Remember the little domestic drama about how my briefcase and laptop were stolen? And how, to judge from my own buying behaviour, not everyone is going to downgrade to cheap and nasty just because of the recession? Well, yes, I bought the most expensive laptop bag I came across, but... I asked for a discount. You're not to know this but I'm a shrug-and-pay guy. It's my role in life to pay full retail, so for me to ask for, let alone get, 10% off is unusual. But what struck me was how the store projected itself. There wasn't a sale sign anywhere. Nothing to suggest times are tough, or please make To View More >>

A relaxed garden party was the perfect fit for Chris and Donna's intimate wedding. They wed at Mantells in Auckland New Zealand where quality champagne and canapés were served and French jazz played. Their wedding has a gorgeous vintage feel to it - enhanced by the style of Jessica Photography's images. Click on the image to take a closer look - Donna's Sera Lilly dress is just beautiful. Words from the bride: "We made sure that our ceremony had a good mix of serious and fun so that our guests weren’t bored. We added in comical moments, honest truths about ourselves (– where the guests To View More >>

We love seeing our clients coming up with innovative new marketing ideas. Andy Donnan received his new Queensberry Starter Kit and tweeted about an idea he had to show his out-of-town clients... And we asked him if we could share. Many of his clients won't get the opportunity to see or touch his albums, so he wanted to give them an up close and personal album viewing experience, but which they could have from anywhere in the world. I won't say too much more except check out how Andy introduces his Queensberry album offerings here (click on the image to play). Cheers, Nigel To View More >>

If you're flying in to shoot a wedding and the weather's so foul the plane mightn't be able to land, you have every wedding photographer's nightmare. And to say the weather was foul would be an understatement... But the plane did land and Johannes (of Moda Fotografica) had already covered the other bases before heading out to shoot Vicky and Ricky's wedding at French Farm in the South Island of New Zealand. With heavy rain forecast and weather warnings in place, Johannes discussed with the couple what would happen if the weather didn't play nice. He walked them through how it might effect what To View More >>

We'd never been to Lyttelton until a couple of years ago. At school we'd all learnt it was Christchurch's port, but that didn't mean you had to visit. Now everyone knows it's at the epicentre of Christchurch's earthquake. The reason I did eventually visit Lyttelton was to catch up with Johannes van Kan and Jo Grams. It's a fabulous little town, with a nice traditional pub (you walk down the corridor to the bathroom, just like the old days), lots of local music, good restaurants, great coffee, a beautiful setting. And in centre of the town the original, often funky, sometimes beautiful, apparently To View More >>

A while ago I suggested "keeping it simple" was a great goal ... but not simple to achieve in a complicated job like photography. But I did suggest you could do it with Queensberry. Take our Design Service. There are benefits to doing your own album design, so what I'm about to say isn't going to work for everyone. But if you're snowed under or uncomfortable with album design it's worth serious thought. Say on average you spend 3-4 hours on each album design ... and many people do spend a lot more. Send them to Queensberry and you've just freed up at least a day. You can bet that at this time of To View More >>

If you've been wondering where we've been lately, this is it! We're excited – even proud in an understated Kiwi way ;) to announce Queensberry Press version 3.0. We get to say "yes" to a lot of things you've been asking for, and well ... we think you'll like the prices! So with that little fanfare please welcome Queensberry Press Albums. Press printed, flushmount or matted albums. Simple, affordable and gorgeous. Here are some of the features: Pages are either flushmount - unmatted and similar to our digital albums... ... or matted - overlay style in a clean cut page block reminiscent of Duo. To View More >>

Yesterday we introduced you to our Good Better Best product matrix, designed to help you navigate our products and services. We designed our new price lists, which you can download here, to match. Maybe the best thing about them is that they're SIMPLE. The prices for each range of products fit comfortably on a single page. No jokes, please, but that’s a step forward! How did we do that? More than 95% of you now order our albums and books in Photojunction, printed and fully assembled, so that's what the price list assumes you're doing. If you're interested in DIY, contact us and we'll send you To View More >>

I was working with a client last evening sorting out their album design, and yet again marveling at PJ Remix. We were looking at what we might do with their design to take it away from the ordinary. The expression Pimp My Album came to mind ... and things went crazy! There were tassels, dice, bling, and all sorts of flame shaped graphics ... quickly recognised as possibly on the absurd side of album creativity. It did get me thinking how I might accessorise my beautiful classic album. I thought I would start a list! The obvious beginning is a case ... there are two available (three if you include To View More >>

Heather recently returned from a Better By Design US Study Tour bursting at the seams with inspiration and excited to share her journey with the rest of us. Instead of a powerpoint presentation or a sit down discussion of what she learnt, she went about posting her thoughts and snippets of wisdom all over our office walls. (Which we actually think is a lot more fun for us to digest). Above are some of my favorite post-it notes, but to be honest I probably haven't even read them all yet! (There are hundreds). I'm glad Heather had a good trip, and I'm glad she was able to bring some excitement To View More >>