| Photo prop designs from Wicker By Design began as a "stay at home mom"
wicker restoration business
Photo prop designs from Wicker By Design started as small wicker restoration business. Like many women in portrait studio photography, Susan Day Moore started as a home-based business and grew the home enterprise from antique furniture restoration to custom furniture design. She created a line of vintage, Victorian children's furniture with the detail and
craftsmanship found in turn of the century designs. This romantic style of wicker furniture inspired a return to a photo prop with a classic, enduring design look.
Entering the portrait photography industry
When Susan first entered the portrait photography market, photo props were dominated by items which were practical or entertaining, for example large crayons, plain wood seats, etc., but did not bring a sense of elegance or high quality to the portrait. They simply "did the job." Indeed, there was a time when babies were posed on a tilted board with three pegs, one for the crotch and one for each armpit! This was not always true. At the beginning of the 20th century, many traveling photographers
considered an elaborate wicker chair to be an essential ingredient in their photography. Susan was able to tap into this tradition and, using her skills in wicker restoration, began designing each photo prop which took that tradition a step further.
Susan's actual entry into the studio portrait photography industry began over twenty years ago when she made the furniture in her own kitchen. A North Carolina photographer asked her to custom make a bench for posing. This piece became the prototype for our best selling Christening Bench. After success with this piece, we created two more classic props, the wicker swing and the sleigh/bassinet. |
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The Sleigh/Bassinet has an interesting story. It began as a piece for holding holiday cards. When a photographer received his tiny sleigh, he called in a panic telling her that he told the customers coming to the photography shoot and that two children would be photographed sitting in the prop. Susan said "no problem" and promptly made a larger version. Since then, the sleigh/bassinet has been one of our best sellers. One photographer in Texas told us that he had photographed hundreds of children in that one prop! We believe it. Susan herself often
stands in the sleigh at trade shows to demonstrate how strong it is.
Since then, Susan has collaborated with portrait photographers to design many other props that uniquely meet the needs of studio portrait photographers. Her designs specifically address issues of size, shooting angle, proportion, framing and versatility. For example, she recently modified the popular line of Child and Adult Turkish Chairs
to add a removable back, thereby giving the prop an entirely new look and a safety feature for sitting babies. |
The classic wicker style inspired Susan to broaden her designs from wicker to wood, willow and metal chairs, benches, swings and other posing photo props. The expansion started with wood props, such as the toy boats, child decorative rail, the window set and the child's stairstep. Later, she developed a metal line featuring the Art Nouveau Gates and a willow line that is led by the willow loveseat. She also has collaborated to create other photo prop designs such as the top seller beanbag baby poser.
Growth and Production in the Philippines
As Susan's line grew, she began displaying at local, regional and national studio photography trade shows. With time, the line grew beyond her ability to make enough to keep up with demand. She then found a factory in the Philippines with over 50 years of experience in making wicker furniture. They offer high quality craftsmanship that far exceeds that offered by most props in the studio photography industry. Their skilled production now includes wood and metal props.
We are grateful for the talent and skills of our Philippine supplier. We have visited the factory and found the working conditions to be high quality. Indeed, it was quite enlightening for Susan to see every phase of production, framing, reed preparation, weaving the wicker, and finishing, all on a much larger scale than her kitchen. She and her husband Thad had done it all! Moreover, our Philippine factory does not employ child labor, has a union and pays competitive wages.
However, we as Americans little understand the level of poverty in the the Philippines and other third world countries. For that reason, we strive to tithe 10% of our profits to Philippines for the purpose of poverty relief and economic development.
We invite you to visit our page on world poverty relief for more information. There you will see links to world poverty relief and advocacy for international cooperation.
Over the years, Susan has developed some classic and memorable photo prop designs that are highly valued by studio photographers for their beauty, functionality and quality. Each photo prop is known for the fact that they weather the hard work of many portrait sessions. Indeed, we have heard that the name Wicker By Design makes for quick and high return on Ebay!
Range of Photo Prop Designs
The wicker line covers the range of baby, child, senior and family portraiture. They generally can be obtained in white, whitewash and walnut/brown. The best sellers in the wicker line include the classic christening bench, the baby bed, the wicker swings, the wicker poser, Turkish chairs and backstand chairs. Most of these come in white, whitewash and walnut.
The wooden prop line also comes in a variety of color finishes -- white, ivory and walnut. The most popular props in wood are the child decorative rail, the child stairstep and the window set.
The metal photo prop line has been very popular in the last several years because of the "garden" look. These props can be used indoors and even left outdoors since they are rust resistant. For example, we placed one of our metal arbors as a decorative piece in our yard for nearly three years with no rust. The most popular color is antique green.
Also, we have a willow line of photo props that is made domestically and includes a loveseat, a swing and an arch. Finally, our beanbag baby poser falls into its own category. It remains our best selling photo prop, simply because of its versatility and price.
Each Photo Prop Has Unsurpassed Quality and Unique Design
Wicker By Design strives to give prop tools that set the photographer apart from competition, whether that competition comes from other studio photographers or the general public.
The majority of the wicker, wood, willow and metal portrait photo props we sell are exclusive designs. The distinction of owning and using a photo prop that were originally commissioned as special requests helps to differentiate you from your competition. These are not the ordinary, mass-produced pieces you typically find throughout the Internet. For example, our Christening Bench has a cut-a-way front allowing you to frame the subject. As a consequence, when customers
sit or use one of our photo props, they are instantly impressed by the quality and excellence of the photography session.
A portrait photographer wants to delight the customer and create an environment in which the customer is energized and excited. The combination of creative talents and a collection of photo prop designs give the portrait photographer the ability to capture poses of the most important times in their subjects lives. Photographers deliver more than a photography portrait; it is a treasured moment suspended in time.
Wicker By Design recognizes the work and talent of the people who actually produce our photo props. We contribute back to that country for economic development purposes.
We invite you to contact us. |
