Photography Shoot of Samantha Holmes Alpaca Knitwear at Geilston Gardens
National Trust for Scotland
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Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph a gorgeous collection of alpaca knitwear over in the West Coast of Scotland. Samantha Holmes is one of the longest established lifestyle alpaca clothing brands in Britain and so it was a real pleasure to get to meet the team behind the scenes!We had a wonderful location and were really spoilt for choice within the grounds of Geilston Gardens, a beautiful National Trust for Scotland property over in Arygyll and Bute. Geilston Gardens was developed more than 200 years ago and boasts a lovely traditional walled garden, kitchen garden and enchanting woodland. At this time of year, the bluebells carpet the floor of the woods creating a spectacle of blue haze.We started our photo shoot within the newly restored Victorian Mackenzie and Moncur Glasshouse which stands proud within the walled garden.Here, we captured some product photography, covering a wide range of the Samantha Holmes collection from alpaca fur accessories to hats & gloves, shawls and snoods as well as alpaca teddy bears and baby blankets!I was amazed how soft the alpaca products are! Alpaca hair is a hollow fibre has no lanolin content, helping it to be a soft, gentle, light weight fleece perfect for sensitive skin and babies.I was encouraged to discover that the sourcing of the alpaca fleece is very alpaca friendly! Alpaca are not killed for their fur and the fleece is mainly sourced from 'cria' (baby alpaca) who have died due to natural causes.Towards the afternoon we moved on to capturing some lifestyle photography of the alpaca garments. We started with Samantha Holmes Alpaca Travel Shawls. They are so light and soft! We had great fun taking photos in one of the courtyards of Geilston Gardens capturing the floating movement of the travel shawls.We then went onto photograph some fur trim wraps and fur trim gloves, I love the luxurious and glamorous look that these delicate fur trims provide!Down next to the streams, we photographed some lovely light weight and soft dressing gowns along with the travel shawls. I love the soft, pastel colours.Next we moved further to the woods to capture some of Samantha Holmes cable knit collection including fingerless mittens, scarves, pom pom hats and fur trim snoods! I love the cable knit collection in particular. Lovely designs and beautiful colours. Beautiful to photograph!Geilston Gardens provided such a variety of backdrops, from rustic courtyards to the tranquility down by the bridges over the streams. The garden is abundant with colour from the bluebells in the woodlands, to the brilliant azaleas in the walled gardens. You can meander along endless, enchanting pathways! I really do recommend a visit. Please do have a look at the National trust for Scotland website for more information. The garden is open from the 1st April to 31st October daily.All in all, it was a lovely day, capturing some wonderful knitwear creations, which I am excited to see appearing on the Samantha Holmes website www.samanthaholmes.com.A huge thank you to Samantha and Gemma from Samantha Holmes Wear Alpaca , to Auste for her beautiful modelling and also to Joanna (head gardener at Geilston Gardens) and to Anna from The National Trust Scotland for their help! Geilston gardens is a photographer's dream!Please stay tuned for a follow on blog where Mairi Helena Photography will be discovering some of the inspirations behind Samantha Holmes designs, some of her favourite pieces and what's next for Wear Alpaca!If you have a knitwear business or textile creations or perhaps you are looking for some product photography for your handmade craft? Do you have a range of clothing that you wish for some professional photography for trade events or website advertising? Please do get in contact, I would love to hear from you www.mairihelenaphotography.co.uk You can also find me on Facebook.com/mairihelenaphotography and on twitter @mairihelenaPlease do take a visit!