“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.” – Oscar Wilde In this series we shine a light on artists expressing their individuality, documenting what they love, working hard on their craft, and sharing it with the world. We spoke to Joel McDowell, a Taupo based photographer who aims to evoke emotion in people through his work, and capture the hidden gems our beautiful country has to offer. How do you stay inspired?  That is a good question. Surrounding myself with other creatives, in all mediums and experience levels, is a good way To View More >>

Matted prints are proving to be a great sales tools within the professional photographer community, and since Sue Bryce introduced her 'reveal wall' sales technique, photographers have been jumping on this for their own studios. Our Studio Boxes and Slip-in mats are designed so you can stock up with products, and order your Queensberry prints separately. The prints will only take a few days to arrive depending on whether you want us to colour correct or not … or of course you could print your own. Either way, you'll be able to schedule a To View More >>

Isn't technology great? A decade ago "photo books" were a wonder. I can create one-off books! Printed on both sides! Like a glossy magazine! We loved them too, and launched Q Books in 2010. But now photo books are … just a glossy magazine! Commodity products with prices to match. Mostly sold direct to consumers, meaning very little value in them for photographers… Something for people who get their photography on a flashdrive. Q Books still look great, as beautifully printed and bound as our albums, but for a couple of years the trend has been To View More >>

Following on from last week's post, here are a few more album design tips. For all you photographers designing your own.  Let them breathe… We touched on cropping last time, but it's worth repeating! Sure photo-bombing is fun, but generally we like the core elements of an image to have a nice amount of breathing space to the edge of the page, or image "frame". In fact think of it exactly like framing a picture: it gives the subject a sense of intent and importance. Jamming things up against the image edge often looks awkward. To View More >>

We came across Jacqui McSweeney's Instagram when she shared an image of a Queensberry album. We liked her feed so much we asked her to tell us more about herself… Why do I love photography? I love how organic it is in that I can have an idea for an image but from that idea to looking through the viewfinder to pressing the shutter everything can change. I love how excited it makes me, and how I can share that excitement with the people I am photographing, and the people viewing my images. I love thinking about the colours of an image or the beautiful tones of a black To View More >>