Looking through the design workshop yesterday I discovered a book I made nearly twenty years ago. It reminded me how grateful I am to one of my mentors, the bookbinder Michael O’Brien, a man of enormous talent, insight and good humour, and without a doubt the most eccentric person I’ve ever met. I met Michael in 1994, just before he moved his workshop from Auckland to the South Island. One of the books he was working on was for a European art collector, to mount his Picasso drawings. This was a revelatory experience for me. Do people like this exist? Do they pay thousands of dollars for books? To View More >>

For those of you who don't live in Godzone (New Zealand, OK?) Vaughan Smith does the drive time show on New Zealand's top music station, The Edge. He and Fletch have arguably the funniest radio show in the country and I listen to them every day. So when I saw his album working its way through production I thought I'd grab the opportunity to ask him a few girly questions. Read on, ladies, he's not just funny, he's got a soft centre. • Tell us about how it all began - where did you and Sharde meet, and how did you make her fall for you? Like any good modern day romance, it was in the workplace To View More >>

Why are some photographers more successful than others? In part it's their level of confidence. Or anxiety. Picture the anxious photographer preparing for a pre-wedding consult. Setting out coffee and cakes in the studio. Grateful someone got past the email stage. Anxious to finalise the booking … And not wanting to push their luck! They know the bride's looking for a cheap photographer and a cheap album … or a good photographer and a DVD! The most important thing to her is her BUDGET. The confident photographer starts by assuming the most important thing to the bride is her WEDDING. She sets To View More >>

This weekend (September 15th and 16th) in Auckland is Live the Passion - an event aimed to educate, enthuse and inspire photographers. Stephen Baugh will be there representing Queensberry and giving a Workspace presentation, as well as four master photographers - Jason Starr, Luci Harrison, Emma Hughes and Simon Woolf. If you're in Auckland (or can make it up) we recommend attending. The event will have sessions focusing on different types of photography including travel, documentary and fine art, as well as trade demonstrations and social media education. Live the Passion is being held at the To View More >>

Audrey and Xue (Lee) headed home to Taiwan to get married, but approached UK husband and wife photography team Carol and Nicholas Frost (Nicholas Frost Photography) to create something special in and around their current home in Aberdeen, Scotland, on their return. They chose to shoot at various locations around North East Scotland including Castle Fraser, Fyvie Castle, Balmedie Beach and Soul Casino – the idea to really capture the couple’s personalities. Nicholas says that the couple fell in love with their 10×7 Queensberry art album studio samples and commissioned the same for themselves. To View More >>