I like to be able to hold things, to keep it in my hand that is why I like newspapers and magazine, just to thumb through. But with the online era this is changing, there is not stopping it. Photoshop User Magazine is available for more than 4 years and a lot of magazines are also available online. Additional features can be added. VIV magazine is a great example were they combine magazine and online media for an extra ordinary experience. This off course has it is benefits. Online magazines are always there with new fresh content everyday and even video or audio can be added to it.

One of the online magazines that is really beautiful and full of inspiration is the e-glossy of Style Me Pretty the online wedding blog. If you have not seen it, you should take a look because it is really lovely just to thumb through it!

The best part of this time of year is that there are so many things to look forward to. I call it the promise of Spring. New life, new love, new new. So many things that are about to happen and that we do not know of yet. That email that will arrive in the mailbox with great news, that telephone call that we are going to receive with an amazing opportunity, new idea's that appear out of nowhere.

That makes me happy and so to accompany this feeling a shot that makes me happy.

After a week with great spring like weather and after a weekend in Lisbon my girlfriends and me went on our roadtrip to Berlin. The car was filled up and we were in the car at 6 am. After two stops we already felt that the air was getting colder and by mid day we arrived in Berlin. What an impressive city it is. We hit the road as soon as we arrived. Went to the Gendarmenmarkt for lunch and walked to the Unter der Linde to the Brandenburger Tor. Had a look at the Reichstag before walking to the Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas. Off course pieces of the wall and checkpoint Charlie. What a lot to take in. The stories that you can read across the city on the cold war, people trying to escape west Berlin, the fall of the wall. The Denkmal monument was one of the most impressive things we saw, those 2711 blocks. There is so much to see in this city, so much history.

But with all this history there is so much more to Berlin. A nice places to walk (a lot is within walking distance), shop (KaDeWe) and Friedrichstrasse e.g. and great places to eat. Eventhough the forecast was some rain we managed an all dry weekend and even saw the sun! So a nice weekend. And Berlin is a must see.

I ordered a copy last year but after 8 weeks of waiting I cancelled the outstanding order and bought a copy at cdwow.nl. It arrive promptly two weeks later and I have been reading ever since. I am a fan of Dane Sanders, a self made business man and photographer, who is all about sharing and helping people in the photography industry. Not only in this book but also on the internet with his fast track blog. The Fast Track Business Plan is about giving you tools to get ahead of the game. To have the right business and home life balans. This does not only apply to photographers but to any type of business. That is probably the reason why Dane has directed this book to creatives in general and to photographers specifically.

Dane has found a way to talk to you like he would sitting across from you. Like you have your own private consultancy session. He asks question about your vision and your promise to the world. What do you want to be to your clients, what type of experience do you want to give them and how can you differentiate? All valid questions to make you think and reflect your business.

But maybe the most important message is to stay true to who you are. In the way you create your vision, your passion and staying true to yourself. A lot of chapters end with a number exercises. Dane urges us to take action and determine where we are. I must say that it is a confrontation to write down e.g. strengths and weaknesses. To look myself in the mirror and and speak out loud what I want my company to be. The book also contains a test, the business stress test to determine the state of your business.

Dane again has managed to write a great book. I recognise a lot from other books I have read from e.g. Seth Godin or Tim Ferriss or from workshops i have attended. A lot of photographers repeat the same mantra of being true to yourself, let you company work for you instead of you working for your company and to outsource. Still what this book differentiate from other books is, besides being an easy read, it challenges the reader to spring into action. The test helps in that direction. Stil it is not a fill in the blanks kind of book like Dane says. No, like with a lot of business books it is written for you to do the work. He let's you of the hook every now and again but also points out what the consequences are. If you want this book to work you have to do the work.

I have learned a number of insights that I now am going to incorporate in my business strategy.

I love gifts not so much to give or receive no I like the way gifts are wrapped. I can enjoy just to look at a present instead of opening it to see what was inside. When I was little I would unwrap a present with the utmost care to save the wrapping paper. So when I see a product that is wrapped with care and style it gives a sense of luxury. A great example is the tea bags of Thieme. What a pleasure to look at the way they have wrapped each tea bag and who they have put it in a big box.

These must taste so good. That's what this kind of wrapping is promising. I can tell that they do. The experience is the whole package from opening the box to tasting the flavor in a tea cup.

Happy Thursday.

One of the most fun moments during the wedding reception or party is: the reception slideshow. Even though we shoot 100% digital as soon as we show an overview of the day in the reception slideshow people are genuinly surprised. They do not expect it is possible that photo taking during day are visible in a slideshow during the reception.

During the wedding I already have an idea of the images I want to select and use in the slideshow. Usually I select about 30 to max 40 images load them into Light Room for image processing. A number of images I will transfer to black and white. For the slideshow effect I will use the screen save mode. Then I put the slideshow up on a table preferably near the bar and dance floor and then wait.

This weekend, while I was away in Lisboa, CreativeLive had yet again an amazing free workshop. This time Bami Cantrell shared her knowledge of photography, posing and lighting with the world with the ultimate goal to let everybody learn from the experience for free. I only was able to watch some small segments so that is why I have downloaded the whole workshop so I can see it in the upcoming week.

Bami is a very experienced photographer and a lovely lady. She knows her stuff and the part that I could watch I was already impressed with what she shared. This will help me get better at my craft and utilize for my style. If you have not seen any of the workshops at Creativelive you should check out there website and watch for the upcoming workshops. Some really great one's are coming up.

The concept of Creativelive is easy. You can watch all the workshops live for free, if you want to download them to watch again you pay a small price for, in this case, 3 days of workshop. I really love what they do for photography because this way everybody get's to be in the classroom and learn.