Photo by Brett Harkness I just wrote about why I love photograph albums, but the story got a little long so I've edited it. I guess the truth is we love the industry, the books and just as importantly, we love design. Queensberry's love and focus on design is a story all by itself. Let's face it, though, some albums suck ... Sorry but they do. The book is cheap and plasticky, and no consideration is given to what photos are included. A great album is so much more. I'm not trying to turn this into a shameless plug, and I know quality is subjective, but I believe we produce the world's finest albums. From a design perspective we are the "bride's advocate" and although it's a little overstated, our goal is for the bride to have an experience seeing her album for the first time that in some ways is better than the one she had on the day. What do I mean by that? You know what it's like ... she gets stressed ... there are lots of things she doesn't get to see and experience ... and of course on the day she doesn't see herself as others see her. It's hard to explain, but the experience of enjoying an album starts before you even open the cover ... It is a beautiful but understated book that piques a person's curiosity. A book whose design is in line with today's taste but equally comfortable with tomorrow's. The real experience, however, is in the pages of the book. The photographer starts by skilfully capturing the events of the day, the spirit of the people involved, the important details as they unfold. It's impossible to describe the total effect, you need to hold a book in your hands to know exactly what I am describing, but when it's done properly the signs are very obvious ... smiles, tears, laughter and people pointing dumb struck as they pore over their images. Here are a few examples (images and albums) by other photographers: - Harvest Colours - Red and White all over - Lyttleton Grunge