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 To View More >>

[caption id="attachment_1348" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Photography by Michael + Anna Costa"][/caption] 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. To View More >>

A couple of weeks ago I posted about aggravating business policies and touch points, and asked readers to tell us about the things we do that's frustrating! We received three comments. One I've mentioned already, and the other two also raise important issues. Katherine (not her real name) emailed her account manager to say she doesn't like Photojunction. More important, she doesn't like feeling pressured by Queensberry into using it. She feels that if QBY were truly customer focused she wouldn't feel this pressure and could continue in the way that's suited her perfectly for the last seven years. To View More >>

Before they invented pixels much of the stuff that we do in post production happened to the image as it was taken. There used to be a vignette you could apply 'on camera', there were wonderful things that you could do using a softar filter. There also was attention to detail. Details of composition, lighting, expression and, dare I use the word, posing. We now shoot a ridiculous number of frames as we become more opportunist and somehow more reckless. Certainly from this reckless/prolific behavior we get some true gems, but we often create more work than is necessary. I just wanted to give a plug To View More >>

Just a quick reminder that we do not offer albums with more than thirty pages (60 sides) inclusive of Wings and Flips. If your 12x12 or larger feature album design requires more than 30 pages (60 sides), you will need to order two volumes. We offer a second cover at 40% discount. With so many pages in them the albums become very heavy, and the purpose of the page limitation is to ensure their structural integrity. To View More >>

I just got back from a seminar by one of Australia's best seminar presenters. For all his professionalism and preparedness, his Dell laptop wouldn't recognise the USB microphone he was recommending. A simple problem, but he couldn't fix it and neither could the audio tech who was recording the presentation. And before you Apple fan boys start chortling, the audio geek was recording the event on a Mac using the latest version of Logic Pro, and he told me he was having problems with that too. What happened? The presenter demonstrated with $25 Logitech headset instead, and we moved on. I flew home To View More >>

I don't read the instructions unless I need to. Needing to is defined by 'it won't work unless you read the instructions.' One of the weaknesses in Photojunction is its simplicity and a sense that you can work it out just by using it. Some of us would have it no other way. But that means there is a tendency to apply the status quo approach to it. It is too easy to write off something because you had a bad experience with previous versions. Ultimately we can become neglectful of progress through our established habits. I had a conversation over dinner with another photographer last night. They said To View More >>

Johannes has been talking about the power and effectiveness of simplicity here on the blog lately. It's an excellent message and one I want to expand on a little by explaining how Queensberry can help you simplify your business. You've got a complicated job. You're a photographer, a marketer,  a salesperson, a designer, a manager, an entrepreneur... And you're offering a complicated service, and complex products. It's not surprising then, that achieving simplicity would involve an investment in time and money. Take purchasing a new camera for example. That involves an investment in both time To View More >>

It's a fiddly job assembling an album, but our assembly team can save you the time and hassle. They assemble thousands and thousands each year - so they're pretty good at it! And the pay-off is another 2-3 hours saved per job that you can put to better use. Just think ... all of our systems are integrated - design, colour correction, printing, album construction, and assembly. Hit the Send Order button in Photojunction and apart from the small matter of paying, that's pretty much it until the album arrives back ready for your client. And of course if necessary we'll contact you to make sure everything To View More >>

Alan (not his real name) and his wife were long-standing clients of one of our competitors. They came to us because they didn't like the way they'd been treated. Unlike Katherine, who likes us (even if she's frustrated), we haven't earned anything from Alan and his wife except a chance to win their business. Alan's customers really like our Duos, which of course they couldn't get before, but he finds designing and ordering them difficult. Alan designs them on paper and his wife recreates them in Remix. Alan's designs are reasonably complex, his wife is a fan of her old software (which can't handle To View More >>