Thanks Heather. Cheers, Ian To View More >>

I see something cool somewhere and have to share it with my ten best friends ... and some of them like it enough to share the love ... You know the rest ... actually the same works for the flu. So there I was prowling the Digtal Wedding Forum and saw this little baby and thought, Wow! I have to show all the people who haven't seen it yet. This is not about me trying to discover something new, but sharing the love. hugs, Johannes PS Didn't somebody at Olympus do a great job? [He wants one - Ed] To View More >>

"You don't want a photographer - you want a storyteller ... "The camera is just a tool I use to tell the story ... "I don't work for you." Paul Edwards from the [b] School explains his philosophy about photography... Food for thought. Cheers, Nigel To View More >>

Heather remembers the first time we saw this video of the Pogues' Fairy Tale of New York: Christmas 1987. She was sitting in a cane and burnt red suede wishbone rocking chair she'd made herself - not sitting in it, sitting on the very edge of it,  transfixed by the music and the video - the wrenching sadness and the lilt and love of the song. We already knew the Pogues, having thrashed Rum, Sodomy and The Lash (yeah, sounds dodgy, but listen to it) for a couple of years. Every time we think of Shane MacGowan we hope he's OK. He's given us some magic hours. All the very best for the holidays To View More >>

1.4 million people have seen this movie already, but don't let that stop you. A few days after selling out Boston's Symphony Hall, one of the world's best violinists went busking with his Stradivarius for 43 minutes in a DC metro station. A thousand people streamed past. A handful stopped, nobody clapped ... and he made $32. Grab a coffee and read Gene Weingarten's story in The Washington Post. He arranged the performance as "as an experiment in context, perception and priorities". Do I want to make a cheap marketing point out of this? Not really, but it makes you think. Cheers, Ian PS Sal Criscillo To View More >>

Our UK Account Rep, Jo Newman, emailed me today: I thought you might use Mark's comments as an opportunity to talk more about our plans to XXXXXX XX XXX XXXXXXXX . [Sorry - Ed]  I was a bit disappointed when I saw your second post about Mark's comments.  It didn't mention marketing at all :) In fact I've had a few comments and quite a few emails talking about our brand strategy over the last few days. And Robert emailed me weeks ago saying I should be stressing branding more and pricing less: if photographers don't "foster an expectation consistent with their pricing level" they're fighting a To View More >>

What is it that our clients are paying for? Photography? (But what does that mean) Entertainment? (Couldn't afford the clown for the party) Documentation? (Recording content for a historical document) Memories? (Least we forget) Glamorisation? (See, the bride can look glam with the right dress, makeup, hairdo, and some photoshop!) Impressionism? (To impress the neighbours) Fairytaleism? (Living the dream) Then you might ask, what are each of these worth in the final package? It would be an interesting exercise to give each a percentage value. And then think about those percentages, and ask yourself To View More >>

More feedback on my email, Your next album company It's hard to compete ... We've seen a massive influx of photographers from Eastern Europe charging very low prices and supplying reasonable products.I understood the impact of this EU "migration" in British hotels and restaurants, but I honestly hadn't thought about the impact on photographers (Jo and Kirsten will be shaking their heads!). Even so I feel that this kind of competition is always with us ... in one form or other. The purpose of outstanding presentation is to add value to your photography. That's why,whoever you use, your albums must To View More >>