Marcus Bell is one of our long time friends, like when PJ Retro was the new big thing. When he's not busy running (the highly acclaimed and successful) Studio Impressions he's speaking at seminars and conferences. Marcus is running seminars in late February around Australia and New Zealand. A visit to one of the seminars will be well worth it, as Marcus will be "Sharing his knowledge and secrets from the last ten years, including The art of capturing emotive award winning Images, fine art printing, photoshop techniques and workflow. Creating images and products that sell themselves, plus much more..." To View More >>

Supported by Canon, GM Photographics are bringing their successful wedding and portrait business seminar tour to New Zealand. Graham Munro and Lauren Bootland have already enjoyed a sell out tour across Australia and are now bringing their wisdom and experience to the land of the long white cloud. There are two different types of seminar available in each city: THE MASTERCLASS: Together, Graham and Lauren will host a full day seminar full of the fundamentals of what makes a business successful in these current economic times. Tips and motivation that are actually working in many businesses right To View More >>

Queensberry Workspace is ready for lift-off. If you're feeling adventurous, we'd love you to log in to, upload a few images and start playing. We're looking for friends to help us make this thing awesome! Book here for our brief launch seminars at WPPI. Check out our new Facebook page for Q&A, tips and advice. You are very welcome to use Workspace free for an unlimited time, but if you upgrade we have great introductory deals… SAVE 50% ON OUR ANNUAL PRO OR PRO+ PLANS, AND BE IN TO WIN FREE QUEENSBERRY ALBUMS FOR A YEAR. Conditions apply, so check out the fine print at the end of this email. To View More >>

Hello all, I'm just dropping in to give you a heads up to mark this date down in your diary: Wednesday 15 August. If you're living in Auckland, New Zealand (or can make it to Auckland) you won't want to miss out on our event: a free Workspace seminar and workshop. Workspace is our cloud application which you can use for designing albums, proofing, website building and more. This seminar is your chance to learn the ins and outs of the software, how you can make the most of it and how it can benefit your business. We'll also have plenty of time for questions and if there's anything specific you'd To View More >>

Simon Woolf is one of the most energetic and engaging people I know. When I interviewed him he was in Auckland as official photographer at our previous Prime Minister Helen Clark's investiture to the Order of New Zealand. He got a hug from Helen because they know each other that well and he's that nice a guy. A couple of nights earlier I'd spotted him on TV in the media scrum at Willie Apiata's Victoria Cross ceremony. Again he was the official photographer. And to complete the picture of a guy who's everywhere, one of his landscape images, of an unusual sunrise, had featured the day before in To View More >>

Who's hosting your website? Where do your images live online? Who's handling your sales? Doing your printing? Collecting the cash? Who’s designing your books and albums? How do your proof them online? Who makes them for you? How do you get your stuff out on Facebook and your blog? How many vendors are involved? How well do they work together? How much of your time does it take? And how much does it all cost? Maybe it’s all so hard you’re just giving people the “Crown Jewels” on DVD?! We have a better idea… We’ve been working for months with one simple goal - to create the world’s To View More >>

My interview with Rod Ellmore talked about how the close partnership between photographers and vendors in the '70s and '80s helped build some great careers, but it wasn't all positive. One disadvantage was that marketing gimmicks picked up at seminars organised by the vendors propagated like viruses! Like this one - the notorious "couple in the brandy glass". Pam brought us a picture (left) from her brother Martin's 80s wedding to Simone (thanks for sharing!). And I found proof that tacky ideas live on in Photoshop. Now you know I'm a snob – but not as much as I used to be: There's nothing wrong To View More >>

More from Mark Miller: Press books - I agree with everything you say. At Focus I had a great conversation with Danny who suggested that 'everyone' did digital, ie it was commonplace with suppliers but that Duos were the really unique albums. I agree. Aren't QBY digital albums really just a fancier, more expensive press-book? Again, that's not meant to be insulting, I'm just trying to add to the conversation. FWIW, I've stopped offering digital albums (other than mini copies) and will move to a Duo only offering for next season. No offence taken. I love our digital albums, and so do many of our To View More >>

I just participated in a panel discussion on management accounting for professional photographers. Well I was invited, but my contribution was zero (I'll explain in a minute). However the experience brought something to mind that I think is important, so here goes. Having an accountant (and keeping regular management accounts) is like having one leg. A damn sight better than none. But two is much better. The first leg is the data, keeping score. The second leg is analysis: strategising, playing what-if with the numbers, thinking through your options and how they might impact your bottom line. To View More >>

Nigel's post about Chris MacKenzie creating his own luck reminded me the world is full of opportunities. The problem is to recognise them and take action. I was at a seminar in the States 2-3 years ago, a roomful of high net worth business people plus me. We got to talking about Queensberry, and wedding albums in general. Not one of them had ever seen a Queensberry or anything like it. One guy had recently married at an exclusive Carribean resort … spent a gazillion bucks on the event … and "ticked the box" for a shoot-and-burn DVD from the resort's tame photographer. I had to go and get an To View More >>