Do you know Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds? — I'm showing my age here! Nick's strange baritone singing voice is definitely an acquired taste and I stayed away until I saw him as one of a bunch of big names singing Leonard Cohen songs at a Sydney tribute show. And then I came across the Red Hand Files. When they show up in my feed I stop scrolling and read, and his latest post made me think of photographers, and what you do. What we do too. Nick invites his fans to ask him questions, and every week or so he picks one to answer. He takes this very seriously. This week someone To View More >>

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 >>

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've just finished re-watching Barry Schwartz's Ted Talk on The Paradox of Choice. He makes this very important point: Too much choice produces paralysis. Offer people too much choice and they'll find it very difficult to choose at all. Yes, at Queensberry we offer a lot of choice! We know that. We do it because every photographer is different. And we agree, as Barry Schwartz says, that it can be difficult to get your head around. But … if you want to sell products, you need to make the effort, not leave it to your customers.  As our designer friend Donna says, to run a design To View More >>

We’re very excited to announce that our online Client Galleries in Workspace have had a face lift, and boy do they look good!  We’ve released four new gallery styles, including a video option. Each can be further personalised to suit your taste and style by very easily changing fonts and other elements. Please do check them out and let us know what you think. Client Gallery Option 1: Simplicity  Simplicity is an upgrade of our current "Standard" gallery style. We've worked to refine the font selections and sizes to give this gallery a more modern feel. To View More >>

We love it when one of our staff members gets an album made for themselves. We spend most of our time creating handmade products for photographers, but we like to walk the talk when it comes to printing our photos. Maddy works in the Queensberry bindery and she's let us share her Portrait Album with you. Take a look.  "I made my own scrapbook style photo albums when I was younger and printed photos to frame. This is the second Queensberry album I've made.  "I wanted to make a gift for my partner, Simba, to celebrate the adventures we’ve had together so far, including a To View More >>

If you can’t name five things that differentiate you from your competitors, there’s probably only one – your price. Here's what differentiates Queensberry: 1. We believe the way to succeed is to stand out from the crowd, not to join it. There’s less competition, more satisfaction and more pride at the high end of the market … and it’s our job to help get you there. Think of our albums as profit centres, not costs. 2. We’re design-led. The people in your viewfinder will be looking at your albums for much longer than we will. They must look beautiful To View More >>

Someone suggested the other day that Queensberry’s “look” is “classic”, and if you want “hip” albums you’ll need to look elsewhere. So … how do we plead? Well yer Honour, on the one hand, it’s true … and on the other, it isn’t! Why isn’t it true? It’s your art, we just provide the frame. It’s your album, so if you want hip, make it so. We see plenty of up-to-the-minute designs going through the Bindery, and lots of classic work too. What we suggest is, pick from our paintbox whatever supports your To View More >>

How do you target high-end clients? How do you stand out from the crowd? What types of albums could you, or should you, offer? Those are all good questions. Today we share why Duo albums might be the answer.  01. Turn your images into art What make Duos different are their unique pagemount mats. They frame your images with a striking key line, created by meticulously hand-trimming and mounting each print to fit inside the mat opening — each one presented with the same care and attention as your framed wall art. 02. A package superstar If you're thinking To View More >>

Even with digital images and online galleries everywhere, the most impressive way to show off your work is with a printed portfolio. A printed book shows more than your photography skills. It expresses your design abilities, your taste in materials and your high standards as an artist. If you're thinking about creating your own portfolio, here are some ideas to get you started. They're not like wedding and portrait albums Sample albums normally mimic what you want to sell. They show prospective clients what to expect, and help them visualise their To View More >>