It’s always great to be on the ground floor of a new project when it comes to the photography aspect.

I got a call about a possible product photography project and could I meet for a coffee. I think some one tipped them off that I have a weakness for a decent cup of coffee ;) I knew the client but only through his daughter Nicola @ www.designink.co.uk. At this point I had no idea what the project was or what was to be photographed other than “can we meet”.

So, fast forward to our meeting. We had a catch up and a chat about what had lead them to this point. The whole time the something kept catching the corner of my eye, it was strategically placed under the table out of sight, well almost. I still had no idea what it was, but I was intrigued. Though I could see that it was wooden and knew that it wasn’t the latest bit of leading edge rocket science but something more grounded.

Then it was time for the big unveil… If I described it as a wooden bowl that would be an incredible injustice to the artist and flat out wrong, so I’ll borrow some text from the Querbea website “Stunning sculptural forms uniquely created from the landscape of Ireland. They are a natural artistic progression of an ancient workman’s craft, not constrained by any conventional expectation that they should be functional. Innovative blends of shape and natural detail convey an extraordinary understanding of wood and its beautiful organic forms. They are artistic creations for aesthetic enjoyment.”

So my brief was a simple one, to show the shape, form and texture along with the unique beauty of each one of a kind piece. It also had to be done in such a way that when future pieces become available they can be photographed in the same consistent way. Continuity is important as all new images must have the same look and feel.

After I’d seen a selection of the pieces which are all different sizes, colours, shapes and textures the solution was obvious, keep it simple. A mid tone grey worked best with the range of colours and also keeps the style repeatable further down the line. Sure I could have fun with lighting, accenting little bits of detail and texture but always keeping it simple. Keeping it simple still meant using up to 5 lights!

So studio time was booked, photography completed, coffee was most definitely drunk and there may have been a few laughs along the way!! You can view the completed site at www.querbea.com and maybe even treat yourself to one or two beautiful pieces.

If you have a need for some product photography or a brief you’d like to discuss drop me a note at david@davidcordner.com