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Posts Tagged ‘Photography & Design’

Off to the UK

September 17th, 2009 in News by


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I’ve packed my bags and shed a tear (as I leave my family) and right now I’m eating airline food and watching all of the movies I can as I jet over to the UK for a speaking series for Queensberry.

It all started with a stranger walking into my studio and being curious. Liz from the MPA was on her last days of travel in  New Zealand and happened to find our studio. We had a conversation and what do you know … I’m off to the UK with MPA.

I’m going to talk about me and all of the things I did wrong to get to where we are now … because I know so much on that subject.

I’m going to talk about albums … because I love telling stories and we just won another wedding album award.

I’m going to talk about how we fixed the recession (for us) … by being respectful and disrespectful.

I’m going to talk about business … because otherwise the rest of what we do makes no sense.

And if there is any time I want to talk about taking/making better photographs.

And when I’m not talking about  me, albums, business, recessions, better photographs or my family, I’m going to get in some stuff about Photojunction.

If I’m not covering the thing you want to know about then leave a comment on this post and I’ll see what I can arrange.

If you are coming along make sure you say Hi.

If you want to come along but haven’t booked there’s probably room for one more.

Ian Baugh is coming along as my chaperone … it’s going to be great.

Cheers

Johannes

 

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    • What are we selling?

    June 24th, 2009 in Marketing by


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    What is it that our clients are paying for?

    Photography? (But what does that mean)

    Entertainment? (Couldn’t afford the clown for the party)

    Documentation? (Recording content for a historical document)

    Memories? (Least we forget)

    Glamorisation? (See, the bride can look glam with the right dress, makeup, hairdo, and some photoshop!)

    Impressionism? (To impress the neighbours)

    Fairytaleism? (Living the dream)

    Then you might ask, what are each of these worth in the final package?

    It would be an interesting exercise to give each a percentage value. And then think about those percentages, and ask yourself – not what are you selling, but what is your client buying?

    Nigel had a great post on The Junction about a washing machine that sold on New Zealand auction site TradeMe. … If you read the listing (and comments – well worth it if you feel like a break) you’ll see it wasn’t a washing machine but in fact a “time portal” … obviously worth much more than a cranky old machine … So it sold for over five grand after 806,219 page views.

    Are your clients buying what you think they are? Could you change that?

    Hugs

    Johannes

     

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    • He learnt something

    May 1st, 2009 in Marketing by


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    jojeremy

    Copyright Moda Fotografica

    A compelling post on The Junction…

     

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    • Pimp my album!

    March 17th, 2009 in Photography & Design by


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    I was working with a client last evening sorting out their album design, and yet again marveling at PJ Remix. We were looking at what we might do with their design to take it away from the ordinary. The expression Pimp My Album came to mind … and things went crazy!

    There were tassels, dice, bling, and all sorts of flame shaped graphics … quickly recognised as possibly on the absurd side of album creativity.

    It did get me thinking how I might accessorise my beautiful classic album. I thought I would start a list!

    The obvious beginning is a case … there are two available (three if you include the original box).  Or maybe a bag … If you wanted you could make your own from all sorts of fancy fabrics …

    Then there is wrapping  … Inside the case there might be personalised tissue … mmmmmm.

    They open the book and there’s a personal thank you card … thanking them (the B and G) for their trust and money … actually better to work on the trust side  … maybe replace ‘money’ with ‘investment’.

    Then you might have a voucher for the pictures of their first-born!

    And of course operating instructions, which include care instructions and storage advice.

    And any self respecting album would not be complete without a miniature replica of itself.

    In the design you could add elements of the wedding .. menus, invitations etc.

    Gloves for handling with care!!!!

    Some technology … maybe a copy of the slideshow of the album on a disc or on a storage device.

    And a description of why this Queensberry album is unique and made of the finest materials, and why that makes the difference.

    Happy blinging

    Johannes

    PS if anybody is willing to share ideas please add them by leaving a comment.

     

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    • Best of 2008 – Part 2

    January 29th, 2009 in Uncategorised by


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    Wading through our “how-to” posts was quite a job. Trying to single out the best was just as difficult, but worth the effort.

    Here are my favourites. Hopefully you’ll find them handy when dealing with Queensberry and Photojunction, and evaluating your own workflow…

    There’s so much good stuff in the  Smooth Sailing series I reckon you should check them all, but here are a few:

    Photo Front covers (easy peasy) - If designing Photo Front covers sounds hard. It’s not. Here’s how to easily do it.

    What can delay your orders? –  Here are a few simple things that frequently delay people’s orders (long delays in some cases). Interestingly, our staff sometimes end up double-checking things to head off ‘could-be problems‘.

    Titles in PJ Remix – There’s no standard “title” aperture in PJ Remix, so how do you add a title? There are actually two ways.

    Below are some more useful posts which walk you through ordering your printing from Queensberry.

    Designing and exporting your design
    Remix Order Wizard and LabFTP
    Sending us just your Cover Image

    Cheers, Nigel

    PS Why not check out the various Categories in the right-hand column of this page to discover your own good stuff.

