The Shot list

The "Shot List" is one of the most important discussions you can have in preparation for a photography assignment. If not determined by a walk-through or scouting of the property by the architect and photographer, the shot list needs to be created by the commissioning party. Often the request is too broad, "shoot everything" and the list too long to accomplish during the photography day. Only the client can prioritize that list by order of importance. It is important to remember that typically only a select number of views will be used frequently from a particular project. It makes the most sense to spend the time on those important views and less time on the photographs that are more "for the record". Having this conversation with your photographer prior to the estimate will help you maximize your photography budget and yield a better final product.

For this assignment my client was looking for a great view of this stone entertainment patio for his AIA competition entry. Knowing this was the more important view than the home interiors, time was spent to make sure this view was ready to shoot when the natural light was right. A torrential rain storm that had ended that morning required that a good deal of effort be made to dry out the stone work and patio furniture prior to being photographed. Without the input from the client this view would not have had the attention it needed to make it a successful photograph which in the end was selected for exhibit at his AIA competition.