Just before Christmas I was asked by the EDP Norfolk magazine to pop over to Holt to photograph designer Emma Bridgewater at the Break charity shop in Holt as part of the launch of the GoGo Hares 2018 charity art trail in Norwich.
Like most jobs I didn’t really know what to expect when you get there, but going on previous visits to small shops the lighting wouldn’t be great and never ideal. Also as it was dark and wet outside with most of it was done inside the store.
The part of the launch I was involved in with was the GoGo Hares mugs that have been designed by Emma Bridgewater to be sold in all of the Break Charity shops across Norfolk and beyond.
I got there a little early, as it’s always best to get there a little early so to scout out the venue and to get ideas of what would work for pictures and what wouldn’t. Just as I was running through some ideas in my head, Emma arrived and it was straight down to taking pictures.
Emma was easy and a delight to work with and was up for all the ideas I had. The first being to get her placing a mug in the front window display. I was on the outside looking in with an assistant holding a small flash just inside and across from her. This worked very well and only took about 10minutes to do with some fine tuning as we went along.
The second picture was of Emma looking through a glass display cabinet with some mugs in situ. I had brought along a Bowens battery powered studio flash which has got loads more power that my little flash. With this and a big soft box placed to the side, again a nice simple ides that didn’t take much effort to get.
The final image was of Emma browsing through the shop itself more natural but still looking at the camera. This was also lit to give a lift to the lighting that was in the shop but still trying to maintain a natural look.
Overall I really enjoyed the commission, and the pictures I think look lovely, with 4 pages in the EDP Norfolk Magazine, it’s been a great way to raise awareness of what Break and Emma Bridgewater do.