Hello friends and fans of Hannah Turner Ceramics! It’s Hannah’s daughter, Megan, writing to you all today. I thought I would continue my blogging practice and give you all some insight into an integral part of the website and business upkeep, photo shoots!

As the business is all about imagery, we are constantly creating content for social media and newsletters, so we need a good influx of photos to reinvigorate existing products and showcase new ones. Mum usually goes for lifestyle-themed shoots as it gives customers a better idea of how the products look in the home, how they can be used, and how different design ranges can be curated. Seasonal photos are really important! Holidays like Christmas are busy times when people flock to the website to find Christmas gift ideas. Similarly, Valentine’s Day, Mother's Day, and Father's Day are great gift finding times so Mum likes the pictures to reflect the different holidays.

We very recently did an Easter-themed shoot, which is when we like to showcase the Ceramic Egg Cups, Teapots and Mugs in all their glory, making everything look as eggy and spring-like as possible. Think leisurely Sunday morning breakfasts and afternoon tea.

This Easter shoot was a new experience for me; a very nice change from sitting at a desk. As I have exactly ZERO experience with photo shoots, my job was simply assisting in whatever way I could to make things a bit easier for Mum, the photographer and the stylist. I had a very early start to get the train and was greeted by Mum in quite a rush as she needed to do some extremely last-minute cake prep before the photographers arrived. Mum told me she's always in a rush before her photoshoots. This meant that my first job of the day was baking a cake... not bad! 

Everything was shot at my Grandma’s house (Hannah’s Mum), which is a charming 18th Century gardeners cottage. She has great style and her house is peppered with loads of gorgeous antiques that made great props for the photoshoot. I can’t say that she was particularly prepared for the madness that entailed, though! The photographer, Jo and the Stylist, Gina are good friends with Mum so everyone worked very well together, all rushing around to find the best props and rearrange furniture to get things photographed quickly whilst the light was good. All three have a great eye for arrangement, making the Peacock, Flamingo and Swan Egg Cups come to life amongst cakes, biscuits, eggs and flowers. The results were quite magical. I almost forgot that Easter had already been and gone a couple of months ago!

While they all did the professional stuff, I spent my time decorating a sponge cake and various bunny biscuits and unpacking all the Easter products that were going to be photographed. I can’t pretend it was particularly hard work, but I helped things run a bit smoother. Mum didn't have an assistant for a while until I started working for her, so I think she appreciated it. To be honest, the best part of the photo shoot was being around loads of sweet Easter-themed treats. I definitely had a sugar crash at the end of the day.

It was such a nice day for me. Doing something a bit more creative and hands-on is always rewarding. Hopefully, the next time there’s a photo shoot, I’ll be able to learn a bit more about styling the products… who knows!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading and that this gave you some nice behind-the-scenes intel!

Megan x