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 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 >>