Scouting

If we've worked together than you know I like to 
pre-scout every project and I thought this recent shoot was a perfect example of why...

This is the scouting shot (above), in addition to this angle there where about four other scenarios of how this room might be captured. After reviewing the scouting shots with the Designer we determined that this was the best angle of the room. Next we needed to discuss how to make this shot work. As you can see through the doorway, there is a refrigerator (luckily it was only temporary while the kitchen is being renovated). However knowing it was an issue in advance made moving it prior to the day of the shoot a snap. What you don't see to the left is the fireplace with a large flat screen TV over it. Since that is the focus of the room (in reality) the wall in the distance wasn't a priority, however at this angle it's screaming for some art. Also having scouted this ahead of time I had the opportunity to think about the rug, which in it's current position doesn't quite work for the shot...

So this is the first shot of the morning (above), after spending a little time moving the furniture to sit into the frame I took a shot so we could discuss the rug. Which needed to move as far left of frame as possible (making the room feel bigger). Next is the lighting, which is very important. If you pick up an Architectural Digest, Veranda, House Beautiful or New England Home and Design New England in the last year or so you may have noticed something about the lighting? Did You? There isn't any! The trend in Interiors Photography is to produce images that replicate very natural light and to produce an even, colorless light that reads almost like cotton. This is very important, because most magazines will not accept room's shot with all the lights on (I will dedicate an entire post to this shortly). 

Do you see how the chair in the foreground is blown out (above shot)? This is easily solved by blacking out the two windows behind me, which allows the natural light to have one direction and to be more even through out the room. In the past 18 months, I have covered more windows than you can imagine and the effect is very dreamy, which is precisely what editors want...

The final shot.

Interior Design: Lisa Gutow Design

Warm Regards,

Michael