Northlight Studio
Portland, Maine Photography & layout Booking spring dates

Northlight Studio photographs work made by hand.

We shoot ceramics, furniture, food, people and rooms. North-facing windows, a slow pace, and files that arrive edited and ready to place on a page.

daylight photography studio in a converted loft with tall north-facing windows and a bare wooden floor

The studio

photographer adjusting a camera on a tripod beside a styled ceramics table

Two rooms on the fourth floor of an old sail loft, one camera stand, and a long table that has held everything from oyster plates to prototype chairs.

The studio started in 2016 doing lookbooks for a handful of Maine makers. It still works that way: small teams, unhurried days, and a shot list agreed on before anyone plugs in a light.

Design sits in the same room as the camera, so a catalogue can be photographed and typeset without handing the files to a stranger halfway through.

Since
2016
Shoot days a year
120
Studio floor
1,400 sq ft

What we do

Half day, full day, or retainer

  1. 01

    Product & still life

    Clean catalogue frames on seamless, plus styled sets with linen, stone and daylight. Shot tethered so you approve the frame before we move on. Retouched files in two file sizes.

  2. 02

    Portraits at work

    Makers, chefs, founders and crews, photographed in the place they actually work. We come to the bench or the kitchen and stay out of the way for an hour or two.

  3. 03

    Interiors & spaces

    Shops, restaurants and finished builds, timed around the light rather than the calendar. Tripod, tilt-shift, and a walkthrough the week before so nothing gets moved twice.

  4. 04

    Layout & print

    Lookbooks, menus, labels and price lists set from the photographs we took. We prepare the files, talk to your printer, and check the proof before the run.

Selected work

Tap any frame to view large

handmade stoneware mugs arranged on a linen backdrop in soft window light
Kettle Cove PotteryProduct
furniture maker planing a chair leg at a workbench in a timber workshop
Hale & SonsPortrait
warm dining room of a harbourside restaurant with wooden tables and evening light
The Fore RoomInterior
overhead flat lay of sourdough loaves and flour on a dark bakery counter
Cotton Street BakehouseFood & layout
open printed lookbook spread showing knitwear photography on a studio table
Bramble KnitwearPrint

“We sent forty pieces over on a Tuesday and had the whole catalogue back, shot and laid out, before the spring order deadline. Nothing came back chipped, either.”

Tell us what
you made.

Send a note with roughly how many pieces or rooms you have and when you need the files. We reply within a working day with a date, a half or full day rate, and what to bring.

Studio hours

Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm. Saturday by appointment.

Or reach us directly

(207) 555-0148

hello@northlightstudio.com

18 Harbour Lane, Studio 4, Portland, ME 04101