Just a quick announcement to let you know of a small packaging change. ALL velvet bags for Queensberry Albums will now come in Black - no more grey! Our velvet bags come standard with Classic Matted, Duo, Flushmount and Overlay Matted Albums. They can also be ordered with some of our accessory products. Cheers Anna To View More >>

Heather is proud of our press books. Here she explains why… How 95% of the press/photobook market works First you buy a very expensive machine. Then you focus on how fast you can run it, how cheaply you can buy your paper, and how quickly you can bind and make covers. You print 4-colour. Above all else you focus on FEEDING THE MACHINE. You sell your product as cheaply as you can - and certainly not just to professional photographers. You don’t worry too much about colour because your customers don’t expect a lot, and probably think that a bad result is their own fault anyway. To View More >>

After a little wedding invitation inspiration? From Mashable... "Two German geeks/gamers just upped the ante when it comes to wedding invitations. The pair programed two versions of a Mario-inspired 8-bit video game as their wedding invitations and sent them out to friends and family. Guests are challenged to beat the game should they wish to unlock the wedding details. Their video game wedding invitations — dubbed Incredible Adventure — also included some custom packaging and two different versions of the game so would-be guests could play as either the bride or the groom. You'll get To View More >>

That recent New York Times article caused a kerfuffle by highlighting the impact of digital imaging, photo sharing, stock photography etc. In a nutshell, how does a professional photographer survive and thrive when imagery is everywhere, and generally free or nearly so? Or as Seth Godin put it, how are "average photographers" going to make a living shooting weddings "when the guests can do almost as well and all the photos are going on flickr anyway"? Case in point... Our own Danny married Natalie recently. Needless to say they hired a photographer ... but if they hadn't? They have heaps of photos To View More >>

.... and we do! Our clients look at the covers on our album samples and make judgements on what is inside. It's true! We help them do it. We want them to look at the cover and suspect that there is something very special inside. It was rewarding to know that when the New Zealand album award judges saw our 2009 award album in the first Musee cover they were wowed into silence. This cover demands respect. Working through the range of covers available to us we have made a studio decision to display a specific look for our albums. This makes them recognisable in the wild and it is our aim to earn those To View More >>

After all my talk about branding, I suppose I need to acknowledge that you don't have to buy "brands". The truth is most people don't. Commodity products sell on price (low price), and of course some brands do too ("The Warehouse, Where Everyone Gets a Bargain"). But what Queensberry sells is "packaging", and the purpose of packaging is to enhance the product. When the packaging is albums and the product is your photography, it's important to ask how much enhancing will be going on if you buy on price. It could be that much harder to avoid selling on price as well. Cheers, Ian To View More >>

It's that time of year when we take stock, make resolutions and ask questions ... like how can we make this year a winner? Are there too many photographers? Why do we ask our competitors for advice? What can we learn from musicians? And the big one: How much are our images worth? Sadly, that's not just about how good they are or how much time we spend on them in post-production. Our latest client newsletter is below. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment here or emailing Ian directly. Cheers, Nigel How much are your images worth? We received this present from our design consultants, Alt To View More >>

OK, n8rpat8r, we love it (found on YouTube). Who are you?! To View More >>

I have to say this. That leather is beautiful. Well I certainly think so. It's is part of our new contemporary range, specially made for us. Heather and I were lucky enough to visit the tannery in Europe last month and we were very impressed. So much individual attention to every hide, from the initial inspection and grading (by four very serious men) through to the final finishing processes and packaging. Not to mention their environmental commitment,  and even the way they engaged personally with us. We visited our paper suppliers too. Same story. Great people, great product, high standards. To View More >>

We asked one of our print consultants about their commitment to sustainability a few days ago, and they were rather puzzled by the question. "But of course," they said. "It goes without saying doesn't it?  Sustainable plantation paper ... ECF processing ... vegetable-based inks. We don't beat the drum about it, that's just the way it is these days." We feel the same way, but we're regularly asked the same question, so here's Queensberry's philosophy on the environment and sustainability... Humanity's biggest impact on the environment is generally from our daily practices. That coffee is gone in To View More >>