Jerry Tomko is a long time friend who comes to mind whenever we think of heavy Photojunction users. He designs and sells a huge number of albums each year and has been using the software for as long as we can remember.

1) What impact does Photojunction have on your album design workflow?

Photojunction has had a huge impact on my album design workflow. I have always been a firm believer in predesign – and in wedding albums, and I truly believe you should be able to see what you are purchasing. Even back in the film days, I would always present to the client what the album would look like before it was finalised.  Photojunction now takes that further.

The software allows me to be sure that in the design and album creation phase, I’m designing within my album manufacturers’ requirements. And it’s very easy to impart design ideas to the client since they have never designed a wedding album before. A design of a custom designed wedding album, like I offer, is more than just “picking pictures”, and Photojunction with it’s album presentation module, shows the customer that we care about the finished custom album.

Finally, Photojunction provides me with a seamless interface from post-production with Photoshop to ordering with my album company, Queensberry. There should be no reason to not offer albums to clients with a program like Photojunction right in front of them.

2) How has Photojunction evolved over the time you’ve been using it?

As one of the first users of Photojunction, I have seen it grow exponentially as digital photography has evolved. As new album company offerings and specifications have grown, the software has grown with them to keep the user fully aware of any product updates so photographers don’t order something no longer available.

Also, with the “internet society” that we now live in and abide by, album presentation has evolved to include web presentation, iPod presentation formats, and also for the ever present plasma widescreen and HD formats, leaving no stone unturned. Photographers now have any design tool possible at their fingertips to increase their album sales.

3) If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Why?

I would love to live in New York City if I had the opportunity. I love the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, Times Square etc. Also I love the fact of having the best of the best right at your doorstep, in technology, sports, art, fashion, music, restaurants, and the melting pot of basically all the cultures of the world – everything imaginable is right there – INCLUDING the New York Yankees!

Thanks Jerry!

Cheers, Nigel

PS Nowadays he’s a valued Queensberry client, but Jerry used to work as a rep for Art Leather, passing on his knowledge of how and why you should sell albums. While Ian was at WPPI he interviewed him for Queensberry Connects. Here’s 8 minutes of rock solid common sense.

Angelique Buckley and her boss Mike Kehr of mk Photography have earned the respect of Photojunction developers over the years for their eagerness to share insight, suggestions, advice and encouragement about beta versions of Photojunction.

1) Why do you and Mike have such an interest in the development of Photojunction Remix?

Angelique: “We are design junkies in the studio. Combine that with everyone’s love of technology and it is inevitable. I am a fixer and can’t stand things that aren’t JUST RIGHT. When I first tried Remix, it was clear that it was better than the original Photojunction for so many reasons. I was determined to help the PJ team make it the best it could be. Plus – those accents are TOTALLY worth the occasional frustrated phone call (which I apologize again for). ”

Mike: “We are always looking to provide our clients with the best products and services. User-friendly and efficient album design software has always been a priority at mk Photo. With the volume of weddings we do every year we need beautiful albums designed without lots of headaches! PJ enables us to do this and way more…. Another very important factor is the features and functions and how well the software works in the real world day after day. It works great! I am so excited to be associated with PJ and the PJ team! Thanks to everyone at PJ for being there along the way, your customer service and “open ears” are a big part what makes you so successful!”

2) What do you think sets Photojunction apart from other album design software?

Angelique: “Streamline, awesomeness, ease of use, awesomeness, developers that listen, awesomeness, organizes my clients for me (the database), awesomeness, and seriously – a GREAT team behind it. Customer interaction is always key for me, so having such a great team to work with is by far the best part.”

Mike: “I have to support Angelique’s comments. 100% . As a studio owner PJ has been instrumental in putting our albums on top, our clients love our album designs, and I love that Angelique and Jana LOVE working with the software. The features and functions are very practical and easy to use even when designing the most ambitious layouts.”

3) If you could change one thing about Photojunction, what would it be?

Angelique: “My ONE thing would be to search for multiple items at once. Just like in Finder (Mac), “001 OR 081 OR 376 OR…” etc This would make pulling our clients’ favorites just that much more streamlined. And when the bride picks 200 for an album that holds 50, would make the album one step less tedious.”

Thank from Team PJ to Mike and Angelique.

Cheers, Ian

Arizona photographer Jennifer Bowen has consistently been at the top of our ‘payout’ list since we launched the Photojunction Store. So we asked her why…

1) You’re one of our top sellers in the Photojunction Store. Why do you think that is? What do you do differently?

