Photos of a project should be planned as one more stage of the job, with a date in the schedule and before the client moves in, because afterwards there's no way to get back the clean space you designed. Ideally you'll hire an architectural photographer with a clear brief, and if the budget doesn't allow it, an empty, tidy house at the time of day with the best light.
When a studio sends me material for their website, what I see all the time is this: amazing projects and not a single photo that does them justice. The house was handed over, the family moved in with their boxes, cables and toys, and by the time someone remembered to photograph it there was no way to recover that clean space that had been designed.
Why do project photos matter so much?
Your next client won't set foot in that project, they'll see it on a screen.
So whatever isn't well photographed practically doesn't exist for them. And what you show ends up defining who you attract: dark or blurry photos bring you a different kind of client from the one you're looking for.
Those photos are also the ones you'll end up using everywhere, on your website, on Instagram, in a presentation for a new client or in a competition, so a good shoot will serve you for years.
When should you take the photos?
Ideally before the move-in, which is why my advice is to think of the photo shoot as one more stage of the project, with a date in the schedule just like the handover of the keys, and to agree on it with your client from the start, before the boxes are at the door.
If people are already living there, you can ask permission to tidy up a little and remove personal things for a couple of hours, but the result is never the same as with the freshly finished space.
Architectural photographer or your own photos?
If you can, hire an architectural photographer, even if it's just for one project a year, because light is everything and editing helps but doesn't work miracles. A good photographer knows what time the sun comes into each room, how to keep vertical lines straight and which framings show the project best.
And if the budget doesn't allow it, you work with what you have: you can get good photos with your phone too, as long as the house is empty and tidy, you shoot at the time of day with the best light and you hold the phone straight, at chest height, so the walls don't look crooked.
What should go in the brief for the photographer?
A brief doesn't have to be long, one page that covers the following is enough:
- Which rooms and details you want no matter what, like a piece of joinery, a junction of materials or the view at the heart of the project.
- What style of photos you like, with two or three references from other studios or from your own projects.
- What you'll use them for, so they include vertical photos for social media as well as horizontal ones for the website.
- Where you'll publish them and with what credit, so it's agreed in writing.
Before the photo shoot
Five things to sort out before the first moving box arrives:
- Agree on a photo day with your client before the move-in.
- Visit the site at different times of day and choose the best light.
- Make a list of the rooms and details you definitely want.
- Ask for vertical photos too, since those are the ones you'll use on social media.
- Put in writing where you can publish the photos and with what credit.
With these five sorted, the shoot is twice as productive and you don't depend on luck.
And once you have the photos?
Show only the best ones, because what you publish defines what people will ask you for. If you want your website to do them justice, on the web design page I explain how I build studio websites so the projects take centre stage.
So, do you already have the photos of your latest project?
This article first appeared, in a shorter version and in Spanish, in Planta Libre N°02.
Does your studio need a hand?
Choose based on where you are right now:Thanks for reading this far. If you have a project about to be finished, write to me and tell me how you're planning to photograph it, I read everything and maybe I can lend you a hand.
Orne
P.S. If you took the photos of your last project with your phone, that's fine, you work with what you have. But next time, schedule the shoot before the handover of the keys and you'll see the difference.
