Scouting vs Final Views

There is always value in scouting a location by the photographer, even better a walk through with the architect or designer. Views can be determined, choices can be made, questions and concerns can be voiced. Shoot day preparations can be made and budgets can be confirmed. The one thing that scouting is not good for is as a substitution for an actual photo shoot. For one thing the quality is always limited due to the nature of the process of taking quick reference photos. That said, if plans change and future access is limited, there is sometimes the possibility of pulling an acceptable view from the scout. A lot a factors will determine if that will actually work and you should be prepared to budget for post production retouching to smooth out the rough spots.