Darlene Hildebrandt was running a very successful Edmonton (Canada) studio with her first husband when we first met in 2000. She'd come from nowhere to become one of our best clients in spectacular fashion - spectacular because it happened so quickly! Often we find new clients "convert" their business to Queensberry quite slowly. In many cases they have contracts with their customers to deliver a Brand X album, and feel obligated to do so. But having made the emotional commitment to move on, Darlene wasn't prepared to be that passive. Every single one of her upcoming wedding clients upgraded to To View More >>

I was thinking about this the other day as I was driving back from a wedding out of town. We need to try to find ways for our brides and grooms to commit to being photographed. I have seen both extremes, one where the bride is expecting you to pull rabbits from hats because she paid you a lot of money to do your magic, and the other extreme where she almost dresses as a rabbit to make your life easier, and the magic more real. One bride came to me telling me I had the job (of shooting her wedding) if I could make her look skinnier in the photographs ... I said to her we could but I needed her To View More >>

We're proud to announce that New Zealand’s two specialist Pro Labs are to merge. Bob and Lena Tulloch have decided it’s time to exit the lab business after twenty-seven years so they can focus on their studio and gallery in Mt Maunganui. They are delighted that the Super-Lab operation will become part of Queensberry’s lab services. Bob says, “After so many years of personal involvement in the printing business this will inevitably be a wrench, but we are personally committed to making the transition a success for Super-Lab clients. Queensberry has the same commitment as Super-Lab to quality, To View More >>

Three points! 1. Investigate and determine your clients needs, limitations, and dreams. 2. Establish design objectives. 3. Exceed your clients' expectations. We set the parameters of size, style, and content from discussions with our client prior to the wedding. Having a series of questions to answer on a sheet means you get the information you need. Album type, size, and budget are the first questions. Then how many albums and what these would do. We gauge their response to our sample albums and ask questions about what might be important. We define the style by giving them a key description To View More >>

Is it just me or are we all (suppliers to the wedding industry) suffering from our clients' "fear of commitment"? The numbers of bookings are down, the time between booking and getting married is getting shorter. "It's the Recession," we cry, and it's almost true. It's not the recession, it's the fear of it. How can we overcome that fear? This is just a question, but ... are we better to say, "We'll give you a 20% discount" or, "We can be flexible?" What does "flexible" mean? It might refer to payment terms. It might mean they can start with a 'shoot only' package and add the trimmings later – To View More >>