UPDATE: The Tofurious SEO workshops are now available!

Please click on the following image to proceed, but I still highly recommend that you to read the content of this blog post first

How can I put this? The past few days have been an inspiration overload. If you followed me on twitter (@tofurious) or are on my mailing list, then you would have an idea of my recent events.

On Saturday, a good buddy – Candice Cunningham of Camera Slingers – phoned me up to see if she could use my photo booth of which I gladly obliged. In the midst of our chitchat, she asked if I was going to Skip’s Summer School. Having just come back from a 6-week vacation in Europe, I had no idea what she was talking about.

Nevertheless, I whimsically decided to book my room! To be honest, I don’t need a reason to go to Vegas…

While in Vegas, I finally had the opportunity to meet so many of the people I’ve only talked to via Twitter or Facebook. It was great to finally see them face to face. In addition, I also listened to a good number of panel speakers.

Camera Slinger Party

After being pumped with loads of information, I decided to take a respite on Tuesday and help Candice set up her Camera Slinger party. My role was simple –

• set up my photo booth (which I understood as being a total hit into the wee hours of the night – 5am?)
• wire up the 1000-watt acoustic entertainment system – good pick by Aung and Jessica Conroy

While waiting for some supplies to finish the photo booth, I got a lot of quality time to hang around the suite. Julie and I spent most of our time chatting with Sarah Bergeron and Christy from Bay Photo Lab, whom were super fun to talk to.

By 11:30pm, I got the sound system to fill the veranda with Lady Gaga and the photo booth to glow brightly in the corner. People were trickling in and helping themselves to what seemed like an endless flow of alcohol (served by bartender and photographer – Aung Aung). I didn’t want to leave because the party just got started! Nevertheless, Julie and I hopped into my vehicle and we headed straight home.

Jasmine Star Is Quite Amazing

Okay, the title is clichéd, but not really. Jasmine is a phenomenal photographer and blogger; we all know that. But to what degree of how amazing, I only found out when we sat down and talked for three hours.

The very next morning after coming home from Vegas, I was tired but totally excited about meeting Jasmine Star! I started my morning by going to Starbucks and getting tea for the both of us. I specifically got the “Calm” tea, which was something I really needed.

For the next three hours, we talked about SEO, blogging and business. Jasmine has such a brilliant mind. When I got to the topic of blogging tips and visual strategies, I could almost see the gears in Jasmine’s head turning like clockwork.

After every strategy coupled with concurring nods from Jasmine, I wanted to give her a high five!

Like this video? Embed it into your own blog / forum:

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Tofurious SEO Workshop Debuts Next Week!

If you were on the mailing list, then you would know that the sale for Orange County is on Tuesday of next week. If you are a B-School member, Becker got you all special access through a password-protected site one day before the public can reserve seats.

MEMBERS: Page will go out on Monday morning, so wait for email blast or something I am still in SF so I won’t have time to make the page until that Sunday night.

Cheers,

Lawrence
P.S. I am currently in San Francisco and I love it here!

Greetings,

subscribe | follow @tofurious

Thank you everyone who could make it out! We had local photographers from Orange County to super cool ones from far away – San Francisco, San Jose, San Antonio(Texas).

Due to overwhelming interest, the beginner’s workshop sold out in a few hours. Intermediate and advanced ones coming in the near future. They will be much smaller than this one because of the technical aspects of learning creative lighting.

Beginners – 3 hours

• Understand what equipment to use
• Get a feel of the difference between studio strobes and mobile lighting kits
• Locate sources of ambient light and how to angle / compensate for them

Goal: Student will be able to setup a 2-3 point lighting scenario and properly calibrate for subjects

Intermediate – 5 hours

• Learn how to frame an image effectively
• Use of harsh / creative shadows
• Understand how to reflect or deflect light
• Play with ring lights, barn doors, honeycombs, grids, etc.

Goal: Student will be able to use creative lighting setups and calibrate for virtually any scenario in a matter of a few minutes

Advanced – 5 hours

• Must have strong grasp of lighting
• Use of snoots for pin-point lighting
• Advanced level post production
• Learn how to fashionably pose subjects

Goal: Student will be able to book badass gigs based on flippin’ sweet lighting setups

Models Information

Need a model or makeup artist? In fact, they can even do their own makeup and hair so it saves you the trouble!

