My dear friend, Carole Glaser, the shopping bag collector, accumulator of hats, pictures, pins and other original vintage shop finds has a delightful collection of candlesticks that I could not resist photographing. Each stick has a story or two. And, her personal vision for their display is to place them all together at one end of her dining table. They make quite a statement.

My own inclination is to place candlesticks neatly in pairs on specific tables. Carole, on the other hand, does completely the opposite; she groups things together in what appears to be a random mix. But, clearly, she thinks about scale, color and the impact the group has on the other objects in the room.

Candlesticks of all sorts are great inspiration for product development. Different materials, scale, proportion and design from serious to whimsical make this particular source of man-made light a magnet for designers interested in line, form and decoration.

In the next couple of weeks, I will photograph my collection of 18th and 19th century brass candlesticks. It will be interesting to see how Carole and I differ in our approach to collecting.