I have spent the last six months learning about photography so that I can improve my game and try to look as if I know what I am doing. Some bits have been easier than others but I thought it might be useful to share my experience with others so here goes! This is only one persons perspective, mine, there are many ways that people successfully photograph their work.
Photos are split between foreground, middlegound and background. All areas of the photo are import particularly the edges. If I am doing social media posts I like the sculpture to bleed over the edge to make it more interesting, however a photo of the full sculpture is generally required when submitting work for selection. Consider where you place the sculpture in the photo, the rule of thirds is useful in this respect, you want the viewers eye to lead into the photo.
I try to keep sculptures away from the background drop so that again the viewers eye is directed to where you want them to look. This gives the opportunity to place props and/or other pieces which compliment your aesthetic, which help to communicate the size of the sculpture. Although this helps to create an interesting photo, too many props may lead to a distracting image.
When taking photos I have set up a space which has south facing windows so I have a good reliable light source. Artificial lights are good if your space is dark, but I have noticed that it affects the colour of the glazes. They come with either or both cool and warm light tones, suggest you stick with one tone so that you have consistency across your images.
I position myself at a 40 degree angle to my sculpture so that the image has depth, we don't want a flat image. Professional images are so important to give the right impression, these can be created using a smart phone, you don't need expensive cameras to achieve high quality images.
My photos have definitely improved over the last six months, still got stuff to learn and explore but I am enjoying the challenge, so I hope you have found this useful.