Available Light – a leather collection in the language of film photography

From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of stamping studies.

A September study. Volume I-C.

Available Light is a small leather collection in the working language of film photography – the phrases a photographer actually says with a camera in hand. Each one earns a second meaning on the object that carries it.

First, we drew the sun as a camera's aperture, half open above a long horizon, and set AVAILABLE LIGHT beneath it – the photographer's term for working with the light that is already there. It runs lengthwise along the luggage tags.

Black-and-white die artwork of an aperture sun meeting a horizon above AVAILABLE LIGHT for the Available Light leather collection.

The navy and the pale sea-blue tags keep to the water; the honeyed russet one is as warm as the hour itself.

A blueberry navy leather luggage tag blind-stamped lengthwise with the Available Light aperture sun and horizon.

A pale turquoise leather luggage tag blind-stamped lengthwise with the Available Light aperture sun and horizon.

An Indian Summer golden-tan leather luggage tag blind-stamped lengthwise with the Available Light aperture sun and horizon.

Next, the frame counter. A roll of film ends at 36, and everyone who shoots it has tried winding past anyway – so we set the needle one tick beyond, over ONE MORE FRAME.

Black-and-white die artwork of an analog film counter with its needle past 36 above ONE MORE FRAME for the Available Light leather collection.

On a keychain it becomes the sentence you leave the house on. Deep green and caramel.

A forest-green leather keychain blind-stamped with an analog film counter and ONE MORE FRAME from the Available Light collection.

A caramel leather keychain blind-stamped with an analog film counter and ONE MORE FRAME from the Available Light collection.

Then, two frames off a contact sheet – the same horizon twice, except the second frame has caught a gull, and the grease pencil has already circled it. LOOK AGAIN sits beneath.

Black-and-white die artwork of two contact-sheet frames with one circled gull above LOOK AGAIN for the Available Light leather collection.

It lives in the corner of the journals, where rereading is the whole method. Looks great when stamped onto the leather.

A black leather wrap journal blind-stamped in the corner with the Available Light LOOK AGAIN contact-sheet design.

A Gray Sand leather wrap journal blind-stamped in the corner with the Available Light LOOK AGAIN contact-sheet design.

And in the corner of the toiletry bags – navy over chestnut – it hangs an inch from the morning mirror, which we admit is the joke.

A blueberry navy toiletry bag blind-stamped with the Available Light LOOK AGAIN design, stacked above an unstamped Sicilian brown bag.

And finally, the catchall tray. We put a spirit level with its bubble dead center above HOLD STILL – the last check a photographer makes before the exposure, and the one thing a tray ever asks of your keys. It looks genuinely beautiful on the golden tan.

Black-and-white die artwork of a centered spirit level above HOLD STILL for the Available Light leather collection.

An Arizona brown leather catchall tray blind-stamped with a centered spirit level and HOLD STILL from the Available Light collection.

We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.

If you'd like these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.