Queensberry Connects


Johannes van Kan

I am a photographer, poet, and once was a traveller .... until I set up a photographic studio which somehow, almost magically sucked up any traveling funds and time. I am married to the lovely Jo Grams (also a photographer) and in June I officially became the father of Ida Valentina. People warned me that everything would change. It has. Ida has taken over from the studio as the magical time and money sucker (just kidding).

http://jvk.modafotografica.co.nz/

Johannes's Archive

Sample albums

February 11th, 2011 in Marketing by


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My clients would not dream of paying me $4000 for an empty photo album. Nor would they pay that for a book with somebody else’s photographs in it. They wouldn’t pay me that much even if I supplied them the files to print the images themselves.

My clients would pay me $5000 for a book that told a story about themselves that was beautiful, personal, and emotional.

The tooth fairy only pays up on the real thing.

What is a sample album?

Sample albums have several jobs. The main one is to set up an expectation. An expectation of quality, style, and professionalism.

Our sample album(s) are what allows our clients to ‘imagine’ their own album, and commit to it.

A sample album is what allows them to imagine us as their photographer and story teller.

Beyond that it creates an aspiration to possess their own (through us).

So what should a sample album be?

It should represent your ability to perform.

It should keep their expectations achievable. Let your award images and their accolades prove your amazingness.

It should be the size that you want to sell.

Our samples are real weddings. They are not a collection of best images.

If you have a new direction in your photography your albums should reflect that. People tend to expect what they have seen. Update your albums just as you would change your wardrobe to stay up with the fashion.

As for the tooth fairy … remember inflation changes the value of each visit.

Warm Summer wishes

Johannes

 

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    • You can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can cover a book and be judged

    December 10th, 2010 in Marketing by


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    …. 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 albums and their owners a respect by association.

    We offer other possibilities but we only display them using the comprehensive Swatch Book.

    And now we have the Pressbook. Our studio sees these not as a key product but as a support or reference to what we are known for. Given the right packaging (and content) they are able to hold a respectful place in our product range. The Pressbook for us becomes a parent album or gift album. The main album is at least a leather-bound duo.

    Queensberry has made it easy for us to include them (pressbooks) in our product line without compromising our need for quality.

    Even better, in our alter ego company, The Wedding Assassins, we are able to use them as an affordable album option.

    The pressbook cover styles lend themselves to the funky feel of the Assassins. By having them as a key product for one company, and not the other, it further defines our difference.

    Cheers
    Johannes

     

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    • The reality of an Earthquake

    December 8th, 2010 in Uncategorised by


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    Well in excess of 2000 aftershocks later, the region I live in still has no idea when the shaking will stop.

    I arrived at the bride's mum's house, and they had a big crack in their drive

    I arrived at the bride's mum's house, and they had a big crack in their drive that went ...

    On September 4, 2010, Christchurch (New Zealand) was rudely awoken (4:35am) by a rather large Earthquake (magnitude 7.1 on the Richter scale).The energy released in that one shake is still way in excess of the sum of the energy released by all of  the aftershocks, even though many have been over 4 and several have been over 5. One person died (from a stroke).

    Some predictions suggest that we will still be feeling aftershocks for 10-20 years.

    We have all been waiting for life to get back to normal, but nobody knows when that will be. Everybody hopes that it will be soon. Our new normal will include a greater understanding of earthquakes, a common bond, a different version of what is important to us, and a hope that there is not a next time.

    When the Earthquake struck there was an undeniable understanding that things were bad. Dire! As peoples’ houses rattled and shook I suspect that hardly anybody thought to pick up their wedding albums or family photographs on their way out the door. In truth many of them didn’t even pick up their clothes.

    That nobody was killed is amazing. It means that the sense of loss that occurs is material. People lost houses, precious objects, and land. The ones they loved survived.

    The portrait part of our business slowed down, and wedding enquiries bottomed out, so we worked harder at being seen. The reality of an earthquake is that people think about things differently. To succeed we need to understand how they are thinking and modify our approach to move with the changes.

    This applies to any sort of change. It is important that we are flexible enough in our business to move with the flow and if possible be at the lead of it.

    Our earthquake strategy realises that people will look for reassurance that they will not lose the things that are important to them. This means telling them that we can recreate albums and prints for them should they be lost or damaged. So it is not just the longevity of our product but also our service.

    through the kitchen at a recent wedding

    ... through the house and split the kitchen.

    Cheers, Johannes

     

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    • Making people see what I heard

    September 6th, 2010 in Inspiration by


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    I was listening to a lovely song by Amy Seeley and was imagining images in my head. The song is haunting and has a feeling of being connected to a story.

    When I think about stories I usually think in a visual way.

    Creating a relationship between sound and imagery that isn’t literal is a powerful thing.

    That is the difference between an album of images from a wedding, and the emotional and visual journey that is an album as a story, a collection of memories, a journey, a love, and a destination.

    One is a set of pictures, and the other is a visual and emotional soundscape – a song in my head.

    What we want to do is relate, not just the visual information, but also the feelings of a wedding. If we do this then we have succeeded. How we do it comes down to sensitivity, skill, circumstance, and understanding. Understanding that the imagery is not just a literal representation of what happens, allows us to let people see what we felt.

    Cheers
    Johannes

     

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    September 1st, 2010 in Photography & Design by


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    Every Saturday we wake up to a new wedding … well I wish it was every Saturday.

    Every time I know that I must do my best.

    That is what my clients expect and what I would expect also.

    How do you make each day your best?

    I started writing this thinking that there was an answer. There is, but it is personal to each photographer.

    Having great assistants makes the best more achievable.

    Do your homework, have a safety net, have the skills to stay out of danger, underpromise and always overdeliver.

    Be stimulated by your work and by your clients.

