There's a framed photo of Heather and me that's thirty years old now and been on the wall above my desk for the last fourteen. It was shot by Rod Ellmore in 1994 while our whole family was together in Auckland. When I look at it I think: “Didn’t we look cute thirty years ago? And I had hair! Remember how those Lockwood houses creaked? The bloody dog ruined that couch… Love the Indian parchment — still on the wall… What happened to those Churchill books? The printing is like new… Those shoes were great…” In another thirty years our grandchildren To View More >>

Hey! It’s Charlotte from the customer service team 😊 One of the most common questions I get is “how do I create custom embossings?” so I’ve put together a super simple Canva tutorial to help you out! Why Canva? Canva is an easy-to-use online design tool that makes design accessible to everyone —no need for complex software like Illustrator! With a library full of modern fonts and illustrations, your ability to create beautiful, custom embossing designs for your clients is endless. 1) Gather Inspiration Start by heading to Pinterest to collect inspiration for your To View More >>

Whether it’s Black Friday, Christmas gifts, or simply clients wanting to wrap up their projects before the holidays, the end of year is  great  for product sales, and a great time to drive new business.  It can also be a time of frantic emails, tight deadlines and a few too many late nights. But it doesn’t need to be! The secret to a smoother, more successful holiday season is to START NOW. Here are five things you can do  right now  to save on hours and stress later. 1. Order your samples early Decide what products you're going to offer and order samples, so To View More >>

Offering products in your photography business doesn’t mean turning into a pushy salesperson. (Oh, I've said that before!) Done well, selling is just another form of great service. Here’s how to make it feel effortless and truly valuable — for both you and your clients :) 1. Start with the why Don’t jump straight into product talk. In your interactions with clients, help them understand why printing matters. Share stories, examples, and your own philosophy. Be the person who loves their products! Explain how an album becomes a family heirloom. How a framed To View More >>

Whether it’s their first enquiry, the day of the shoot or the day they receive their beautiful prints, every interaction with your client shapes their impression of you and your brand.  Here’s a straightforward process to analyse and improve your client experience, step by step. 1. Understand the customer journey Start by listing all the steps your clients take when working with you — their initial enquiry, the booking, your pre-shoot communications, the shoot itself, and product selection and delivery. Any others? Identify the key moments and To View More >>

When we think about "client experience" we can concentrate too much on logistics — timely communication, smooth booking, on-time delivery. Those things matter — a lot — but the real magic happens when we focus on how our clients feel at every stage of the journey. Because at the heart of photography is emotion. People book us to capture something meaningful: a moment, a milestone, a memory. And long after they’ve forgotten what they paid or how many images they received, they’ll remember what it was like working with us. So, what do you To View More >>

At an event like a wedding, who knows what you’re photographing? You might have the last ever photo of Aunty Em with her boys, or the best ever photo of the bride’s school friends, or the only ever photo with her sister who came all the from South Africa. They may not even be very good — but you don’t know their significance, and they didn’t really cost you anything (unless you spent ages on them in post-production). So you can afford to be generous with them. That's the very best reason I can think of for supplying the digital files as part of a wedding To View More >>

We’ve all been there — your client loves their gallery, gushes over the moments you captured… and then skips over the album. You say they’re available but no one bites. It can be disheartening, especially when you know how meaningful they are. And the same goes for other products! But here’s the thing: if your pricing page only mentions “albums available” without any visuals, story, or context, it’s completely understandable that clients pass them by. They’re not saying no to the album—they just haven’t been given a reason to say To View More >>

Personally, I've had nothing to do with school photographers since I lined up for my own class photos, but I do pay attention to what Queensberry's clients do, and they're an important subset of our customer base. I think there's a lot to learn from them because they're serious about business and big on "systems". They need to be, given that a school gig might involve dozens of classes, each with thirty-odd kids, most of them with parents — potential customers — whom they've never met. Imagine if the way it worked was that they all emailed, To View More >>

In case you're wondering after our recent posts —  we don’t think digital files are the enemy! Today’s clients expect them. And we know (because digital downloads are such a popular feature in Workspace)  that for many photographers, they’re a vital part of a thriving, sustainable business — and when embraced with intention, they can enhance, not diminish,  the client experience. They are the first step in a meaningful client relationship. Today’s clients want to share, relive, and carry their memories everywhere. So think of digital To View More >>