I was sitting at my desk eating Mini Dinosaurs (from the Natural Confectionery Company). I was wondering about the scope of Photojunction as a tool in our business … the list of opportunities to make money from this (very free) software. I could increase the album sale with… More pages - fancy covers - extras like flips and wings - cases - digital copies, duplicates and parent albums - press book versions. I can show some of these (like extra pages, flips and wings) in the software. Others, like fancy covers, may need help from Queensberry's swatch book. Actually press books are a huge opportunity To View More >>

One of the most beautiful features of Queensberry Press Books is the ability to add translucent pages. The PJ team have been busy working on this feature and you can now add text and images just as easily as you can on ordinary pages. Translucents can be added just about anywhere you like using the button at the bottom of the layout window (see image below). Translucent pages can be used to overlay text over an image; or image over image. They give a whole new dimension to your book - adding a soft delicate atmosphere or "unveiling" the story. It's really a personal decision as to how much opacity To View More >>

I was talking to Stephen last night and he made a comment about how photographers will approach an album on the Queensberry stand at trade shows. He said that most often they will pick up the book and look at the last pages first. If what they see catches their interest they look more closely. I can think of several reasons for this behaviour. At trade shows there are many suppliers peddling their wares, It is important for photographers to be efficient in their research. The last image in an album is often a defining one and in some way summarises the quality, content and feeling of the album. To View More >>

Just read a post (love the internet -pause- sometimes) and had to share the punch line. The complete post is here and it's written by a guy called Spencer Lum for a blog called Ground Glass. Read this and grow. I wish I had written it. Find yourself in 13 steps 1. Be true to the art. The art powers it. It’s not a flash to the side, a quilt on a couple, or a texture on an image. Those are just techniques. Techniques have no soul. You do. Art does. 2. Don’t rush it. Faster isn’t always better. You start on a path, and it’s hard to get off, so if you push too hard, you get lost before you To View More >>

Forget animal sacrifice, this is about image sacrifice, and why it is - quite frankly - morally and photographically unethical! What I’m talking about here is panoramic layouts and when to 'cut' an image (and when not to). Queensberry doesn’t make leaves with prints continuous across the spine of the book, as some manufacturers do. Instead, the prints on our digital pages are split at the centreline, leaving a gap of about 2mm (about 1/16”). The reason for this is because if the print is folded - it almost invariably discolours and/or cracks. Our albums are all about protecting images rather To View More >>

Picture this! Some magic lighting, a beautiful bride and a handsome groom, standing staring emotionlessly at a camera. In ten years time what does this picture say about the happily in love couple on the happiest day of their lives? Actually what it says about them now is that they appreciate a current and popular expression of fashionable imagery. It isn't possible for them to say that they didn't know it was happening. Because something is fashionable doesn't make it good, or that it suits the outcome. We go out of our way to keep up with current trends, sometimes losing sight of what we are To View More >>

In my posts a couple of months back about album marketing I suggested that you need an entry-level price that doesn't scare people. That prompted Darlene to tell a good story... "If a bride has a Mercedes budget and your prices start at Ford, she won't even come look at you. I've seen that in action with some of my clients. "One guy from a rust-belt town was charging $1500-3000. He told me, 'I can't sell your albums – they're too expensive and I can't get $5000 for a wedding round here'. "I told him he'd be surprised to learn, then, that one of his competitors (20 minutes away) was using To View More >>

Meet one of Justine Ungaro's brand new client albums - a Mint green Queensberry Duo she shot and designed for clients Kristan and Steve. Justine met Steve while scouting for bands for her own wedding. He played in the band she eventually hired, and he booked her as his and Kristan's wedding photographer. Justine says, "We each had a real vested interest in the overall success of each other's weddings. It's been a pretty special relationship ever since." Kristan and Steve married on 30 May 2009 and when their album arrived, wrote to Justine to say... "We totally love this album! The photos look To View More >>

It's been marryin' time at Queensberry these last few months. Off the top of my head there's been Danny, Nigel, Akshay, Chetan, Gino and, for the girls, Anna. One of the first family occasions I can remember with Heather was my Mum and Dad's 25th anniversary. And now, as of today, we've been married forty-three years ourselves. Good grief. 1968 was one year on from the summer of love: a time as now of terrorism, tumult and war. Even earthquakes. Unrest to say the least of it in America, France and many places else. Vietnam, the Prague Spring, the Civil Rights Act, the assassination of MLK and RFK. To View More >>

I don't like long posts, and I'm always at Ian and Nigel to keep 'em brief so I apologize. This recent post prompted Ken to comment and me to respond with this, my longest ever... Ken asked whether our industry's main challenge wasn't "crap photography" but competitors with stupid pricing, for example, "2 photographers, hi-res images and Queensberry with 60 images for £1500." Ken suggested that people like that shouldn't last in business but they keep coming back... So I presume that if in fact they're surviving, they're probably a high volume, low margin outfit - possibly with healthy post-event To View More >>