    Have fun.

    There was a time when I would have told people the real answer was, ‘Drink more coffee and eat more chocolate.’ It worked for me. In truth it was a front for the excitement of shooting a wedding, ‘being in the zone’.

    An undeniable truth is, ‘Look after yourself’ in body and mind.

    Some days it’s harder to turn it on than others, but as professionals that is what is expected … your absolute best, and nothing less.

    Cheers
    Johannes

     

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    August 31st, 2010 in Opinion by


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    With a remake on the way the Ghostbusters are diligently waiting to make more profits.

    There are many types of photographers out there … some have a procedure and others fly by the seat of their pants. Neither of them admits to it.

    Who you gonna call?

    For a prospective bride the outlook isn’t good. Does she choose “Same old…” or “There are good days and there are bad days…”?

    Whoa! the bride wants results and wants them to be unique!

    This is where the trust comes into it … Trust means so many things but in the end it is about getting results.

    Cheers, Johannes

     

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    • Can you make me look slimmer?

    August 14th, 2010 in Photography & Design by


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    When a bride comes to you and says, “Can you make me look slimmer on my wedding day?” we say “Yes”.

    We say “Yes… but we need to work on this together.”

    Often the dream comes with an expectation. Anything that is not ideal will somehow miraculously correct itself on the day … or at least we, as the recorders of the day, will create the truth that they, the happy couple, hoped for.

    So when the bride says, “I want to look thinner on my wedding day” we tell them they need to help us out. (Sometimes this is the not so subtle difference between our roles as dream keepers and miracle workers – Photoshop jockeys).

    We say to them that they need to “think thin” in the build up to their day. We say they need to have the right dressmaker making the right dress for them. We say that we will help them stand in ways that look great, but we never promise them that the magic of Photoshop will be the answer to their prayers.

    We want them to be a part of the process and make the effort to get it right. It certainly makes our job more realistic.

    Cheers

    Johannes

     

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    • Crikey!!

    July 27th, 2010 in Marketing by


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    The other day we received an invoice from Queensberry and my wife (the fabulous Jo Grams) exclaimed, ‘Crikey!’ (she’s Australian). It was a lot of money for an album! Too much?

    We talked about it and came to the conclusion that we were getting what we were paying for. We want to give our clients the best we can deliver. This means many things, not the least of which is getting them the best albums we can. We could reduce our personal costs by using less expensive covers, mounting systems, and not getting the full colour service, BUT would the outcome still fit into the requirement of giving our clients our best?

    We could reduce our expectations by saying that we want to give our clients the best average quality work that we can, reducing our costs and quality to save money. Or we could charge accordingly and educate our clients on the benefits of what we are giving them.

    This is what we do! We pay for what we get, and we charge for what we give.

    Cheers, Johannes

     

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    July 16th, 2010 in Marketing by


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    .. that you are selling to?

    I read Ian’s post yesterday and thought he had some really good points, but I wanted to add to the discussion by drilling down another layer to ask, “Who is the man you are selling to?”

    Here are a few possibilities and I am sure you are easily able to add more (so feel free to contribute your thoughts):

    1 The besot – hopelessly in love and a cinch for a big album.

    2 The control freak – Needs to believe that they have choices. The choices empower them and allow them to “own the outcome”.

    3 The accountant – The value of the album is a number: that value equates to a certain number of goats – change his perception from quantity to quality and from photographic prints to individually artworked imagery.

    4 The practical guy – Needs to understand that the album is not to just show off to friends now but is a reminder to future generations of his own family.

    5 The “I don’t get what all the fuss is about” guy – needs to understand that the album is not for him but is what will make his true love happy.

    6 Creative guy – needs enough rope to feel part of the creative process but not too much to hang anybody.

    7 The tight arse – needs to understand the value of the love of his partner.

    8 Hopeless romantic – as much feeling as possible will get you a long way.

    9 The disinterested guy – needs to shift responsibility to someone who does care, or just agree to let you do your job.

    10 The equal partner – let them choose some images at the beginning then leave you to the design because otherwise it could take forever being diplomatic but willful.

    11 The guy with a job they didn’t want – relieve them of responsibilities so that they can focus on the things that matter to them while you create their album.

    12 The DIY guy (often designs websites from home) – needs to understand why you are the best person for the job, and what it is that you bring to creating the album that is beyond the scope of mere mortals.

    13 The closet scrapbooker – will always want to change and add things -especially important to make sure you charge for changes.

    Each of these people will need their own handling. Who ever said that all men were created equal obviously never designed an album for one.

    Cheers, Johannes

    Good grief, I’m a closet scrapbooker! – Ed

     

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    July 8th, 2010 in Photography & Design by


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    You, the photographer, are entrusted with telling the story of a couple’s day … not any old day … it’s the BIG one.

    The bride and groom

    They want it told with beauty and creativity. They chose you because they saw your work and figured that you would be the best person to tell their story. Or was it that they fell in love with your prices, and assumed that all photographers were equal (except for pricing)?

    Ultimately we are telling a story … we need to know whether we are the authors or the observers, and apply those principles to our album designs. BUT then in spite of all of our creativity and hard work THEY want to change our creation! How dare they!

    We were employed as the trusted story teller … so what happened to trust! The truth is we were possibly employed as an image maker over being the story teller. You own the images, because they are your vision, but in truth the story is theirs.

    If we do our homework right we know this from the beginning. We remind ourselves that the story being told is theirs, and we try to build the trust that lets us tell it our way. But every now and then we need to concede that, in 10 years time this story is what paid for a new camera for us: for them, the bride and groom, it is a memory of something big that happened long enough ago to be easily forgotten, if it were not for the story in their album. For that reason the story is truly theirs.

    Cheers, Johannes

     

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