Story time!!! :-)
I’m hopping on this blog for designers today to share how becoming more accomplished with my cell phone camera helped save a photo shoot day.
My blog contains affiliate links. Any purchases, at no additional charge to you, render me a percentage, are most appreciated and make this blog possible. :-)
This was an important project for me.
I had a big project I’d worked on for about 4 years, a full remodel and addition to the house, with full furnishings in key rooms, living room, great room, breakfast room, kids loft, entry hall, etc. We photographed kitchen and baths just before they moved in, over a year ago.
Thank goodness! I highly recommend doing that just so you don’t have to bother the homeowners for so long during a shoot and so they don’t have to make every single space photo-ready at one time. And really, just in case you can’t get back in once they’ve moved in, at least you have those spaces. :-)
Here are a few of those photos.
Blue and white kitchen - Designer: Carla Aston, Photographer: Colleen Scott
Mud room bathroom - Designer: Carla Aston, Photographer: Colleen Scott
Primary Bath - Designer: Carla Aston, Photographer: Colleen Scott
Upstairs Bath - Designer: Carla Aston, Photographer: Colleen Scott
Trust me. No matter how clients agree to let you photograph at the end of a job, no matter what is in your contract, it can still be a bit of a dicey situation to get a shoot scheduled once they have settled in.
If they have to leave the house and clean everything to be photo-ready (which is best for the most efficient shoots), the reality of that happening is sometimes questionable.
And let’s face it. It is a big ask. It’s their house. They are likely ready to be over with the whole process, especially if they’ve had remodeling done and they lived through that with contractors traipsing in and out. If they don’t want to relinquish it for a day so you can get your photos when it comes down to the end of the job, then what are you going to do? Take them to court?
These days this potential difficulty has been exacerbated by the delays in getting product. With this particular project, it took over 9 months to get some items in that showed to be “in stock” when I ordered.
You understand, I know!
My Project Situation
We did several installations on this project so the client could have some furniture as they didn’t have anything for these spaces. The house grew so much with the addition and they were moving back from overseas so that they needed all new furniture in these rooms.
Once the final gallery wall went up, it was just before Thanksgiving last year. They were decorating for the holidays, so we set up a date in January for the shoot. That had to be cancelled by the homeowner, so we ended up with an early February date.
Let me tell you that my clients are the nicest people and wanted to be accommodating. However, they homeschool 3 boys and the husband works from home, so there are 5 people at home every day. It is hard to find a day when we could have full run of the spaces for photos. This ask of a full day for shooting is, naturally, a big imposition on them.
We finally had this day in February and as you can imagine, we had a problem. Texas was expecting a big freeze and the newscasts told everyone to stay home. Schools were closed and you would think we’d cancel the shoot.
My homeowners were ready though, the house was spotless and they were going to be out of town for this one day only. The freeze didn’t really affect them since they were gone. They really wanted to get the shoot done while they were out of the house.
My photographer had to drive a long way and she was uncomfortable driving, so I released her from the shoot. I decided to make the best of it with what I could do and use my cell phone to get some shots. I just wasn’t sure when I’d get the opportunity to get back in the house and schedule my photographer, who is usually booked out by a month or two.
I mean, I was so close to finally getting photos, I just didn’t want to blow this chance.
Weather was not that bad.
As it turned out, the weather was not that bad. It was cold, but the roads were clear and my helper and I were able to get to the house without a problem.
We started a little later in the morning, since we weren’t sure how the driving would be. That was unfortunate, we sure could have used the whole day. I wanted to get plenty of photos and there was lots of styling to do.
Also unfortunate was the fact it was a dark, overcast day, so natural light was dim. In early February days are short too, so the afternoon light went quickly.
Finished photos are a requirement for my work.
There was a lot not working in my favor to get some decent shots of this project, but I was determined not to let this window of opportunity slip by. I’d worked too long and had gone through a lot of stress and money to get to this point!
For me, finished photos are part of the payment on a job like this. It’s almost not worth it if I don’t get some good finished photos to show for the work I’ve done.
The iPhone Photography course I’d taken came in handy!
Luckily, I’d taken Linda Holt’s iPhone photography course back in November. I’d purchased it early on, but hadn’t really had time to go through the course. I finally did the whole thing when I was recuperating from a surgery and I’m so glad I did!
