So you have a few album designs under your belt and you are thinking "I need more!' Flips and wings are a remnant from early creative album design days, but are in fact a very cool design addition. They are easy to use and add an element of difference – provided your album maker allows them, as Queensberry does. A Flip is an extra page that folds out from the outer edge of a standard page while Wings are half pages that fold over the base page and meet in the middle. They are simple to add and can be found in the Layout tab in the Tools window. [caption id="attachment_5603" align="alignnone" To View More >>

Three quick tips to simplify album design. 1. Avoid unnecessary repetition (eg this is the bride looking slightly left, straight ahead, and slightly right) unless you make your profits from the number of images you sell. 2. Embrace open space (especially in sample albums - lead by example). 3. Offer a two album option that allows people to have lots of images without overcrowding. While I'm mentioning 'leading by example': If you don't make a sample album from each order, at least make each design into a slideshow you can show prospective clients. This library of slideshows allows you to show them To View More >>

'Oh So Beautiful Paper' is a really awesome blog. They have new visual delights every day - that are often beautiful wedding invites - but also anything gorgeous to do with paper. A little while ago, Queensberry featured in a post about a Musée album with images by Justine Ungaro. Hope you enjoy browsing:) Just a warning though - it's incredibly addictive! Anna To View More >>

I got reminded today that I haven't mentioned the follow-up to David Ziser's "perfect storm" post, which I recommended a few weeks ago. You can find Part 2 here. It's interesting reading and I hope you check it out. David's saying that, despite all the factors working against professional photography you're not doomed! There's light at the end of the tunnel. But quality and service aren't enough, so what does it take to succeed? Quite a lot really: "…product innovation, responsiveness to the client, studio-client “stickiness”, product diversity, creative marketing, full understanding of social To View More >>

There are two things you shouldn’t do with a problem or mistake: just ignore it, or just fix it. Just ignoring it really annoys people, so don’t do that. But sometimes just fixing it isn’t much better – especially if someone else caused the problem in the first place. That’s because (with many problems) if all you do is "fix them" the same thing will happen again. And that soon gets really annoying. Annoying for the person fixing the problem (of course) but just as annoying for the person who may actually be causing the problem. If things keep going wrong they’re left wondering why To View More >>

I used to have a rule, 'If there is a black and white image in an opening the whole opening should be black and white!' It was a good rule because it fitted well with my 'Keep it simple' approach to album design. I have however seen some lovely designs from some very talented photographers where they are using the contrast between the black and white image and the colour one to either remind you of colour, or remind you of form. So I have modified my rule. Use colour and black and white together with intent only. Random meaningless mixing creates visual chaos and disturbs the viewing experience. To View More >>

In my posts a couple of months back about album marketing I suggested that you need an entry-level price that doesn't scare people. That prompted Darlene to tell a good story... "If a bride has a Mercedes budget and your prices start at Ford, she won't even come look at you. I've seen that in action with some of my clients. "One guy from a rust-belt town was charging $1500-3000. He told me, 'I can't sell your albums – they're too expensive and I can't get $5000 for a wedding round here'. "I told him he'd be surprised to learn, then, that one of his competitors (20 minutes away) was using To View More >>

On 23 October, Gold Coast based couple Hayley and Greg came home to New Zealand and married at Tarureka Estate. Planning a wedding from abroad is a tough ask, but Hayley's dad acted as their local wedding planner and did an excellent job. Haran of Haran Photography shot their wedding just outside of Wellington, and says their wedding day was a simple but beautiful celebration of Greg and Hayley's love. As is their album... Here are some of the layouts. Click here to see more of Haran Photography's work. Cheers, Anna To View More >>

Meet one of Justine Ungaro's brand new client albums - a Mint green Queensberry Duo she shot and designed for clients Kristan and Steve. Justine met Steve while scouting for bands for her own wedding. He played in the band she eventually hired, and he booked her as his and Kristan's wedding photographer. Justine says, "We each had a real vested interest in the overall success of each other's weddings. It's been a pretty special relationship ever since." Kristan and Steve married on 30 May 2009 and when their album arrived, wrote to Justine to say... "We totally love this album! The photos look To View More >>

It's been marryin' time at Queensberry these last few months. Off the top of my head there's been Danny, Nigel, Akshay, Chetan, Gino and, for the girls, Anna. One of the first family occasions I can remember with Heather was my Mum and Dad's 25th anniversary. And now, as of today, we've been married forty-three years ourselves. Good grief. 1968 was one year on from the summer of love: a time as now of terrorism, tumult and war. Even earthquakes. Unrest to say the least of it in America, France and many places else. Vietnam, the Prague Spring, the Civil Rights Act, the assassination of MLK and RFK. To View More >>