Tracie Cotta – model / makeup artist

http://traciecotta.com

http://modelmayhem.com/ivebeenshot

traciecotta@gmail.com
@traciecotta

Kyuri – model

http://www.modelmayhem.com/880296

headcase.kyur@gmail.com

Some Student Work

The first image (my fave) is by Jenny Liu Photography (Orange County photographer)

All images taken at Ritz Carlton (Laguna Niguel) after marketing workshop

Cheers,

Lawrence

P.S. You all ROCKED! Just too bad, I did not take any pictures myself boo…

Howdy,

subscribe | @tofurious

If you are a BRIDE, please visit Furious Photographers [dot] com Thanks!

Wednesday – June 3rd, 2009

What a day so far. I cannot even begin to explain. First off, @lanbui, @vubui and @DFurious photographed @iJustine. As much as I wanted to participate in the photo shoot, I had to prepare my notes for the wedding photography workshop the next day.

Anyway, just wanted to share with everyone the spectacular view from our suite at Ritz carlton (Laguna Niguel).

The Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel
One Ritz-Carlton Drive
Dana Point, CA 92629
(949) 240-2000

Thursday – June 4th, 2009

Butterflies fluttering, cold sweat, nervous shivers, you name it, I got it. The only thing that got me through the private workshop were the smiles from familiar faces – thank you for your support. Prior to everyone’s arrival, I recited my lecture notes over and over in my head. Upon opening my mouth, my scripted speech turned into a series of barely cohesive words meshed into a ball of thoughts.

Why the anxiety?

1. The attendees included some of the world’s top weddings photographers
2. Even without the titles, I still had an insurmountable adulation for them
3. I copied one of the photographer’s pricing sheet when I first immersed myself into this industry

I do not remember the exact words, but it went something like this:

Me: Sara [France], I did not mean to copy your pricing sheet, but it looked so pretty.

Sara: It’s okay, when I was starting out, I copied (name).

A wave of relief swelled inside of me as I am reminded by @bullysaurus’s words that “they are regular people too, so don’t worry so much.” It’s funny because this same scenario happened in San Francisco’s private workshop.

Attendees:

• Gene Higa
• Ann Hamilton
• Douglas Chan
• Aaron Dieppa
• The Boudoir Divas – Kimberlee & Marissa
• Lauren Hillary
• Sara France
• Dane Sanders
• Jules Bianchi
• [B]ecker
• Keats Elliott
• Victor Sizemore

Special thanks to:

• Anton Lorimer
• Vu Bui
• Lan Bui

Some cool OC peeps:

• Bridal Mode – http://www.bridalmode.com/
• Design Visage – http://www.designvisage.com
• Jeffrey Neal Photography – http://jnpstudiosblog.com
• Jenny Liu Photography – http://www.jennyliublog.com

I am particularly proud of Victor Sizemore being able to implement the strategies taught in the workshop virtually immediately! At first, I thought Victor was chatting or writing an email instead of listening. He later shared with me what he was up to.

While you were talking, I Google’d one of my previous wedding shoots and it was on page 3 of search results. [not so good] While listening to you, I made a number of changes to that blog post. Upon return from giving my testimonial to Anton, I Google’d the same thing and I am #1. [WOW]

It made me proud to see that I was able to deliver complex concepts over effectively.

TwitPic – @bonny and @lanbui enjoying breakfast at one of the three patios while @Dfurious played server

TwitPic – @genehiga soaking in some Vitamin D outside the suite on our last day

Looking forward to the next one,

Lawrence

P.S. I am entertaining the idea of hosting my first public workshop on a yacht (in Orange County). Special perks for coming to this first one include

• wine / champagne
• get to be in a high production music video (still planning)
• boat ride – yay!

Add yourself to the mailing list if you want more information in the coming months – subscribe

Hello everyone,

subscribe | follow @tofurious

If you are a BRIDE, please check out some of the top San Francisco / Napa Valley wedding photographers [in the world].

Did I ever mention that I normally live under a rock? Coming to San Francisco to do a talk to some of the world’s top wedding photographers was quite frightening. I had to prepare all week for this private workshop. I will elaborate more on this, but here were the attendees! A special thanks to San Francisco wedding photographer Gene Higa for graciously lending his beautiful home for us to use.

Overall, it was a pleasure to be working with these San Francisco based wedding photographers. Please check out their wedding photography websites as they are inspirational!

Everyone got one of of these cool leather portfolios! After a five hour workshop, I am beat.