     

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    • QBY’s hassle-free printing workflow #3

    October 15th, 2008 in Products & Services by


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    What if you want us to print your cover image, but nothing else?

    1. When you fire up the Remix Order Wizard, choose either the “Assemble From Prints Supplied” or Don’t Assemble” option.

    2. On the same screen the Wizard will offer a place to include “support files” for your album supplier. Open your folder of High-Res Export files and drag in a copy of the cover image (don’t double up by sending it to your lab to print as well).

    3. Remix may ask you if you want us to print the cover image (generally it’ll be obvious what you want, in which case Remix won’t ask). Be sure to say Yes.
    4. When the export is finished you’ll have two “bundles”, one for your lab and one for Queensberry. If you’ve followed Step 2 the cover image file will be in the Queensberry one.

    5. Upload the bundle to us using LabFTP.

    You could just email the file to us, but we prefer if you don’t. Getting everything in the one bundle is much more efficient. It will save us both hassles and you’ll get your album faster.

    HTH, Ian

     

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    October 6th, 2008 in Products & Services by


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    We’re describing the perfect way to send us your print-and-bind order…

    After exporting your files you definitely shouldn’t jump straight to LabFTP and send us the files – we wouldn’t know what to do with them!

    Instead, always use the Remix Order Wizard. (You’ll find it under the Album menu). Remix will validate your order and create an order “bundle” that contains everything we’ll need to process your order – provided you follow these instructions:

    order-wizard-1

    1. Run your order through the Send Order Wizard. You’ll find a tutorial here. The Wizard will ask what service you want (eg Print & Assemble) and also pose a few questions we need answers to, such as whether you want copy albums.

    bundle

    2. You can specify where to save the bundle, which is labeled with a unique ID. The graphic above shows what it looks like (on Mac). This particular bundle is for an order where we’re doing the printing (note the Print Files sub-folder).

    3. You’ve probably already done this, but you still have the opportunity to edit your print files. Just remember this: Photojunction has made COPIES of the print files created earlier by the High-Res Export Wizard. If you choose to edit them now, before sending them to your vendor, please note that you’re correcting a COPY. The original export will remain unchanged.

    4. When it’s finished, the Order Wizard will automatically NOTIFY us of your order but NOT send us any files. If you want us to print for you, (even just the cover motif) we need the bundle, which you need to upload to us with LabFTP.

    5. Last step, open LabFTP and upload the files. Instructions for LabFTP are here if you need them. Please make sure you have the latest version (v3 and later automatically check for updates).

    Next in this series: What if you just want us to print your cover photo?

    HTH, Ian

    PS We’ll be posting a movie to explain the Remix Export and Order Wizards shortly.

     

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    • QBY’s hassle-free printing workflow #1

    September 25th, 2008 in Products & Services by


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    cover
    Cover layout design in PJ Remix

    Here are the first steps in preparing a perfect, hassle-free print-and-bind order, really fast.

    1. First, upgrade to PJ Remix. If you have already, thank you.

    2. Use Remix to design your cover as well as your page layouts. You’ll get to frame and crop the cover image yourself, see exactly what it looks like and be sure that it looks good. For example, here you can see how much of the image in the photo front cover layout above has been cropped away. No problem in this case, but many images won’t be suitable:

    cover-crop

    3. Export your cover AND page layouts using Remix’s Export Wizard (Album menu > Export > High-Res Export).

    export-wizard

    Make sure you:

    • Choose “QBY Full Colour Service” or “QBY Print-Ready Service” as your Lab Settings (depending on which service you require).
    • Check the box to include your cover layouts.
    • Export PSDs (except in the unlikely event that you don’t intend to edit them in Photoshop afterwards).

    Photojunction will prompt you where to save the output files.

    4. Now you can edit your files to your hearts content. Well, not quite. Remember NOT to change image sizes, cropping, file names or specifications. If you do, Photojunction may not be able to locate your files, or they may no longer match the mats you’ve designed, or they may not be formatted correctly for your lab or album supplier. What you CAN do is add text, colour correct, do artwork etc.

    BTW you’ll find that the special effects you did in Remix (B&W, Sepia, borders etc) are all editable.

    Next step, the Order Wizard and LabFTP.

    HTH, Ian

     

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    • My Kenwood, my toaster and my iPhone

    May 28th, 2008 in Marketing by


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    kenwood

    Heather and I bought a second-hand Kenwood mixer thirty years ago when we went to live in the Solomon Islands. We thrashed it for three years making our own bread – a lot better than the sweet yellowy stuff from the local store! – and it still works fine today.

    After I used it last weekend I posed it next to our toaster and snapped a photo with my iPhone. It looks a bit beaten up but it won’t surprise me if the darned mixer outlasts us! Unlike the toaster, which has been a dog since Day One and may not survive the month.

    Isn’t it an awesome thought that the albums you’re creating right now will quite likely survive all of us? Might that thought affect the way you shoot weddings and design albums?

    Cheers, Ian

     

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