I wanted to provide templates that were simple, elegant and affordable. There are so many options available to photographers these days. I wanted to supply a variety of templates that give photographers options to make their own workflow more efficient. And because they are at a price point that is justifiable, I think that has made them all the more popular.

2) How do you decide on the pricing of your templates?

I looked at what templates were currently selling for in the marketplace. Certainly you can find all price points. However considering that most photographers are willing to spend up to a certain amount of money to make their job easier, or their workflow more efficient, but may not find higher priced specialty products justifiable beyond a particular point, I opted to target there.

3) What’s your favourite website/blog and why?

Well, my own of course! In all seriousness I find I frequent other photographers’ blogs or websites less these days, but those that have struck a chord with me over the past few years are Jasmine Star, because she is an exceptional writer and storyteller, and Ben Chrisman, because he is a fantastic photographer and his images always draw me in.

Thank you Jennifer!

Cheers, Ian

We met Jeff Youngren and his wife Erin (The Youngrens) a couple of years ago at WPPI and they’ve been on board with PJ ever since. Danny’s received numbers of calls from Jeff about ideas for new Photojunction features, and it was one of those that is partly to thank for the new integration of albumexposure with Photojunction.

1) How do you like the albumexposure online album proofing feature? Why should others try it out?

“To me, the Albumexposure/PJ integration is a game changer in the industry – never before has something so common been integrated so well into the whole design process. I’m blown away by how the PJ team took a simple idea and ran with it and created something that blew all my expectations out of the water. It wasn’t 6 months ago that I was chatting with Danny on the phone and said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if I could send my PJ spreads directly into a proofing solution where my clients could make comments and I could make their changes? Seems like you guys could do something in PJ with that.’ Seriously, I’m just blown away at how well the integration has been done.”

2) What one PJ feature could you absolutely not do without? Why? (Well we tried to make them choose one, but who’s complaining!)

Jeff said, “It’s one of the most basic features but even when designing flush-mount albums (not matted) I really like being able to create standard sized apertures (i.e. 8×10, 2×3, etc) and use them in the design process. I think that this keeps me constrained into doing something with a more classic/timeless design and keeps me accountable to doing “good” design as opposed to just clicking and dragging an aperture that I “feel” looks good. It gives me almost a set of rules to use within my creativity.

“I also really love how PJ constantly monitors what I’m doing and lets me know if I’m attempting to create something in the digital environment that can’t actually be reproduced in the real world. It frees me to be creative in my design without worrying about if my creativity can actually be produced. If PJ lets me do it, my album supplier can make it.”

Erin also mentioned PJ’s standard aperture sizes as “key to helping me develop classic, timeless designs for my couples.”

She also likes PJ’s auto-saved templates. “Any layout I design can be automatically saved and categorized for future use with other albums. I can even save one side of a layout or just pieces of a layout design. It speeds up my workflow significantly when I have an entire library of my very own custom templates at my fingertips!”

AND

3) If you could have your time again, what would your (other) dream job be?

Jeff – “Such a fantastic question – I definitely count myself infinitely blessed every day that I get to spend as a photographer, and there’s no greater feeling in the world than getting to be intimately involved in the significant moments of someone’s life. It’s completely addicting getting front row, VIP treatment to something so profound and so if I could live life over again NOT as a photographer, I’d want to do something that shares a similar sense of purpose & value. So, for me, my dream job would be to be a college professor at a small university. Teaching what? No clue, but I know that I’d love the idea of being involved in the lives of my students, helping them realize their potential and encouraging them to chase their dreams.”

Cheers, Ian

Man about town Jerry Ghionis is a great supporter of Photojunction and spreads the word through his various speaking engagements.

1) What sort of feedback do you hear about Photojunction?

After many years of not doing my own album plans, I have now gone back to designing my albums again.  Since I now run a boutique studio, my involvement in the pre-production and album design process is very important.  Not being a technically minded person naturally, I downloaded the trial version of Photojunction and pretty much learned how to use it in about 10 minutes.  What I noticed immediately about it is that the interface is clean and simple as well as aesthetically pleasing and functional.  And it’s improved my work flow tremendously which I of course appreciate now that I’m designing all of the albums myself.  A recent example of this was when after being away for several months, I had to catch up on some work and set myself a goal of trying to design as many albums as I possibly could in one particular day.  I sat down with Photojunction and was then able to design a total 8 albums with an average of 70-80 sides each in less than 9 hours.

