Previous |  Contents | Next Download the eBook Bad taste takes a while to show up, but as soon as it does it’s embarrassing. How to avoid it? Start by keeping it simple. If in doubt, leave it out. The half life of crap In her book The Mesh, Lisa Gansky talks about “the half life of crap” – about cheap manufactured products and how long they last. Or rather don’t last. Her point is that the half life of crap products is way too short. They get boring or they break. They end up at the back of your garage or as land fill. Our poor planet can’t afford To View More >>

A wedding album is more than just a series of photographs. It’s a storybook. A timeless collection of fleeting moments and heartfelt emotions immortalised and weaved together to create a beautiful narrative of a couple’s celebration of their union. Photos will bring your client’s wedding day to life long into the future. Therefore, creating the perfect wedding album requires careful thought and preparation. As a wedding photographer, how can you create a keepsake that captures all the significant milestones and little details?  Tips for Creating the Perfect Wedding Album To View More >>

Apart from the fact that Katherine adores Queensberry albums, she personally feels you can’t beat printed images. In this day and age everyone (herself included) has thousands of photos on their phones, computers and social media accounts, but they rarely get round to printing the images. And yet when you hire a professional photographer the images are of such beautiful quality, it's such a shame to confine them to a ‘screen’, as they take on a whole new dimension when printed. Katherine gives us some sound album advice to ponder, interspersed with beautiful wedding To View More >>

We came across Jacqui McSweeney's Instagram when she shared an image of a Queensberry album. We liked her feed so much we asked her to tell us more about herself… Why do I love photography? I love how organic it is in that I can have an idea for an image but from that idea to looking through the viewfinder to pressing the shutter everything can change. I love how excited it makes me, and how I can share that excitement with the people I am photographing, and the people viewing my images. I love thinking about the colours of an image or the beautiful tones of a black To View More >>

A beautiful story behind a beautiful album. Thank you Andrew Donnan for sharing this story about your grandmother with us. "My grandmother raised me from birth. She put off marriage whilst raising me, so when I found out that she was getting married to Jerry, I politely yet firmly let her know that I had to photograph their ceremony. Ruth and Jerry wanted to keep the ceremony low key, so there were only five of us present. My wife (girlfriend at the time) was there with me, so bearing witness to their ceremony was all the more special.  Sadly Jerry passed away a few years ago, but To View More >>

As told to Cate Scaglione - Life As Fine Art Thanks to the digital revolution our culture is by far the most photographed generation in history. Without planning or purpose, people now take pictures simply to share them on a global scale. Sociologists are enjoying a field day over the reasons why, but certainly with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr we have so many ways to broadcast intimate moments with family, friends, pets and our last meal. Which means professional photography is becoming less relevant and less profitable, right? Or is it? The anti-selfie When a client hires a highly To View More >>

Photographer Ben Von Wong recently had the opportunity to bring a dream to life, and despite a hectic schedule, he was determined to help a shy and very ill writer who had emailed his agent in the hopes that he'd consider taking some photos of her. Nicole wrote “I'd like some photos taken of me by a really good photographer while I still have some weight on me... I’d like to look beautiful or interesting. Anything but sick.” She wasn't sure he'd want to do it, and was prepared for a polite 'no', but Ben was intrigued, and two weeks later they'd organised a concept, assistants, location, To View More >>

If capturing a fleeting moment thrills you … if beautiful light makes your heart beat faster … if you dream about composition in your sleep… if you love telling stories with pictures - we'd love to hear from you. It's that time again - we're looking for new images to showcase on our websites and in our new season sample albums and books, as well as in our blogs and marketing pieces (including our new Queensberry Bride landing page). We’re looking for sets of around 80 images, but to enter all you have to do is send us TEN low-res images* from up to TWO different events - a wedding, portrait 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 >>

A series about storytelling in album design. We turn the page in a wedding album… It's night time and we're at the reception. We turn another page… We're back outside the church in bright daylight! How confusing is that? Not only is the mood of the imagery completely different, the natural flow of the story is disrupted and any feeling of the 'journey' is lost. Chronology creates flow It may sound too basic to mention, but sticking to the order of the day helps make your images into a story. It also speeds up album design by predetermining the order you lay them out on the pages. Here's something To View More >>