There's a man on the side of the road selling dreams ... a guy comes up to him and says, "How much for a dream?" The Dream salesman says, "That depends, do you want a good dream, or a bad dream?" "I want the best dream I can get." "Did you know that your dreams are drawn from your own experiences?" asks the salesman. "Now I do. Maybe I could have somebody else's dream then," says the guy, hoping for a happy experience, and realising that his lacklustre life was not the material of amazing dreams. "Funny you should ask – I have a brother who sells books and lottery tickets, maybe he can help To View More >>

I have to say this. That leather is beautiful. Well I certainly think so. It's is part of our new contemporary range, specially made for us. Heather and I were lucky enough to visit the tannery in Europe last month and we were very impressed. So much individual attention to every hide, from the initial inspection and grading (by four very serious men) through to the final finishing processes and packaging. Not to mention their environmental commitment,  and even the way they engaged personally with us. We visited our paper suppliers too. Same story. Great people, great product, high standards. To View More >>

Somebody asked me for a way to create a better, more consistent look for their imagery. It was a trick question really. They were asking me how they might better use software to get consistency and classic styling. I thought about it and the answer was what we might call pre-emptive image manipulation. When I go to a flash restaurant that knows their stuff I am always amazed by what a great chef can do with the simplest ingredients. They start with fresh produce ... the fresher the better (usually - cheeses are a different story). They don't beat the living daylights out of it or season it beyond To View More >>

I've just been dealing with a frustrated user.  The abridged version... He designed an album in PJ then exported PSDs. He then flattened the PSDs and imported them into ALBUM_CO_X's software for ALBUM_CO_X to make. That is frustrating for me on all sorts of levels - mostly because I tried (and failed) to convince ALBUM_CO_X not to waste time and money developing their own album planning tool... but that's a different story. The album came back with a border around every page, about a quarter inch in from the edge.  Somewhere between this client and ALBUM_CO_X's software the print files that To View More >>

As a photographer I'm sure the thought of losing your sight must be horrifying. So here's a little inspiration. Amazing teenager Ben Underwood was blind but got around almost as well as sighted people by teaching himself to "echolocate". This video was voted one of the most inspiring on the web on Mashable. NB: Ben sadly passed away earlier this year, but his inspirational story proves that no obstacle is insurmountable. Cheers, Nigel To View More >>