2) Why do you choose to use and promote Photojunction?

The feed back from clients has been amazing.  At almost every single album plan meeting with my couples, the groom makes a point to comment about my “cool program”.  I receive comments from almost every couple about it and I appreciate how easy it is to use while I have them in front of me.

3) What sets you apart as a speaker?

I have not only focused on bettering myself as a photographer and as a business person, but I have also practiced the art of communication.  I take my teaching and speaking very seriously as a true profession.  I also believe that the entertainment value is extremely important, because it helps people to remember the message you’re trying to convey.  Reinventing my subject matter and the delivery to keep an audience coming back for more while attracting new ones is what I strive for constantly.

Cheers, Ian

For a number of reasons, Tim Wild has been in contact with our support team probably more times than he’d care to remember. But he’s always willing to spend time on the phone and help us get to the bottom of an issue … and suggest improvements to the software in the process.

1) How does Photojunction support compare to other support services you’ve used?

PJ support is one of the best support services I’ve ever used. Their replies are usually very quick, no matter what time of the day or night I contact them, and they usually have my query answered within an hour even if it requires several emails to understand my question. They also take feedback and suggestions very well, often incorporating suggestions into future versions of PJ.

2) Where have you found to be the most effective place to find information about Photojunction, and answers to your Photojunction questions?

I’ve found email support by far the best way to get information about PJ, though the members of
www.digitalweddingforum.com are also quite helpful.

3) Who would you have photograph your wedding?

Johannes from Moda Fotografica would be at the top of my list, but there are so many great photographers in New Zealand it’d be hard to pick who else I’d put on my short list!

Cheers, Nigel

We don’t know many people who know their way around Photojunction better than Chip Gillespie. Especially when it comes to shortcuts. We call him a Power User. (He’s also the founder of Blogstomp, which is well worth checking out.)

1) You’re a PJ power user – how long have you been using Photojunction and what attracted you to it in the first place?

I have been using PhotoJunction for a little over a year. To be truthful, I was skeptical at first as I had what I believed to be a near-perfect album design process using Photoshop. On the recommendation of a friend and fellow photographer/designer, I gave Photojunction a go.

After a very short learning curve (about six or seven spreads; less than half of an album) I was easily cutting my design time in half, while maintaining the consistency and quality of design I was used to. Over the past year I have cut my design time by about two-thirds.

2) What’s your favourite Photojunction shortcut, and most popular PJ feature?

Probably my favourite* Photojunction shortcut, the one that saves me the most time, is multiple-image resizing. I know it sounds basic, but the ability to select all the images I want for a layout and make them all 5.5″ tall, for example, is a HUGE time-saver.

In Photoshop I would have had to manually resize each image for a spread. If I mis-calculated and needed to resize again, even more time was wasted. Even though I had created resizing actions for this, Photojunction still is noticeably faster and more accurate. (*and yes, that is “favourite”, with a ‘u’…) ; )

3) What inspires you?

Creativity. When someone views the same world I do, but in a different way — well, there’s not much that can compete with that.

My children. Their near-limitless energy and boundless curiosity reminds me daily how I should be living.

Generosity. Unabashed, unashamed, unprovoked generosity, with no expectation, is a most beautiful thing.

New Zealand accents. I don’t see how this could possibly need an explanation.

Cheers, Nigel

Michael Moster of Langley BC has gotta be a contender for this month’s guest post giveaway, with this, his “best marketing idea ever”.

As I live in a rural area, I have to do a fair bit of driving to go to location shoots, run errands and get supplies etc, so I decided to have the following sign painted on the back of my truck. “If you see this vehicle being driven in an unsafe manner, please call 604 530 8022″.

I tell you, I had to install two more telephone lines into the studio to handle the call volume.

The typical call might go something like this: “I’m calling to report that @#$% jerk driving the pickup truck. He was driving like a maniac. He cut me off and was passing everyone while in the curb lane”… etc etc.

My reply of course would go something like this… “Thanks for bringing that to our attention. We’ll certainly look into it…

“But seeing as I’ve got you on the phone at the moment… How long has it been since you’ve had a family portrait? Let me tell you about a special we’re offering…”

But wait, there’s more: Question: What’s the difference between a large pepperoni pizza and a professional photographer? Answer: A large pepperoni pizza can feed a family of four. Hey, we didn’t say it. Thanks for making us laugh out loud, Michael.