As a photographer, your creativity is your super-power. It’s what sets you apart, what draws clients to you, and what fills your work with meaning. But when your days are spent juggling inboxes, invoices, timelines, edits, orders, banking, and endless other to-dos, it’s easy for that creative spark to fizzle out. Here’s the truth: you don’t need less structure to be more creative — you need better systems. Think of systems as the scaffolding that holds your business up — so your creativity can roam freely within it. Strong systems take care of the repetitive To View More >>

As everyone knows, Covid has been very disruptive for business — from product availability to courier services to prices — and it’s starting to feel like the “new normal”. So we’re starting the year with an updated cover material range, and a new strategy to move this forward in the future. We’re excited about it, but we also know that any change can raise questions, which we’ve tried to answer in advance here. We’d love your feedback! Please take a few minutes to read the following, but if you just want to see the updates follow To View More >>

Before we close the doors for our holiday break we hold team get-togethers at the Bindery and Lab. Every year they're truly inspiring, and I thought I’d try and tell you why, and say thank you. The chart shows Queensberry's work in progress for the last nine months, lifted from yesterday's daily management report. It shows, more clearly than words, how our business trebles every November and December, as it has for more than 40 years. We call this hay-making season, a nod to my farming background. You have to make hay while the sun shines, and when I was a kid our neighbours turned To View More >>

From our little corner of the world, here's wishing all you Americans and Canadians a happy thanksgiving. Sadly we don't celebrate the day in New Zealand, so we spent it at work - it's Friday morning here now - but we wish we could join you. It's a reminder to pause and give thanks for our blessings, so here's a huge heartfelt thank you to ALL our friends, readers, likers and commenters, album customers, Workspace users and PJ geeks, brides and grooms, mums and dads, suppliers and partners - and of course all our bindery, lab, IT, design and support staff, past and present - in fact all who make To View More >>

It used to be that people would ask me if I used film or digital, generally because they'd heard a horror story. I would show them an album and ask them firstly if they liked the quality of the images, and then what they thought it was shot with. Most guessed wrong and said "film". Back then my using digital could have undermined my perceived value. But what if your choice of suppliers added perceived value to your service? What if you had brides asking about your suppliers? If a client sought you out because you used Queensberry would you be offended? If you don’t tell your clients why your To View More >>

Ian spotted a post by New Zealand photographer Isaac de Reus of Perspectives Photography on DWF recently. It was in reply to a thread discussing whether giving your work away free for referrals was good business practice. Isaac shared this great example of how he's leveraged something he can do in return for good quality referrals. The type everyone wants. High-end. It also shows the value of keeping your finger on the wider wedding market's pulse. Thanks for sharing, Isaac - Nigel A month or so ago we approached a very high-end, exclusive venue that only recently started booking and advertising To View More >>

From our little corner of the world we want to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving! Although our small country doesn't celebrate this holiday, we still want to take a moment to express our gratitude. Thank you to all our clients, suppliers and partners for your friendship and support over the years. We are truly grateful that we can do business with you! So from all of us here at Queensberry, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving! Cheers, Amanda To View More >>

If you follow our main Queensberry blog, you might have seen that I recently designed and ordered my own Queensberry album. (View the blog post here). Well, Stephen wandered in a while ago and saw me looking at what he assumed was my album, and asked how I liked it. "It's crap," I said. "I don't even like looking at it." He went really pale! What he didn't know is that Heather had suggested I use the exact same image files to create an album with another well known supplier. I'm not naming names, but wow - the differences are astounding. I understand that you get what you pay for, and that our To View More >>

Three things I try not to do: write about our competitors, jump to their defence, and risk offending people who could be our customers; but today I’m going to do all three. I want to write about the huge outpouring against Smugmug over their price increase – and suggest a few things you should think about before you jump ship, if you’re with them. I must admit I find these outbursts upsetting, no matter the justification. When I started to use the Net back in the 90s, it was all about support, helping each other and respect. In the world I want to live in, you respect the businesses that To View More >>

This post isn't a judgment on the underprivileged, or a suggestion that we all move into gated communities. It is about how to succeed. Who you surround yourself with, according to psychologists, affects how successful you’ll be. The same’s true for who you emulate or seek advice from. If you want a happy family, check out someone who has one. If you want to be wealthy, ask a rich person – not a financial advisor (not the same), and not a poor person either. Unless of course you want a list of what not to do. The internet delivers to us the best and the worst of all advice. I can’t count To View More >>