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Posts Tagged ‘Tip’

Album design – a simple tip

October 1st, 2009 in Photography & Design by Johannes van Kan


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While talking to photographers in the UK, I realised that what I really wanted to get across, was a simple but important message.

The album is for the clients. Our part is to gather collateral and write a story for them.

Here’s the tip: Step back from the design and pause deliberately… Then start  with the idea that this album is not a showpiece for you, the photographer, but is a story for the bride and groom.

We can apply our own ‘signature’ to the imagery, but they own the love and the history that we’re writing the story about.

We are the story tellers, and it’s our sensitivity to them that makes it (the story) so precious.

It’s their story. Not ours.

Peace

Johannes

 

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    • Destination: Mexico

    June 22nd, 2009 in Uncategorised by Nigel Hicks


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    Click on the images to view them larger

    We often talk about albums catching our eye… This one by Josef Isayo certainly did. He shot Porsche and Adam’s wedding in early 2007.

    The couple, two ER doctors from San Francisco, came to Josef and asked him to shoot their wedding in Cuixmala, Mexico- an opportunity many photographers strive for. But as an experienced destination photographer who’s shot several weddings in Mexico, Josef knows it’s no walk in the park – you’ve got to be prepared.

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    I asked Josef to share some tips and advice:

    • Know the local customs and laws – especially around visa requirements.
    • If you’re shooting film, avoid traveling with anything faster than 400ASA. Some airpot X-Ray machines damage high speed film.
    • Be sure to scout the location before the wedding date. This may mean you need to arrive a day or two early, so be sure to factor this into your schedule and budget.
    • Find a couple of other great locations to shoot the bride and groom at after the wedding day. This gives you the opportunity to shoot at locations not available or feasible on the day.

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    • It goes without saying, but don’t forget a back-up camera, lenses, strobes etc. When you’re shooting away from home the chances of finding replacements or rentals in a remote location are pretty slim.
    • If you shoot digital, download your CF cards to a laptop, or any device that has a hard drive as soon as possible. Keep them in separate locations to avoid losing your images if any of your gear goes missing.
    • Fit in. Wear clothes that match your guests.
    • Stay at touristy or well known hotels. These tend to be safer.

    Josef says, “My background in newspaper and editorial photographers allows me to approach every wedding the same way no matter where I’m shooting. At the end of the day your clients just want beautiful images. Don’t try too hard, just be yourself and enjoy the opportunity to document the elegance that’s evident at such an emotionally charged event.”

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    Porsche and Adam received a beautiful 14×10 full Photo Front Duo album. Click the link below to see the full album.

    Cheers, Nigel

    To view a slideshow of Porsche and Adam’s album click here.

     

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    • Photojunction Remix 1.26b beta

    June 21st, 2009 in Photography & Design by Ian Baugh


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    The latest PJ Remix beta was released last week. Here are links to three great new features: the ability to add text to layouts, the ability to import PSDs as images (instead of JPEGs) and templates, and a function to create proof sheets. Plus all the usual tweaks and fixes!

    Here’s another one Queensberry users will like – you no longer need LabFTP to upload your orders. It all happens within Photojunction itself. The software even talks to our server and assigns a Queensberry reference to your order.

    If you’d like to try the new version but aren’t set up to get beta updates, here’s what to do.

    Assuming you’ve already downloaded and installed PJ Remix 1.25, go to the Photojunction menu (on Mac) or the Help menu (on Windows) and choosing Check For Updates. If necessary you also need to turn on “Notify me of Beta Updates” in the Photojunction Preferences.

    Cheers, Ian

     

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    • LabFTP help

    February 27th, 2009 in News by Ian Baugh


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    The PJ team have done a great job of LabFTP 3.2, especially this:

    “If you quit LabFTP, or turn off your computer, or pull the plug – or even if our server goes down – just double click on the order in the Order History window and the upload will resume!”

    Click here for help with the new version (we’ll cover the Print Ordering function in a day or two).

    Cheers, Ian

     

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    • Printing and assembling Duos

    February 10th, 2009 in Products & Services by Nigel Hicks


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    Photography by Michael + Anna Costa

    Although we’d love all our clients to print with us, and most now do, we can’t expect that everyone will. It’s a huge ask to send your images to the other side of the world for printing. 

    But sometimes, for reasons that have little to do with the printing itself, we need really tight control to deliver you a good result. Duos are a prime example. The design and craft processes that allow us to integrate digital and matted pages, create split mats etc are intensive and very demanding.

    In particular the variability in output from third party labs is a serious challenge. Variation in print size is one regular problem and complicates trimming prints and aligning images in apertures, split mats etc. The result? Mistakes… having to adjust page layouts and re-cut mats to work around problems… having to replace prints… and the associated costs.

    That’s why we need to print Duos at Queensberry. Our lab equipment and systems are set up specifically to suit Photojunction and our album processes. And if we do make a mistake we can re-print a colour-matched image no problem.

