Simon Woolf is one of my favourite people. One of our longest-standing clients and quite possibly the most energetic person I know (if you don't believe me check out his Facebook page). He sells beautiful landscapes from his shop in Wellington's Cable Car Lane – access way to one of Wellington's top tourist attractions. One day Simon saw a tourist photographing one of his landscapes through the display window, and posted about it on Facebook. "I asked her for a look, and she stated, 'It wasn't a bad copy but was a little light'. I then told her I was the photographer, and she was being a bit To View More >>

My two children are getting married, and In Part 1 I talked about how my eyes have been opened by the experience. What would my kids get if they hired a "professional photographer” for $3500.00 or so? Generally the photographer's time on the day, a DVD, no post work, often from someone who doesn't know how to give a "wedding day experience" on top of everything else. $3500 feels like too much money for that, but as I pointed out, the wholesale costs involved are too high to expect much more. Prices like that encourage couples to go shopping with unrealistically low budgets for photography … To View More >>

Not the movie! I am talking about wedding photography. OHHHH if only I had a dollar for every time somebody said to me can you airbrush/photoshop me thinner/more beautiful/younger/less wrinkled, and why oh why is it always, I want to look like Brad Pitt or Angelina?! I would be RICH!!!!! Filthy dirty rich, and in truth I would not have to make any money as a photographer. Photographers didn't really invent the lie ... Adobe did. Actually that is a lie, it was the first person to do a cave drawing representing themselves (or somebody else) as a bit more upright than they really were, or possibly To View More >>

Click here to watch on Vimeo. We first met Justine at WPPI in 2003, and she's been a good friend ever since. Last year she saw our new Musée there, and I'm pretty sure she really liked it! Given that so many people shake their head in disbelief at the idea of selling a product in this price range, I just had to ask her about its place in her business. She talks to me about how to succeed as a high end studio; where the business comes from; the importance of networks and word of mouth; her secret weapon (her Mom!); how she presents herself to clients; how she prices and sells Musée (what she To View More >>

Four years in, and Suzanne Black could teach a lot of people a lot of things…especially about marketing and surviving when times get tough. I had a chat with her about what she thinks are the keys to success, how she turns 90% of her enquiries into bookings and why albums are so important to her business. Positivity is contagious. Suzanne is feeling positive right now. I haven't heard that response to a question about the state of the economy in a long time, but after chatting I've decided describing her as "positive" is an understatement... She says, “In the current climate I think it's more To View More >>