Few images are more tranquil than those of hand-crafted furniture backdropped by a crackling fireplace.
While the finished work makes viewers feel like cocooning themselves in a warm blanket and dozing off, the process of creating the imagery was, as Portland, Maine photographer Erin Little tells it, rather stress-inducing.
Overall, I feel like this shoot was pretty high pressure because we had to fit dozens of shots in two days, with lots of set up time for each. At times, the energy can get a bit stressed, but I think the best way to diffuse that is to play some fun music and be a little goofy!
This was Erin’s first time working with Thos. Moser. Moser, also based in Maine, specializes in high-end hand-crafted pieces that are built to last for generations. This was the first for which shoot the photographer and the furniture company collaborated.
The creative agency Kingspoke reached out after I turned in my bid for the project. Once accepted, we started talking about the shot list, which was very extensive given the two days we had to shoot. The creative agency was very well organized in Moser’s needs for imagery, so we had a clear goal. I had never worked with Moser before. I hope I can continue to work with them in the future!
I love that Moser is Maine-based and a highly regarded furniture company nationwide. They’ve been around for as long as I can remember, and I love working with Maine clients who have a strong history and presence in the state. The pieces are incredibly well made and are heirlooms passed down for generations.
Although furniture of this quality might be beyond Erin and this writer’s personal budgets, capturing their detail and quality was well within her means. Erin’s experience with architecture photography gave her a strong foundation of knowledge from which to work. Photographing furniture may seem straightforward, but there are a plethora of nuances and subtleties to manage for projects like this.
I have no prior woodworking experience other than making a magazine rack in my 7th grade shop class, but being an architectural photographer definitely played a huge role in the success of this shoot. Everything from framing to angles to lighting came into play. If I didn’t have that background and skillset, this shoot would have been extraordinarily difficult to execute.
There are a lot of details you wouldn’t think about when it comes to furniture unless you’re shooting it. Glare, different wood tones, proportions and how they are being represented in an image, the underside vs. top and how much to show of each, things like that.
Once Erin accounted for all of those factors, her charge was to work with the agency and the stylist to bake Moser’s ethos into her imagery. Words like “timeless,” “classic,” and “multigenerational” are used to describe what the company hopes to achieve with its work.
I feel like the creative agency and stylist both played a major role in imbuing the company’s mission statement into the shots. I feel like we really captured the heart of the company.
The shot that best exemplifies what Moser stands for is the image with the grandfather and granddaughter in front of the fire. We had a gentleman who’s modeled before play the grandfather and a daughter of someone connected to the agency. We had to shoot pretty quickly to capture the child before she lost interest or sat in a different way. All in all, it took about thirty minutes to get a shot everyone liked.
Erin isn’t secretive about her love for Maine-based outfits, making this project extra special. By combining her architectural knowledge with an appreciation for the craft at hand, the New Englander successfully delivered a cozy batch of imagery befitting the artisans at Moser.
We had such a great team of people, and, in the end, we pulled it all off and felt like we all came together to accomplish something great.
See more of Erin’s work on her website.
Credits:
Creative Agency: Kingspoke
Stylist: Kaylei McGaw
Lighting Assistant: Daniel Orr
Further Reading:
Read more about Erin Little on our Published Blog.
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