While I’ve learned a lot from reading her blog and following her for years, the course was a great step-by-step process, so easy to follow and learn. It really filled in the gaps of everything I had doubts about and gave me the confidence that I could possibly pull this off.
The cameras on our phones these days are amazing! There is no reason not to get up to speed on all they can do and learn how some apps can help turn your amateur photos into something to be proud of.
To make a long story short, I took the photos I needed, got some good shots, and my client’s wish to get these done on a day that was convenient for them was accommodated.
Here are a few of them, below. :-)
Great room designed and photographed by Carla Aston.
Living room designed and photographed by Carla Aston.
Console wall | Designer and Photographer: Carla Aston
Laundry Room - Designer and Photographer, Carla Aston
Kid’s Loft Space - Designer and Photographer, Carla Aston
One problem fixed with a photoshop wiz
I had one situation that was disheartening. I had purchased some baskets for inside the glass front cabinets in the breakfast room, as my client had yet to fill them with anything. I didn’t want to haul a bunch of dishes over there to fill them up and the baskets did a good job of that.
However, I realized when I got there I was two short! So, I left one section open and then found a photoshop person on Upwork. He cut and pasted the baskets in the blank space. What a relief!
Blank section in console in the breakfast room with not enough baskets to fill.
Baskets photoshopped in to the console for a perfect finished look!
Unexpected Benefits of Improving my skIlls
There were unexpected benefits to shooting this project with my own phone.
#1 - I own the rights to the photos!
I can share them with whomever I want and do with them whatever I want without having to worry about copyright issues.
Let’s face it. Brands hardly pay for photos these days. They really want to use them for free on their Instagram or even on their website.
With these photos, when brands ask if they can share the photo I can say yes, without having to refer them to the photographer. Nine times out of ten, when I’ve done that, it has been a dead end. They just won’t go to that much trouble.
So far, Universal Furniture has shared two of my photos on Instagram, here and here. (Go give them a heart for me, please?)
#2 - It saved me a lot of money.
I know nothing can replace beautiful professional shots, but at least I did save money. The shoot I had planned was going to cost around $3000. Instead, I tipped my helper a much larger sum because I was so grateful she showed up and helped me so much.
#3 - I gained the confidence in my ability to do more of this on my own.
My mind is spinning right now with possibilities of how I can make this work more for me on down the road.
If you’re like me, you have jobs that are small in the mix of projects. Maybe they don’t warrant a full photo shoot, it wouldn’t be worth it to the photographer to even come out. Most photographers have minimums and if it is just a bathroom remodel, you might have to pay more just to get them to accept the job.
Maybe you are done with one room of the job but are waiting for product to come in for other parts. You could shoot that room with your cell phone, even if you were still planning a big shoot on down the road. It would get you some content and you’d for sure have some record of that portion of the project.
If you look those photos above, I could have done the laundry room myself way before this shoot. That photo turned out great and that room was ready as soon as their washer / dryer was installed, right after they moved in.
#4 - My photography overall has improved.
This also means I can better create strong content for my blog and social media. Job site photos, flat lays, market/trade show pics, even vacation and family photos are turning out better now that I have better skills and more of a trained eye to capture a good photo.
Quality Professional photographer is always great to have
In case you are thinking I’m suggesting you ditch professional photography for your projects altogether in lieu of the iPhone, I’m not. That’s not what I mean at all. Certainly get those shots and use a pro when and if you can.
However, you and I both know there are times when the project may not warrant that investment. Maybe you only need some great content for social media. Maybe you can’t afford to go all in with a professional photographer for every job and need to pick and choose.
I’m just saying this can be a way to fill in the gaps and give you a little more expertise and confidence in an area that we are all needing to learn more about.
Then when that big gorgeous project is finished and you are ready to get the pro involved, you can go all in. You will likely have a more finely tuned eye for interior photographs and get more of what you want out of your shoot too!
In Summary….
I’ve long felt that even if you CAN hire everything out and delegate all the tasks involved in your business, you never know when something might happen to leave you in a pickle and force your hand into doing something yourself.
It’s always good to be prepared.
Links for the Courses
After this happened to me and I shared this story with a table full of designers at a recent event, Linda arranged for me to have an affiliate link for her course. These links are here, below. I receive a percentage of the purchase at no additional charge to you. :-)
Link to Linda Holt’s Smart Phone Photography Course
Thanks for reading!
