In this post I’m looking back at my growing relationship with eco-friendly brand Seedlings.

It was way back in 2015 when I first produced an introductory-shoot for designer Sarah-Jayne Mercer and have been creating imagery for them ever since. I love working with products that are sustainable and otherwise celebrate nature.

All of Seedling’s products are inspired by nature, and as they say on their own website; “Our products have been designed with the act of ‘giving back’ in mind, from using recycled and biodegradable elements to sourcing local materials where possible.” Sarah-Jayne Mercer.

The ethos of this brand is all about giving back to the environment “we do our bit whilst creating lasting sentiments”. Producing greeting cards, calendars, and homewares all are unique as they include a little pack of seeds for you to plant. The seeds incorporated are British and have been chosen to attract pollinators and help rebuild natural habitats.

It’s such a good idea to receive a card or gift that has a positive legacy beyond its initial use. Let’s face it the majority of greeting cards don’t have a long life do they?

Drawing inspiration from the natural world their products also focus on simpler times gone by. Embracing these sentiments I’ve chosen rustic and vintage props to style the shoots. As well as rusty gardening tools and other rustic industrial items. Digressing slightly, I do love rusty props and as an avid viewer of American Pickers this reminds me of their expression ‘Rusty Gold’.

The surface I use for many of their shoots is one of the first I created, by dismantling several discarded shipping palettes and stripping them.

The charming illustrations, lovingly created by Sarah’s husband Joel, are printed upon high-quality card stock with a traditional texture. Revealing this texture within the photography is so important online as it’s the only way of communicating a tactile feeling. This is why particular importance is placed upon the lighting and focus when setting up the scene for any greeting card photography setup.

I light products with a consistent approach for each client. For this particular client the effect that I aim for is a subtle sunlight-emulating effect. Graduated lighting with some highlights blown out to give a warm feel produced in my studio where I can ensure consistency and repeatability.

Seedlings have used their photography to be featured in the Independent subscription gift guide. Seedlings have been nominated and have received many awards and they were finalists for the Henries Awards a couple of years back.