Last week I wrote about the latest David Jay hate war, and said that if a courtroom attorney asked whether I agreed with his Shoot and Share strategy - and demanded a Yes-No answer - I’d have to say, “Yes I do.” Why? Because social sharing is a reality whether we like it or not, because social sharing is a powerful new form of word of mouth, and because Shoot & Share is a big step up the social scale from Shoot & Burn. Also I don't like hate wars. But this is not a TV courtroom drama, so if you're thinking of building a career in social photography, we believe the typical Shoot and Share To View More >>

I've been following the latest hate war against David Jay and PASS with interest. Here's the post that started it all, and here's what it's all about. I like my commercial messages straight, so I wish David didn't come on to you like a TV evangelist, but that aside, he's not wrong about everything. So because we hate hate speech of every kind I thought I'd explain what he's right about before I get into where we part company... David is promoting what he calls Shoot & Share, which in practice means a photographer shoots an event and hosts the images on David's service, PASS, where the customers To View More >>

I'm a bit frustrated! We have two new initiatives to launch but we can't get either out until next week, so I thought I'd try and clear up a few misconceptions about SEO... SEO comes to mind for two reasons. First, in Ian's 14 Tips post a while back he said (rather carelessly!), "10. Link to the venues, florists, dressmakers and other vendors who were connected to the event - another Workspace feature. They'll love you for it, and linking is great for SEO." Someone commented, "Yes, linking is great for SEO, but for the [site] you are linking to, not for you… I'm always wary about linking to…vendors' To View More >>

Click the screenshots to view them full size Workspace is constantly evolving. If you haven't tried it lately you haven't tried it! This week we’re excited to announce that we’ve just upgraded Workspace slideshows for smartphones and tablets. On iOS and Android devices your image collections now display like mobile apps, which on iOS your customer can even install easily on their home screen. Scroll down for demos, and click the big gold button for an introductory offer! Here's the back story... From Day One our goal for Workspace has been to make it super-easy to host and display your To View More >>

Are you about to be married, or just married? Congratulations! My own wedding day went by so fast, it was only when I saw the photos that I realised how much I'd missed. For some of us I think photography seems like just another item to check off our planning list, but what a difference a day makes! I was so glad I had a good photographer, and beautiful images I could be proud of. Queensberry Bride is dedicated to you, your wedding and especially your wedding photography. We have great advice about choosing a photographer, and links to our photographer directory if you're still undecided. We want To View More >>

Competition isn't the problem, obscurity is. For years now I've watched frustrated at how little most photographic associations do to promote the idea and importance of wedding photography. More often than not these organisations - run by hardworking volunteers who do great things to educate their members and promote standards - can do little to convince couples that they need a professional photographer. But I'm not going to be frustrated by this any more :) We're doing more to promote our customers I said two months ago that I believe in professional photography, and although we obviously aren't To View More >>

[caption id="attachment_16947" align="alignright" width="300"] Musée - object of desire, or waste of money?[/caption] It's hard to shake off a reputation for being expensive. It's hard to shake off a reputation for being cheap too. The question is, which reputation do you prefer? Our people get frustrated when they hear, "Oh you guys are so expensive…" In fact this week they ran an email saying, "That's not right!" Their point is we have six different product ranges, six very different price points, and most people are genuinely surprised by what we can offer. My point is that cheap doesn't To View More >>

Katrina and Warren Williams are Auckland-based Williams Photography - and as if that's not enough, Katrina also works part time for Queensberry to support our UK and European professional clients. A few weeks ago Katrina recorded this little video to introduce our Starter Kit to professionals (it's also on our website). She does that very nicely, but what I find really compelling about the video is how she says Queensberry has transformed their business. Thank you Katrina, for being such a good customer and ambassador! We're lucky to have you. Cheers, Ian To View More >>

If there really are 3.5 trillion photos, which are the important ones? The ones that get picked, printed and presented. Presented in a magazine, a book, a frame, an album. But who does the picking? If it's social photography and the photographer's doing the choosing, which images will make the cut? The perfect shots. The ones that tell the story. The ones that fit in the book. And inevitably, the ones that make the photographer look good. Hundreds and thousands of photographs get discarded because they're imperfect or don't suit our purposes. But those "rejects" could tell a different story, and To View More >>

A little over 6 years ago I returned to my office after a meeting with staff to introduce a design audit and branding project. My phone rang and a man introduced himself and said he was from Apple. At first I thought I was being punked - all through the presentation the consultants had compared us to, and suggested we benchmark ourselves against, not our competitors, but great companies like Apple. This gentleman proceeded to tell me he was from Cupertino and that his boss was Steve Jobs. I tried to act as if I took calls like this everyday. He said they wanted to develop a premium book, and would To View More >>