Love HeartWood’s creator and owner Liz Pearson contacted me earlier this year when she realised she needed a professional product photographer for her upcoming “Sustainable Wedding Collection”. Love HeartWood officially launched a wedding collection online today. Liz is going global with her lovingly handmade wooden wedding favours, gifts and other items. Liz wanted to create a gallery of stock images to not only show the image but to also demonstrate it. She wanted the wedding couple to be immersed into the image and want to reach out and touch the product and imagine having the products on their wedding breakfast table.

“Imagine the children” she said “playing with the beautiful little spinning tops at a wedding“. The spinning tops come complete with their own little ethically sourced cotton bags. “I have a 7 year old and I had him in mind when I designed the peg people” she explained. She wanted the image of the little wooden peg people again with the bag, instructions and crayons to be shown in a rustic setting. Liz has a passion for sustainability and ethical sourcing of wooden rustic weddings and homemade look and feel.

Love HeartWoods ethos

“All my wood is from recycled or local sustainable UK sources. I don’t use imported timber which may have come from illegal logging. I don’t use rare exotic hardwoods. Instead I prefer to champion native woods which would otherwise end up in the chipper or the wood burner. I also decided to only use finishes that are natural, healthy and contain no VOC’s. All wood stains are natural, eco-friendly, non-toxic and water based plus vegan friendly and safe for bees and children.

I choose my suppliers very carefully for their ethical and green credentials. For example, sustainable cork cord from Portugal, not leather, is used for the Acorn Collection necklaces.

To pack and ship items either the wood shavings created during turning are used or recycled tissue paper. The shavings can go in your compost bin or it makes great guinea pig bedding. The shipping boxes and paper tape are made from 75% recycled fibres and 100% recyclable.”

She and I imagined her client would have the same ethos so it wasn’t difficult to imagine the types of images she wanted. Liz created a Pinterest board with a few shots that she liked and she entered some notes about what particularly drew her to each pinned image.

The brief:

“The light quality is very important. Natural, soft side light. I know that’s tricky at this time of year, at least it is for me. Colours: rich Autumnal, reds, oranges, soft pinks. Dried flowers are an eco wedding trend this year. The textures need to come out. I want people to want to touch the wood. I’ve added notes to each pin to explain what I like. hopefully you’ll get a good idea of what I’m after.“

She also created a spreadsheet of all of the products and the shot she wanted of each item. Liz is extremely organised which helps me but also her to ensure she gets the shots she needs.

The products I have used in the photoshoot are from all over Berkshire. The beeswax is from Reading Farmers Market https://www.facebook.com/ReadingFarmersMarket/ by a supplier called “Busy Bees” https://www.facebook.com/rawhoneysuppliers/. The beautiful calligraphy is but the super talented artist Victoria Blum. The beautiful bottles are from a kind lady who saw me desperately searching on facebook and kindly lent them to me along with the cross section of wood and tea light holders. The candles are from John Lewis, I really wanted the tapering to be thinner and made from local beeswax but I ran out of time and budget. Liz wanted her shots ready to launch in a very small time scale. This really drove the project forward for me. There’s nothing like a paying client with a deadline to give you a kick.

Do you have products that could do with a product shoot to set them apart from other suppliers? Give me a call, of fill out the contact form below. We can discuss your idea over a skype meeting or in person. Let’s get your products looking as fantastic as Liz’s.

Product Photography starts at £375 and includes most of the props.

You can catch Liz’s collection over on her website.