Tuesday 13 March 2012

Photoshoot

Sue has been struggling with taking photos of her work for what seems like years.  The high gloss glaze, the perfect squares and the white porcelain; a difficult combination for even a professional photographer!

Two years ago we had some beautiful product shots taken, but work moves on, and these designs and images are no longer current.  If  we are going to venture into the on-line world, taking good photographs is something Sue has to crack!

Sue has a notice board in her workshop filled with inspirational quotes (I will introduce you to it in another post), and one of these is "We learn to do something by doing it.  There is no other way". by John Holt, an American author and educator.














There is no doubt in my mind that practising this motto has led to Sue's ability to make beautiful ceramics.  So it is time for her to get over her fear and throw ourselves into another area of the business.

Our friends Hannah Nunn, who makes paper cut lighting and owns Radiance, a beautiful lighting and craft boutique in Hebden Bridge, and her partner Robert Currey of Ahand, gave us lots of helpful advice and encouragement.  Armed with that, Sue bought a new camera, a few photography accessories to try, found some bits of what we call 'fluff' ie pebbles, seeds etc and locked herself in an attic bedroom for two days. And so the fun began!














There is nothing quite like doing the same thing over and over again with minute changes each time.  And of course, when you're trying to control the light, there are so many other factors to contend with.. Now not all of the shots looked like they had been taken by a professional, and Sue was certainly grateful for the camera delete button, but here are a selection of some of our favourites.









The mustard box has always been one of Sue's most pleasing shapes and this red lamps design is Sue's latest.















These little silver star tealight holders do sparkle, but it is not always easy to capture this on the photo.  But we were getting somewhere.....














And I think the strategically placed pebbles give the beach hut range a seaside feel.

As you can imagine, there was quite a lot of huffing and puffing, but on the whole after an intensive period, Sue had made great progress, and her determination was starting to pay off.

Watch this space over the coming months as I share more photos with you, and if anyone has got any tips for taking photos of work, then I'd love to hear from you!

2 comments:

  1. Congratulations. You made your sparkles sparkle! :) Keep up the good work x

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  2. It's a good quote that John Holt one; so good I have nicked it and written my own post around it http://societyfabric.blogspot.com/2012/03/i-have-come-across-few-thoughts-in-past.html !

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