When I’ve finished a great project, it’s often time to have it professionally photographed for my portfolio. Professionally, because while I am good at design, I’m not good at photography. It takes a lot of work to get great photos of your home. Here’s some of what goes on:
- Staging: My colleague Nancy Jacobson of Kitchen Design Partners (who collaborated on this project) and I shop the day before the shoot for items that will complement the look of the space. We include flowers, accessories, plants, food, drink, linens, etc. While clients often have beautiful things, there are ways that we have to set up to get the best look in photographs.
- We arrive at the client’s home a little earlier than the photographer so that we can work on getting all the props set up. They often get moved around, changed or nixed.
- Our photographer, Brad Baskin of Brad Baskin Photography, arrives and sets up his equipment based on lighting needs. He’ll take several shots at a time and then we look at them on his computer and discuss what we like and don’t. Maybe the lighting is off, maybe we need to move a prop an inch or two, maybe we need to adjust a chair; all these go into a photo shoot! The last time we did one, Brad included Nancy and me, and I remarked that now I know why models get paid so much!
- After we’ve gotten all of the shots we’d like (and there are often 30 or more) and given them a quick look, everything gets packed back up, and Brad goes back to his studio and works on selecting and refining our final cut. Of all the shots taken, we may only select 5 or 6 that will end up in our portfolios and websites, and possibly be submitted for contests and publication.
I love that my clients get to see the beauty of their projects every day, and I’m fortunate enough to get to enjoy them again every time I see the photos!