My last post said that press books are great but they’re everywhere. "And that's the problem." Someone here was a bit concerned about me saying that. "Won't it put you offside with a lot of photographers?" Maybe. Although if you disagree I hope it's something to think about rather than get upset about. But the fact that many people do disagree is a good thing, at least for us and our clients. If our albums were everywhere they'd have no value. To you or to us. For example see the comments here. Does presenting your imagery in press books trumpet your high-end quality to the market? I don't think To View More >>

Being photographed for your wedding (especially your first one) is worth remembering. Well it should be!        Actually, no! The thing you shouldn't remember is being photographed. You should remember having a great time. You should remember laughing, feeling in love, being nervous, being energised, being with the one you love, being happy, but not "being photographed".  Your photographs should remind you of the feelings and emotions of the day, and not of somebody pointing a camera at you. This is an interesting concept ... The photographer as the facilitator for imagery that uses great To View More >>

There are times as photographers that we get approached by people to do a favour for them. Sometimes it is to talk at a photographic society, sometimes it is a request for help. We are happy to help people but we tell them that we work on the Genie Principle. We don't mind helping, but we don't like to be taken advantage of. We tell people that they have three wishes - only three. We remind them that they need to use those wishes well. Cheers, Johannes To View More >>

OK, n8rpat8r, we love it (found on YouTube). Who are you?! To View More >>

Every wedding photographer has an Uncle Ken story. I was hanging out at a wedding with photographer Brett Prestidge when I first arrived in the UK and something amazing happened... We met the ultimate Uncle Ken. Uncle Ken informed us that he had the okay from the bride and groom to do a big group photograph for them. It is so often the case that as professionals we arrive at weddings and somebody there has a bigger camera than us ... this time it was Uncle Ken. Brett and I were using small, discrete Leica M9s and M8s. So often Uncle Ken tries to take control. This Uncle Ken (his real name) earned To View More >>

This post is now superseded by new Photojunction functionality. If you're uploading your Queensberry album orders using LabFTP, we've just released version 3, with added functionality for ordering prints from QBY online. We're very excited about the online print ordering function – but it's restricted for now to New Zealand clients, so let me talk first about how it impacts on albums. LabFTP 3 integrates more closely with PJ Remix. For example you're no longer asked to provide information that you've already entered in PJ. It also shares Remix's look and feel. Version 3 is no longer a beta, To View More >>

Three points! 1. Investigate and determine your clients needs, limitations, and dreams. 2. Establish design objectives. 3. Exceed your clients' expectations. We set the parameters of size, style, and content from discussions with our client prior to the wedding. Having a series of questions to answer on a sheet means you get the information you need. Album type, size, and budget are the first questions. Then how many albums and what these would do. We gauge their response to our sample albums and ask questions about what might be important. We define the style by giving them a key description and To View More >>

I posted the other day about this being a great time to consider whether any of your business policies and touch points aggravate your customers, and if so fix them. I included a PS saying we know we’re not perfect, and "if you reckon this is the pot calling the kettle black, please leave a comment or email us". I was glad I did because Mark went to some trouble to leave a lengthy comment detailing his frustration with us. My point here is not so much to talk about his particular issues (we've been in touch, of course, and we  pretty much have to take what he says on the chin, and fix the To View More >>

Johannes wrote a post last week about a restaurant going the extra mile, but in the wrong direction. I thought it was real food for thought ... so to speak. Justine pasted it on DWF and people got the point. But Adrienne reckoned it was a bit harsh – didn't the restaurant deserve marks for trying? Absolutely, and I'm sure Johannes was out to make a point rather than beat up on them. But... It's a harsh world. Your customers probably don't care how hard you try, whether you can make payroll, how much you like oysters. Sometimes the toughest thing about being in business is that you can't make To View More >>

I was upsold to in the weekend and didn't even know it. Now that I do though, I'm ok with it. Over the last few weeks my fiancee and I have been looking out wedding bands for us both. We'd again done our homework, been put off by another raft of useless sales people and ended up where we always knew we would, with the same jeweller I'd bought her engagement ring from. I blogged about that experience a while back. An hour later I walked out of the shop with a quote for a wedding band thicker, wider, with a bigger diamond and in higher quality gold than I'd gone in thinking I wanted. Kayla made To View More >>