Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook I would not sabotage my long-term business in order to survive a panic attack or a short-term crisis. Panic attacks — we all have them “My bookings are down.” “I’ve gotta cut my prices.” “I’ve gotta slash my costs.” We all have anxiety attacks, so maybe this chapter’s for you. Anxiety is worrying in advance, worrying without a plan, psychological rather than rational. And the actions you take while you’ve got the cold sweats could affect your business for a long, long To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook Social media platforms encourage you to feed them constantly. Fair enough, they have the audience. But you need to feed yourself!  You’re lucky Photographers are fortunate in that their work generates rivers of desirable online content. You need to avoid giving away the Crown Jewels, and you need your clients’ permission to share, but your photography is a wonderful online resource. The ideal Things aren’t always ideal in the real world, but nevertheless… — Real friends are better than Facebook friends. To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook If the first time you think about me is when you realise I’m blocking the sale, too late! Some years back there was a young man called Nigel working at Queensberry. He was about to get married, and that's how the following exchange got started. It prompted me to write a post in which I said that, to hear people talk, you’d think that only two people are involved in buying a wedding album – the bride and her mother. Same with portrait shoots, I was sure. I couldn't imagine To View More >>

Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook There’s no room in this business for cynics. Ambassadors of Love Sure you love photography … but then this whole business is about love. Love and other emotional drivers — like the desire for connection, significance, family pride, and the human need to remember and be remembered. My Dad wanted a photo of my mother to fit in the breast pocket of his battle tunic in North Africa. Eighty years later I still have it. They married after the war. We have a few formal group photos. All us kids can do is try and judge what To View More >>

I believe that to succeed in this “industry" we need to fully engage our heads and our hearts, and Sonya's post demonstrates how truly engaged she is. It was about the albums she’s been keeping of her two daughters since they were born, and it reminded me of another album that Heather made years ago. So here am I, hand on heart too… Twenty-one years ago we hired a professional photographer. It was our daughter Adrienne’s birthday. Stephen was coming home from Australia with his fiancée Sonya to meet the family. Heather's Mum and Dad had long passed To View More >>

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 To View More >>

A series about storytelling in album design. Highlight the Heroes Every story needs a hero, and so does your album design - probably one on most layouts! The hero image is the focal point, the main attraction, the place you want the viewer's eye drawn to. In graphic design speak it’s called creating visual hierarchy. The supporting characters help the story along and keep things interesting, but it's the heroes you want to shine. I talked about ways to begin and wrap up a story previously, but the middle of the story is where the action is. People dress up and assemble together, the guy finally To View More >>

Are you showing people what you want them to buy? I'll bet you're not. This is important, and so simple... Why does the "business you" want to sell albums? Because they're a surefire way to create extra income from two scarce resources - your time and your wedding bookings. I just got off skype from a photographer complaining because she can't sell albums. Wants to … but can't. But look at her website, or almost any photographers' website, and how many albums do you see? Almost none. How many photographers are showing what they (want to) sell? Almost none. So what's the difference between them To View More >>

(Warning: contains references to blue-grass and rock music) Johannes introduced me to his friends, Lyttelton band The Eastern. That’s OK, nobody else has heard of them either, and that's the point of this post. A while ago The Eastern opened in Auckland for Steve Earle, and more recently for Old Crow Medicine Show. Old Crow who? Heather and I bought tickets anyway, probably the only people in the audience who didn’t know anything about the main act. But then they came out and played. I was hooked after the first few bars Ketch looked wry, ironic and after your girlfriend. Willie wore a Neil To View More >>

So there you are, looking through the expensive bit of glass on the front of your camera at two people you hardly know, thinking how do I make them look good? Is it a trick with the light? Is it a 'looking good' filter under the Artistic Filter menu in Photoshop? Is it making them really, really small in the image so you can't tell anyway, but man oh man that scenery is spectacular? Is it that they paid you SOOO much that they believe they will look good regardless of what you do, a bit like the 'Emperor's new photographer'? Is it that the photograph itself looks good, so by association/participation To View More >>