Yesterday saw me getting up at 4.30 AM to travel to London to have a quick look at the trade show held during the SWPP conference. I am not a member or did I attend any of the so called classes... I love to learn and arrange these things for myself, I prefer to have one to one sessions with people that I believe I can truly learn something from rather than sitting in a room with 50 other people, attending lectures for the sake of it...
The trade show, in truth was a carbon copy of last years event... nothing there that had not been covered in the trade press...
However, there are were two exceptions that made the trip worthwhile for me...
Firstly, My visit to the Queensberry Album stand cemented my idea that, in 2011, I would limit my album selections to "exclusively Queensberry", and my website Nicholas James Photography will reflect this shortly. This was part of a process that started last year. I had been contacted by Sandy, who works at their head office in New Zealand and through some very brief but informative talks soon realised that their customer service was second to none. I have used their products (via a third party) and have never needed to be convinced of their quality, which in my opinion is second to none. What impressed me, whilst talking to New Zealand and to Jo and Rebecca on their SWPP stand was the companies desire to "get it right". They really do care about the client, the product and their reputation. This mix is a surefire way to drive a company to success.
At this time, Queensberry are at a different level to other suppliers (in my opinion) and one would have thought by continuing in this vein would make the company wealthy, brides happy and photographers proud to be associated with them. As a photographer who, I hope, runs his business on the same principles, my decision to go Queensberry Albums exclusive gives me the reassurance that I am "backed up" by others who take a dedicated and very professional approach to their work.
So in theory Queensberry could simply carry on as they are, maybe adding to their portfolio as fashions change (although they produce a timeless piece of art) and take the business to financial success.... but.... they have decided to take it up a level again, if that were possible.
Enter the queensberry "Musee" collection. It is truly mind blowing what the team down in New Zealand have done.... Price wise it is not for the faint hearted. Had I been quoted the cost for this album without having seen it I might have turned on my heals and run for the hills, metaphorically speaking, because it is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination.... but is the word "expensive" the right one to use? The short answer is simple. Every single £ / $ of the investment in this album is justifiable.
OK, I do realise whilst justifying a cost is not the same as being above or even beyond budget, but for those who can afford the investment, I would simply say "do it".
So, given that you may not have the budget for the Musee collection, should you be disappointed in having to settle for the normal Queensberry Collection?. Not a bit of it. Queensberry have a good, better and best range.... given that their "good" range far exceeds that of their competitors (only my opinion again but I have seen, touched and inspected at close range, all of the main competitors) I don't believe that disappointment and Queensberry albums are words that sit well in the same sentence. I think that Queesberry should actually change this to Excellent, Excellenter and Excellentest... if those word were in existence.
I'm not going to describe the Musee range here, having seen it, felt it and examined it, I could never do it justice but I do recommend you reading about the collection in Queensberry Albums own words. Read it here Musee and find out about it's beginnings, it's design etc and you will see exactly what it brings to the wedding album market place.
The second piece of success from attending the swpp trade show was the purchase of a book. To give you some idea about my reading habit - I buy anything with the words "wedding photography", "portrait photography" or stock photography in the title. Good or bad, I read them from cover to cover. So far this year, all sixteen days of it, I have bought four books that come into this Genre and one of them was at the show. It was Damien Lovegroves - A complete guide to professional wedding photography.
But this book did stand out against others of this ilk. Since the advent of digital cameras, everyone who has been told by a friend or family member that their images are good has decided that they want to make a living as a wedding photographer (thats a whole other question) and most books have been written with this in mind (why not if there is a market for it) and in most cases way to basic for any competent photographer. However Damien Lovegrove has hit the nail on the head with this book for two reasons - it is a good read for competent beginners and for those of us that have been in business for a long time there are snippets of information that are of interest.
So is the cover cost too much to pay for just snippets of information. The short answer is no. I have never rested on my laurels just because I am successful at what I do, I am always looking to improve. In fact there were two pieces of advice in the book that I will steal and use as a foundation - a foundation that with hard work I can improve upon. So basically it will pay for itself in time. Unfortunately, those two ideas also have to pay for some of the garbage that I have read.
I don't agree with the byline on Damien's site that says "Discover how to master every aspect of photographing a wedding" but would endorse it as a good read and worth buying.
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