A little over 6 years ago I returned to my office after a meeting with staff to introduce a design audit and branding project. My phone rang and a man introduced himself and said he was from Apple. At first I thought I was being punked - all through the presentation the consultants had compared us to, and suggested we benchmark ourselves against, not our competitors, but great companies like Apple. This gentleman proceeded to tell me he was from Cupertino and that his boss was Steve Jobs. I tried to act as if I took calls like this everyday. He said they wanted to develop a premium book, and would we consider doing it for them? I asked, "Why Queensberry?" and he replied something to the effect of, "Our research indicates you're the best and all roads seem to point back to Queensberry." Trust me, I was both excited and honoured. Then something crazy happened... I asked him if the professional photographic industry was important to Apple, and he replied, "Yes of course. It's not where the money is, but it's where Apple proves its products and establishes credibility." To which I said, "I'm honoured that you've considered us but I have to decline". At first he didn't understand. I think he may have said, "But it would be like winning the lottery." I explained that we would loose our credibility as a supplier of professional products, and they in turn would damage our industry by putting professional products in the hands of consumers. We continued to talk. I made some suggestions about how it could work, and to their credit he listened. I can't really say much more, other than the conversation ended politely, I cried in my beer a little and we heard no more for about twelve months. After that the conversations/negotiations are all under non-disclosure, so all I can say is that we eventually found ourselves in an arrangement that attempted to provide a premium offering without undermining professional photographers. Getting a mention on Apple's website was this fanboy's dream. :)

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I'm not telling this story to try and impress, but to underline the way we feel about professional photography. Not once was my decision ever challenged within Queensberry. It always felt right, and I'm proud of ourselves for making it and of Apple for understanding. Of course the album industry has been largely commoditised anyway. Professional photography is evolving in exciting ways, but it needs a new set of rules, and more photographers and their suppliers learning how to play and succeed in the new environment. To our distress, we've been criticised from time to time since then for being disloyal to photographers, or not understanding them, or being arrogant. First we branded our product, to the distress of a few people. More recently we introduced Queensberry Print, which, while targeting the high end of the market, is not exclusively for professionals. This lead to comments like "Queensberry is prostituting themselves", and silliness such as one of our staff being evicted from an internet forum. That hurts. We may take a few missteps, but prostituting ourselves, really? The world, and especially this industry has changed, and continues to change dramatically. Like you we need to adapt, and develop new rules of engagement with the industry we love. For those who don't accept these changes, all we can do is ask that you believe in our good intentions. We're always happy to talk. For those who are prepared to come along for the ride, thank you! Yesterday we introduced, as promised, trade discount on Queensberry Print products for professional photographers. Our own goal is simple: to do work we're proud of, try and make our customers happy, and have some fun along the way. Cheers, Stephen