Videoing Your Work

A photograph shows what your work looks like. Video shows what it does.

Light shifts across a glazed surface. A viewer walks past a large canvas and the composition reorganises itself. Gold leaf catches and releases. These moments disappear in still images—flattened into a single frame.

Video won't replace your photography. But for certain work, it captures what matters most.

When Video Earns Its Place

Not every piece needs video. A small gouache on paper reads well in a good photograph. But some work resists the still image.

Reflective and iridescent surfaces. Glazes, metallics, resin, glass—anything that responds to viewing angle. A photograph picks one moment. Video lets the surface move.

Texture with depth. Heavy impasto, layered collage, relief surfaces. The eye needs to travel across them to understand the physicality.

Scale that transforms space. Large work commands a room. A photograph isolates. Video places the piece in actual space, with a figure for reference—your own body walking past is enough.

Dimensional work. Sculpture, ceramics, textile pieces. The walk-around reveals form completely.

Photo by Yue WU

Simple Techniques That Work

You don't need cinematic ambition. Three basic moves serve most purposes.

The slow pan. Start at one edge, move steadily across the surface. Keep the camera parallel to the work. Ten to fifteen seconds covers most pieces. This reveals how the eye travels—the rhythm of the composition.

The walk-around. For three-dimensional work. Circle the piece at consistent distance. Smooth and slow. Let the form unfold.

The detail reveal. Move from the whole to a specific area. Approach gradually. End on texture, brushwork, a joint, a surface quality. This invites the close looking that happens in person.

In each case: slower than feels natural. What seems tedious in the studio reads well on screen.

Equipment Basics

Your phone is enough. Start there.

What matters more than resolution: stabilisation. Shaky footage distracts from the work. A basic gimbal costs less than framing a small piece. A tabletop tripod with a phone mount costs less still.

If handheld is your only option—tuck your elbows against your body, move from the hips, breathe out while recording.

Orientation depends on destination. Vertical for Instagram stories and reels. Horizontal for website and collector presentations. When in doubt, shoot horizontal—you can crop later.

Lighting for Video

Same principles as photography, with one addition: consistency matters more.

Natural light works well. Position the work near a window, ideally with diffused light—overcast days are easier than direct sun. Avoid mixed sources. Warm tungsten plus cool daylight confuses the camera and flattens colour.

For reflective surfaces, you need to control exactly what reflects. A large white card opposite your light source softens harsh spots. Work in a neutral space if you can—coloured walls bounce colour onto the work.

Watch for flicker. Some artificial lights pulse at frequencies the camera catches. LED panels designed for video solve this. If your studio lights cause banding, natural light is simpler.

Length and Format

Shorter than you think. Seven to fifteen seconds for a social post. Thirty seconds maximum for a website or portfolio. Collectors will watch longer if the work compels—but earn that attention first.

Think in loops. Instagram and TikTok auto-repeat. If your ending meets your beginning smoothly, the video breathes.

No music unless it genuinely serves the work. Silence lets the piece speak. If you add audio, keep it beneath the image—ambient, unobtrusive. Licensed or royalty-free only.

Where Video Works

Instagram. Reels and stories reach beyond your existing audience. The algorithm favours video. A slow pan across a new piece outperforms a static image in most feeds.

Your website. A video header or an embedded clip on individual work pages. Gives collectors the closest thing to studio viewing.

Collector enquiries. When someone asks about a specific piece, a short video responds to questions a photograph can't answer. How does the surface actually behave? How does it feel in a room?

Art fairs and applications. Juries see hundreds of still images. Video stands out. It demonstrates professionalism and suggests how the work performs in space.

The Point

Video is another tool for closing the distance between studio and screen. It shows the qualities that make your work physical—light, scale, surface, presence.

Start simple. One piece, one slow pan, decent light. Watch it back. Adjust. Video lets others see your work as it should be.