    All up there are the three Duo “musts”…

    1. The album must be printed at Queensberry.
    2. The album must be assembled at Queensberry (we trim the finished page block before we bind it).
    3. The album must be designed in PJ Remix (Remix knows all about those “design and craft processes” so we get exactly what we need to make the book).

    We know “musts” can be frustrating.  It’s all about offering you a hassle-free experience, fast service and the best possible product.

    Cheers, Nigel

    PS See the Costa’s entire album here.

     

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    • Best of 2008 – Part 2

    January 29th, 2009 in Uncategorised by Nigel Hicks


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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.

    If you search under Printing you’ll find more very useful posts, especially the three in the  ”hassle-free printing workflow’ series, 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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    • How we pre-design

    January 16th, 2009 in Photography & Design by Johannes van Kan


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    Three points!

    1. Investigate and determine your clients needs, limitations, and dreams.

    2. Establish design objectives.

    3. Exceed your clients’ expectations.

      We set the parameters of size, style, and content from discussions with our client prior to the wedding. Having a series of questions to answer on a sheet means you get the information you need.

      Album type, size, and budget are the first questions. Then how many albums and what these would do.

      We gauge their response to our sample albums and ask questions about what might be important.

      We define the style by giving them a key description and asking them to elaborate on what that might mean for them. We use words like Story Book, Creative, Classic, Contemporary, Simple, to give us a general direction to work with.

      And then we create a skeleton. This has the ‘thread(s)’ for the story and gaps for the things we are not sure of. We most often use the sequence of events to determine the order of appearance.

      Then we go crazy. Play some vintage Split Enz and let our hair down. It’s that Flow thing.

      We design beyond their expectations.

      We look for images they must have and, if we can, we do some artwork on them. We leave gaps for things like the family images.

      And then we stop and review…

      Give the images a reason for being, so that you can discuss them as part of a whole rather than as unique entities. This gives them a geater chance of being in the final selection.

      Include more pages than they wanted – to tell the story better – to give them something to decide on, and to potentially make a better sale.

      The key things are to let them change anything they need to … and commit to better research if you got any of the fundamentals wrong.

      Making changes and choices means that they are involved.

      PJ Remix is important to this. It makes editing, hunting for images and interacting with the clients quick and easy, but not too easy. Very important – we only make changes to a duplicate of the original design. Think about duplicating the album design in the Browse window of PJ Remix so you can offer alternative designs. Easily turn your plan into an amazing slideshow for them to view when they walk in the door, before they see the rest of their images.

      Use the '2X' button to duplicate your design

      Use the x2 button to duplicate your design

      If it is taking too long consider using templates to streamline the workflow, or listen to more upbeat music.

      There you go.

      This works. Make the time for this to happen. Even if you don’t make the sale, if you have done your job right, they will share the experience with their friends who could come to you in the fututre.  At all times remember that everything you do is for the long term benefits not the cash in your pocket today.

      Take care

      Johannes

       

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      December 9th, 2008 in Photography & Design by Nigel Hicks


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      How do you know what size and shape to make an album cover image? How do you account for the aspect ratio and cover wrap-around (the part of the image you can’t see)?

      If it sounds hard, it’s not. Just design the cover in PJ Remix. It’s exactly like designing pages only easier. You can see the aspect ratio and the wrap-around. And problems rarely occur because it’s so obvious when images don’t fit.

      We’ve already blogged about album covers, especially here and here, so we won’t repeat ourselves. If you’re not sure how to send us the image there’s a link about that too.

      If you don’t use Remix chances are you’ll slow down your album and maybe even incur extra charges, so please chat with your Account Manager if you’ve got any questions.

      Smooth sailing, Nigel

      PS Check out Matt Blum’s album (illustrated) here.

       

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      7. “Could-be” problems

      November 25th, 2008 in Products & Services by Ian Baugh


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      Last week’s post about things that can delay your album made me think of this. Sometimes our staff feel the need to check things in orders “just in case”. For example…

      • An unusually spelled name. Could be a spelling mistake – better ask.
      • An image file that’s not up to your normal standard. Could be a problem – better ask.

      If there’s something in your order that you know could raise doubts, please let us know: “Yes, the file’s a bit dodgy but I have to use it – do what you can.”

      Head off our query at the pass and get your album faster.

      Cheers, Ian

      PS Our staff aren’t being pedantic, they’re just trying to avoid potential problems.

       

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      10. Design orders in PJ Remix 1.22 beta

      November 24th, 2008 in Photography & Design by Ian Baugh


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      Someone reminded us that last week’s post about how to do Design Orders in Remix doesn’t work with the latest version, 1.22 beta (thanks for the heads-up). Most people avoid beta versions, but if you do have v1.22, please be aware that whereas earlier versions have a function called “Export Copy Of Event”, v1.22 uses Portable Projects. If you’re unsure what to do in 1.22, please contact PJ Support directly on the PJ Remix forum.

      This discrepancy will be tidied up when Portable Projects go final.

      Cheers, Ian

       

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