4 makers with beautiful & engaging WIP photos

This post is brought to you from Melanie of Violet's Buds. Melanie has Bachelors of Science in Photography and provides product photography advice and services to entrepreneurs.

Never underestimate the power of a beautiful WIP (work in progress) image on social media. Showing a carefully staged & well lit photo of your products in the process of creation creates a tether to people - they have become a part of this product since the beginning of it's existence. They fall for it slowly, seeing little bits of it and all it's magnificent details, seeing it being born from nothing to something finished that is incredible, something that speaks to them and that they feel a strong pull towards.

You can create this bond in a variety of ways, from showing tiny bits of an item as it's being made to asking for help with the process, color selections or naming of the finished item. Every little connection you build through your imagery strengthens the bond people have to your products & it makes them irresistible. People love to feel like they are a part of what they buy & fill their home with, so today I have collected a four images from makers that do a wonderful job of creating visually pleasing & engaging WIP photos. 

Hey Paul Studios often shows pieces of her work in progress on Instagram and Facebook. The photos are close up to show the detail and texture of her stitches, demonstrating not only quality craftsmanship but creating visually interesting content that invite questions about her processes, methods and anatomy fiber arts. 

Crafteroni and Cheese shows a partial image of her colorful work, generating excitement about the art work and inviting people to guess what other details are not shown in the images.   
 

Lady Lack's Designs captures images of her work in all stages of progress, which creates interest and builds a bond between the products and her followers. She openly invites feedback and color suggestions with her WIP images, catering her paper quill art to her fans tastes. 

Lu & Ed is a great example of using your WIP photos to drive more engagement by asking fans questions, like "What do you think this is?" "Which color do you prefer?" She posts fun shots of her monsters various stages of creation and asks fans questions about their opinion on number of eyes, hair color, or even helping naming her cute monsters, which also builds a bond between her fans on social media and her products. 
 
Keep in mind that even for WIP photos, you should always keep the background clutter free and have even lighting, and they should be presented in a visually pleasing way that says to your audience that each product is created in a beautiful, thoughtful way, with attention to detail. 

Know a maker whose WIP photos you admire or think are drool worthy? Feel free to share their social media account in the comments!