Images courtesy of Lan Bui

Here is a little plug for some other San Francisco based wedding photographers:

Kameron Olds – http://shootinggalleryphoto.com/blog

Ashley Summer – http://ashleysummer.com

Sara Goetz – http://saragoetzphotography.com

Outtie,

Lawrence

P.S. Gene’s house is really really really nice. It is very cozy. I could fall asleep here.

Greetings,

subscribe | follow @tofurious

If you are a BRIDE and looking for a photographer in Italy, please visit
www.furiousphotographers.com or

Two of the world’s top ten wedding photographers – Gene Higa and Jose Villa – are hosting a wedding photography workshop in Tuscany, Italy. It will be a three day experience in the Chianti Hills on October 27-29, 2009. Models, make-up artists, floral arrangements, transportation from airport to the villa, breakfast, lunch and dinner during the workshop all provided. Basically, just show up and shoot. Good thing too! In the presence of their sheer awesomeness, I might not be able to do anything else but shoot…and maybe drool.

Italy is a dream .. A perfect place to conduct a workshop, the lighting is so warm, the surroundings are stunning and the people are so genuine. It was one of my favorite places to shoot. So, we want to share that experience with you. -Gene Higa

You know what else will be warm? You. After a few glasses of Italian wine, you will be warm inside and warm towards your peers. Good wine with good company only leads to lasting friendships.

These are some reasons why you should go:

• I might be there hahahaha (depends on my schedule)
• It’s taught by two of world’s top ten wedding photographers
• Off the hook portfolio pictures
• Techniques to their business success revealed
• And lastly, I might be there… that’s right – so go!

On top of having portfolio pictures, you can optimize for Italy after having shot there via SEO (Search Engine Optimization). I am not even exaggerating, this weekend I got an inquiry for Tuscany Italy, yesterday I got inquiries for Jamaica and Houston (Texas), and today I got an inquiry for a cruise wedding to Hawaii. Therefore, imagine the possibilities when you combine SEO with stellar images from this workshop!

Gene Higa & Jose Villa Italy Workshop

Dates: October 27-29, 2009
Investment: $1,950 | Sign-up
Location: Cavrigila, Chanti – Tuscany, Italy

Details

Named two of the top ten wedding photographers in the world – Gene Higa and Jose Villa – will teach you two different shooting styles, different marketing approaches for two different ways to be successful. Three day workshop with everything virtually provided.

Schedule

Monday – October 26, 2009

• Meet and greet at La Selva Villa – dinner and drinks provided

Tuesday – October 27, 2009

• Introductions – Jose Villa and Gene Higa
• Slideshow presentations
• Fine art weddings
• Presentation techniques
• Client meetings
• Engagement shoots with live models (not mannequins) LOL I just had to sorry

Wednesday – October 28, 2009

• Destination weddings
• Marketing
• Advertising
• Critique from engagement session shoot
• Shoot with bride and groom for half of the day around the beautiful Tuscany

Thursday – October 29, 2009

• Magazine submissions
• Compositions – framing in camera
• Finding a niche market in your area
• Vendor relationships and submissions
• Flash / natural light shooting

Topics

• Keeping it simple with composition
• Finding a style that works for you
• Creating a niche market
• Developing relationships with vendors so they do the talking for you
• Using natural light to create fine art images
• How to get the word out – marketing / advertising
• The easy way to anti-pose a couple
• Magazine submissions – what editors love to see
• Destination weddings – how to book them
• Client meetings
• Presentation is key – how to present your images
• Album design – keeping it simple and fresh
• Film – the formula on how to expose, process and archive your images

Imagine where you want your business to be in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years. I am pretty certain that this workshop might make it happen in a fraction of the time – depending on how devotion you have for your business.

I understand that there are not many seats left, so I urge those interested to consider soon. If you register, make sure to mention “Lawrence @tofurious” sent you and I will be sure to send you a copy of my new photo/video fusion slideshow program (not finished yet – street value: $300ish lol). I am running it by [B]ecker in a couple of weeks to beta test prior to launch.

Cheers,

Lawrence

P.S. I heart wine, grapes, crackers and cheese. And edamame beans, mochi ice cream, wonton noodles, cold tofu, braised tofu, fried tofu, spring rolls, seared rare tuna, chicken pot pie, iced tea and coca cola.

If you go to the workshop, tell me what you enjoy eating!

P.P.S. Gene Higa is such a fun guy! Let hilarity and good times ensue…

P.P.P.S. UPDATE: @italyworkshop: Thinking of offering a workshop scholarship. Stay tuned for details.

