stay with me for a moment.

Here is what happens at least for me. I've noticed that the more I follow a script or a series of steps consistently, I am able to gain on time which in turn allows me to “play” and be creative even more. It's a win-win scenario that finally dawned on me.

Now, I've found one big stumbling block for photographers is the use of off-camera flashes. When photographers state that they are “natural light” photographers in their website biographies, I have to wonder if they are simply declaring that they: a) do not own a flash or b) do not feel they can learn flash photography because they feel it is too complicated.

For those photographers who wish to specialize in high school senior portraits, it is now even more important to know and use off-camera flash. Why? Very simply your clients are expecting their images to pop and there is really no other way to not only enhance their experience working with you, but also see that the final images are so very different than what their friends in school have received from your competition.

There are lots of resources now to learn flash photography. But there is finally a useful guide book that will walk you through a system to use studio strobes or off-camera flashes, especially if you are photographing high school seniors.

Jen Basford, Edmond, Oklahoma based high school senior portrait photographer is an industry leader in her niche. Not only does she have a busy studio, she also founded Seniors Ignite, a conference for senior portrait photographers. Next year's venue is at the very swanky The Westin Lake, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Jen is no stranger to Tiffinbox either. You can read her posts “3 Marketing Ideas For Senior Portrait Photographers” or “Are Senior Portraits Your Target Market?”

It is Jen's system that you will learn about in the Fashion Lighting Guide For Senior Portraits. If you ever felt like tapping a pro to ask them “how” they light or pose their high school senior clients, this is the guide book to get. It's available between Monday, September 16th and Sunday, September 22nd. Check the timer below. If you see all zeroes below, the deal is gone and Jen tells me she isn't bringing it back anytime soon (if at all). This isn't some pushy sales ploy trying to get you to buy it. If you feel that you need it after reading this mini-review, I trust that you will jump in and buy it before the buzzer goes off and disappears. So, are we cool?

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In the 71-page Fashion Lighting Guide For Senior Portraits, Jen offers us a peek into over 20 of her go-to lighting setups. She walks you through indoor and outdoor shoots. The guide is peppered with examples of her work, so just as soon as you see a lighting setup, you see a series of examples that show you how Jen was able to accomplish this.

Each lighting scenior includes the detailed setup, a few comments from me on the setup, and several posing ideas using the actual lighting.

The bonus? All of this is also available for your iPhone or iPad, so you could take the guide with you on shoots and refer to it as you photograph your high school senior clients.

Now, Jen's clients are almost all high school senior girls. So in the event Jen publishes an update to this guide, I have just one request: let's see some examples of how she would light and pose high school senior boys as well.

This deal is pretty sweet, but I am going to make it even sweeter for you.

Not only will you get yourself an excellent go-to guidebook, but if you buy it using my affiliate link (that supports this blog), I'll create a private Facebook group where you can upload images you've learned to create from the guide, for individual critiques by me.

You want in? So, here is what you need to do:

1) Buy the guide today for $149
2) LIKE the Tiffinbox Facebook Page
3) Forward me your receipt (showing your name)

I'll add you to the exclusive group. Please note that I need at least 10 people to sign up before the timer goes away. And, the learning can go on! How does that sound to you? Sound off below!

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Buy the Fashion Lighting Guide For Senior Portraits Now!