LIGHT BY TIME OF DAY

MORNING — SOFT AND DIRECTIONAL  (8–10am)
  The best hour for most handmade goods. Light is soft, slightly cool, and comes in at a low angle that gives you long gentle shadows.
  Do: Table pulled up to within a metre of the window, product in the bright shade just outside the direct sun patch. White card opposite the window, angled to bounce light back into the shadow side.
  Note: Leather is about texture, and texture needs light raking across it, not hitting it straight on. Turn the piece so the window is almost side-on, around 9 o'clock.

MIDDAY — DIFFUSED OVERHEAD  (12–2pm)
  Strong and contrasty on its own. Usable only with something over the window.
  Do: Diffuse it: Barely any. Leather can take harder light than most things — a thin curtain is enough. Then shoot from directly above for flat lays, which is what midday light is actually good for.
  Note: If the sun is making a hard-edged patch on your table, you are shooting in the wrong spot. Move to the shaded half.

LATE AFTERNOON — WARM AND RAKING  (4–6pm)
  Warmer and lower. Excellent for texture, risky for accurate colour.
  Do: Window almost side-on. Use a dark card on the far side instead of white to deepen the shadow and cut a clean edge.
  Note: Shoot your colour-accurate variant row in the morning instead. Afternoon light will make a white product look cream.

OVERCAST — THE FREE LIGHTBOX  (any grey day)
  A cloudy sky is a softbox the size of the sky. Professionals wait for this.
  Do: No diffusion needed. Get the product as close to the window as possible and shoot everything on your list in one go, because it is the most consistent light you will ever get for free.
  Note: Push exposure up slightly — phones underexpose on grey days and the result looks muddy.


WHAT YOU NEED
  A window — You have one
      Leather is about texture, and texture needs light raking across it, not hitting it straight on. Turn the piece so the window is almost side-on, around 9 o'clock.
  Two sheets of white A2 foamboard — £4–6 / $5–8, any art shop
      One as a background, one as a bounce. This is the cheapest upgrade in photography.
  One sheet of black card — £1–2 / $2
      For deepening one side and cutting a clean edge. Essential on anything shiny.
  Baking parchment or a white bedsheet — Kitchen drawer
      Taped over the window. This is your diffuser and it works as well as a bought one.
  Something to raise the product — A book
      Getting the product up to lens height stops the looking-down-at-it perspective that makes handmade goods look small.

SURFACES
  · You said you shoot on: a workbench — keep it if it is matte and plain, replace it if it is glossy or patterned.
  · Raw wood, grain running diagonally
  · Concrete or a grey card
  · A darker leather hide as a base

PROPS
  · Keys, a pen, a folded note — whatever it actually holds
  · The stitching pony or an edge tool
  · A second colourway behind, out of focus

AVOID
  · Kitchen counters with visible grout or speckle
  · Overhead ceiling lights — mixing them with window light gives you two colour temperatures and neither corrects
  · Anything patterned within a metre of the product
  · Direct sun on the product itself