How We Photographed Our Ceramics Using a Commercial Backdrop and a Simple Wine Glass for Scale

Earthy layers, intersecting lines, and a rich textured glaze — shown here with a wine glass and cork for scale. Another piece photographed in our new minimalist setup. 🍷✨

At Village Ceramics & Crafts, we’ve spent a lot of time refining how we present our pieces online. Photography is such an important part of selling handmade work — it needs to be clear, honest and atmospheric without overshadowing the ceramics themselves. Recently, we settled on a setup that finally feels like “us”: a soft, mottled commercial backdrop, a standard ISO wine glass filled to a consistent level, a cork for balance, and our 60 cm cube photo booth illuminated from above by LED lighting.

The backdrop made all the difference. We selected a 122 × 60 cm section of a beautifully textured print — a blend of muted greens, browns and soft, earthy tones that gives the impression of depth without introducing any visual noise. Inside the booth, the fabric curves from the base up the back panel, creating that seamless “infinity” sweep that makes ceramic pieces look grounded and professional. Because our work features distinctive glazes, we needed something that wouldn’t compete or cast odd reflections. This backdrop has just enough character to complement the surfaces without ever drawing the eye away from the pot.

The LED lighting in the booth helps enormously with showing glazes accurately. Overhead lighting gives a soft, even illumination that reveals surface detail, hand-building technique and texture without creating harsh hotspots. With glazed pieces, reflections can be finicky, so we place each ceramic slightly forward of centre and rotate it gently until the light plays across the surface in a way that enhances, rather than obscures, the finish. Once we found the sweet spot, the whole setup clicked into place.

We had at first used a wine bottle as part of the staging but replacing it with a standard ISO wine glass and cork created a look that feels cleaner and more in tune with our minimalist style. The glass works beautifully as a scale reference, and because its proportions are universally recognised, it helps viewers immediately understand the size of each ceramic piece. The cork adds a grounding element — small, unobtrusive, yet enough to complete the little vignette without cluttering it. We standardised the wine level in the glass so each image feels consistent and intentional.

Bold abstract energy meeting subtle crackle glaze texture — captured with our new studio backdrop and simple scale markers. Quietly striking from every angle. 🍷🖤

Once everything was arranged, the photoshoot developed its own gentle rhythm. We would

position the vessel, adjust its angle slightly, watch how the glaze caught the light, and check how the glass and cork sat in relation to it. The combination of the curved backdrop, soft lighting and simple scale props created a sense of calm and harmony in each frame. Every piece — whether raku-fired, or hand-built — felt like part of the same visual family.

What we appreciate most about this setup is the consistency it brings. The backdrop doesn’t change. The lighting doesn’t change. The wine glass and cork remain identical from piece to piece. The result is a gallery of images that feel unified, elegant and unmistakably ours — letting the ceramics do all the talking.