It used to be that people would ask me if I used film or digital, generally because they'd heard a horror story. I would show them an album and ask them firstly if they liked the quality of the images, and then what they thought it was shot with. Most guessed wrong and said "film". Back then my using digital could have undermined my perceived value. But what if your choice of suppliers added perceived value to your service? What if you had brides asking about your suppliers? If a client sought you out because you used Queensberry would you be offended? If you don’t tell your clients why your To View More >>

Johannes has a better metaphor, but the photo is from iStock. - Ed. The Bumble Bee Effect. Different to the Butterfly Effect because they haven't made a movie of the same name with at least two sequels. The Bumble Bee effect is all about buzz and pollen. It's about being talked about. We successfully did so by putting on an earthquake (a really big one). There are other ways to create a buzz that are much more positive. Obvious buzz topics are awards, photographing the wedding of Kate and Prince William, standing tall in the face of adversity, scandal, heroism, and achievement. (Actually 'scandal' To View More >>

I'm heading back to New Zealand after four gigs for MPA and CPT. When I left home Jo (my wife) gave me two things (other than the advice to stay away from danger). She gave me an iPhone so that we could stay in touch ... my phone was in a bad way ... and she gave me a small box. Now you would have thought that a caring wife would have uploaded a set of images or a small video of her and our daughter to remind me of them in their absence ... this is the beauty of technology. No she didn't. She went 10 times better. She gave me a small box of prints of our family to take away. This low fi approach To View More >>

Gotta love her: Bride by Steve and Cheryl, photography by Johannes, album by Queensberry Why do images look so good in books? I asked myself that question as I walked out of the new Aussie movie, Tomorrow when the war began in which the main character delivers a satiric line, "The book usually is better than the movie"... Take an image accompanied by a line of text in a great print ad. Or a series of images of a bride walking down the aisle in an album. Or a double page spread of a horizon in National Geographic. I reckon it's because the real beauty of the images is only discovered when they're To View More >>

I was listening to a lovely song by Amy Seeley and was imagining images in my head. The song is haunting and has a feeling of being connected to a story. When I think about stories I usually think in a visual way. Creating a relationship between sound and imagery that isn't literal is a powerful thing. That is the difference between an album of images from a wedding, and the emotional and visual journey that is an album as a story, a collection of memories, a journey, a love, and a destination. One is a set of pictures, and the other is a visual and emotional soundscape - a song in my head. What To View More >>