Hello stagers, real estate agents, and photographers:
Sometimes when I look at "before and after" photos on Web sites I have a hard time telling that it is the same room. The angle has followed the furniture (which has moved) and the viewer is no longer awed by the transformation, but convinced that it is just a different room all together! This is not really very benefitial for our industry.
To anyone who takes a photo of something or somwhere that will be transformed - try to create the best before and afters that you can. The most important and most basic requirement: take the photo from the same angle / place. I feel silly even saying it - but it really matters so much. Here are a few hints for doing so:
- Take notes when you do your "before" shots. Make a note where you were standing, the orientaion of the camera (vertical or horizontal), the angle you shot and what was in view. For example: on the first step of the staircase, across front of room, horizontal, right side of frame on left edge of window, left edge of frame includes mantle. This may sound like a lot of note taking for a simple shot - but a great set of B&A photos is worth TWO thousand words! Also remember that after a view hours of rearranging and some 20 photos you'll be surprised how well you forget where you were when you took each photo. Digitals help, but it takes time to look through all the photos and analyze that small screen, notes will never fail. In time your note taking will develop a short hand that you'll know (mine would look like: 1stairXroomfront-H-leftwindowR- all mantleL) if you still find this too time consuming maybe you'd benefit from creating a photo traking form.
- Use physical features in the room like doorways and handrails as markers. I lean against the door jam to physically imprint a memory of my place. I'll have the window trim on my spine to lock me into the next position. Mark it with a piece of tape as long as it doesn't show in your next photo, and try to take the photo with a good downward angle. For you petite photographers, this means you might want to always shoot from the first rung of a step ladder (use the same ladder for "after").
- The same person should take before and after - as they are still the same height (unless you changed your shoes). Remember to stand on that ladder again.
- While you'll remember to take photos of key locations, the places where the furniture is drawing your eye, and the architectural details, like the fireplace, don't forget to take the odd directions, too. If we are there to put the furniture in it's best place, then most likely it will not be where is was when you came in when you are ready to go home. The original view from the door may draw your attention toward the slider and the big couch pressed against the wall - but the finished room will hightlight a cozy conversation area and a window. Try to plan your room in your head before hand and take that shot too, even if is a bald corner.
- If all else fails, take the "before" shots AFTER the "after" shots. Which really makes them the "after" shots, but you get what I mean. This is actually the "professional's" way to do transformation shots, but those people have too much time, and too much muscle. If you get the room done and don't have the before shot - your best bet would be to undo the room - remembering where you were standing for the after or shooting again - after redoing the room ... I used this technique in this little kitchen nook area in my staging gallery, as an example.
- Finally and most importantly - Use photoshop to edit the small variances in the photo. By switching back and forth quickly between two photos the small differences will appear: less ceiling showing, more wall showing to side of window, photographer was stanidng closer/further. The new items on the mantle or counter top should almost appear and disappear (like magic) without the surfaces moving. For my best example see the photo of the bathroom (last one) in my staging gallery. Sometime the camera is off just a little in angle - with "rotate" you can turn a small degree, but then you'll need to trim the edges. Always save under a new name in case you go edit crazy and do something incorrectly, you always have the original to go back to. In fact, try to save oftern as editing can take a long time and to loose all your changes just trying to undo the last, could set you back an hour! If you don't know how to use photo editing software, get help, take a class or just experiment on extra file copies of a few photographs. It really only takes practice.
If when you get home to edit you realize you didn't get an "after" photo to compliment a great "before" ask the home owner to take one and e-mail it too you, if you can't get there yourself. Odds are that their angle will be close if you detail your location (from your notes). It is better to have a good "close" than no shot at all.
Now maybe it is just me and I love DETAIL - but I am sure there are a few homeowners out there who appreciate the kind of exacting detail I strive for in my photos. It may take some extra effort but aren't the photos of what we do the story we are trying to tell: How staging transforms homes and helps people. Let's help them see that more easily and more dramatically! May all your photos be in focus and your angles the same!
Comments(12)