Hello,

I was going to make a video post, but decided otherwise because my eyes are really red (since it is late in California). In a few hours, I will be flying to Cancun, Mexico to photograph two beautiful weddings and one trash the dress session consecutively. What coincidence! I am grateful to be graced with good company -

• Douglas Chan (from Furious Photographers)
• Lan Bui and Vu Bui (from The Bui Brothers)

Therefore, I will not be able to respond to emails and etc. until I return on April 29th. The Bui Brothers intend to make video recordings of our trip, so please check back (maybe daily) for updates!

This is the coolest part – we NEVER photographed a wedding Cancun before. How did I book three destination shoots? Simple – SEO.

I made a blog post 1.5 years ago about going to Cancun for vacation. That’s it! No joke – seriously. Gene Higa and I (Lawrence Chan) will be addressing and sharing our trade secrets after this summer via workshops.  We would have done it earlier, but I am going on vacation all over Europe for 1.5 months. If I can book weddings based on one blog post for Cancun, imagine what I will do when in Europe. You can almost call my vacation “work” – boo hoo.

Just FYI, the blog post is really nasty, which is why I did not link to it. Try to find it If you do, comment the link and I will pick one lucky duck at random to receive my cheap airport souvenir from Mexico!

SEO Workshop – (details coming soon)

SUBSCRIBE for updates – It’s worth adding! Trust me, I won’t spam. Also, I will not email you about every blog update, only cool ones. So check it whenever you need some toilet literature (granted you have a laptop in your restroom) :O Just kidding – there’s always cool stuff on Tofurious (at least I deem so).

@tofurious – Join me in Twitterverse!

Anyway, I wanted to share a cool clip I saw a few days ago about design. As photographers (or artists), we should ask ourselves whether shooting weddings/pets/families/portraits/etc. is solemn or serious. It is all right to be both. Just find balance in your lives lest you will burn out. In lieu of shooting the same thing all of the time, try mixing it up a little. Try adding some typography!

Hope you enjoyed the clip! It is a little long, but worth viewing. For those interested in our itinerary -

• Friday – Dinner and cha cha cha
• Saturday – Wedding at Isla Mujeres
• Sunday – Wedding at Marriott
• Monday – TTD at Telum (picture below taken by your very own Lawrence Chan of Tofurious / Furious Photographers)
• Tuesday – Rent a car and drive amuck
• Wednesday – Have lunch and go home

Cheers,

Lawrence

P.S. I love fish tacos (especially from Mexico)

P.P.S. “His beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man’s entire body. His blood smells like cologne. I don’t normally drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis. Stay thirsty my friend.”

Hello everyone,

First off -
YOU WANT TO ADD YOURSELF TO MY MAILING LIST
(I will not spam nor sell your email).

You can be the best [wedding] photographer in the world, but if you do not have exposure, you will never be discovered. And I use the word “discovered” loosely because it can be applied amongst other photographers or more importantly potential brides.

From one perspective, it is critical that you gain exposure to your clientele! Imagine if you can optimize for any location, any venue, any country, virtually anything and ultimately shoot there! I (Furious Photographers) have been graced with the opportunity to photograph various celebrities (sadly can’t post it) and at various destination locations all because of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Realizing the need for these valuable and priceless resources, I decided to offer a workshop that expounds on these points. It will change the way you do business thereafter (even if not in photography). Having the knowledge of SEO and effective marketing can make you successful in any industry. I debated about the price of this workshop and still have not settled on one. As you can imagine, I am literally revealing my secrets to [almost immediate] success!

Cities TBA

Location and price is not finalized yet. I can promise you that this is like no other workshop. There is no model shoot or anything. It is 100% interaction and lecture of techniques to be awesome!

Anyway, to demonstrate a fraction of my web presence -

The list goes on…Just to give you an idea, I get about 2-3 inquiries a day for weddings.

Please subscribe AND follow me on twitter @tofurious! Please show the love and tweet!

Also, for those who bought the SEO videos, thank you for your patience. I am seriously trying to put everything together in one lump. They will no longer be available soon or price will be super high, so be glad you got them [cheap because they will no longer be $250].

Sincerely,

Lawrence
A fan of sushi and cold tofu

P.S. If you have a studio in a big city and can host over 30 people, leave a comment with your address. We need locations to have the workshop. Hosts will get free admission to the workshop.