Architectural and Interior Design Photography – The Past and Present Cost of Technology

Photography in the 21st Century has changed significantly from what it was only ten years ago. In the past, an architectural photographer would have a significant but one-time investment in cameras and lenses. We would be faced with ongoing expenses for film, film processing and Polaroid test film that would apply to each photograph created. At the end of the chemical era, it was not surprising for these consumable expenses to exceed $100.00 per photograph and they would constitute 25% to 50% of the cost of photographing a project. If in a day’s shoot an architectural photographer would shoot five interior images and two exterior images, at the end of the day the bill to client would be in the range of $2000.00.

The Polaroid test film we had was of low resolution, rotten color (which is why I always used B/W Polaroid) and of very limited size; my 4×5 camera used 4×5 Polaroid and we had to make all of our decisions regarding composition, lighting and styling using a 4×5 inch print and a magnifying glass. It was better than trying to look through the camera, and we worked hard at making the most of each Polaroid because we all knew they cost money and the expense could rapidly consume our financial budget without a well-disciplined approach to the use of them.

Film processing was another expense variable that relied upon the skill and technical mastery of the photographer to maintain control and not blow our budgets. Because we were working on location without the luxury of having a photo lab on hand to process the film before we broke down a set, I would normally shoot six sheets of film for each photograph at the cost of $65.00 per photograph. And if the client wanted another version of the image it would require another six sheets of film constituting an additional $65.00 added to the cost of the project. Then it could take as much as a week to process the film and deliver it to the client for preliminary review and consultation on color and cropping.

As an architectural photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area I am thankful for the advent of digital photography, because we no longer need to strain our eyes to see if the flowers in the back corner of a shot are positioned properly. Today we can review the shot at full resolution on a laptop computer at magnification equivalent to a 20×30 print or more. Now we can not only tell if the flowers are in the proper location and oriented effectively, we can determine if the blossoms are overlapping each other or if the babies breath should be thinned. We can see the texture of the fabric on the sofa and the brush strokes in the paintings and make judgments of color representation and cropping on site before we break down and move on to the next photograph.

These most prominent of the benefits of digital photography and the easiest to describe. The rapid turn around, the retouching and other capabilities the digital process gives are valuable beyond measure. When digital photography became the standard, I and all of my clients all hoped the cost of a photo shoot would be reduced because we would no longer have the expense of Polaroid, and film processing. This hope soon faded.

The reality is that digital photographic and computer technology are advancing at remarkable rates, and to provide professional photographic services requires a significant and continual investment in upgrading hardware and software. There are significant expenses involved in simply archiving and cataloging the images we create for our clients because we need to have a triply redundant back-up system that includes off-site storage. And the expense of upgrading hardware and software is equaled or exceeded by the expense of continually learning the operation of new software and implementation of new procedures and industry standard practices to provide the services and products our clients need, not only today but in the foreseeable future as well.

The cost of consumable expenses (Polaroid test film, film and film processing) have been replaced by the cost of technology, and these costs must be billed to each photograph or project in order for the photographer to provide these services in an ongoing manner. The photographer who is not billing these costs to the project is a poor business manager and is operating with an unsustainable business model.

The costs of architectural and interior design photography to the client have not changed significantly, in inflation-adjusted dollars, in twenty years. The advent of high resolution test images viewable on the computer, and the instant proofing and image verification, rapid delivery times and digital display provide benefits far in excess of what was considered well worth the money prior to the adoption of the digital photographic process.

A job well done

I just delivered a completed project to Marie Chan of Interspace Design, she is also the President Elect of the Peninsula Chapter of the California ASID.

Here is one of the images from that project. You can view the others in my Gallery.

Interior Design Photography: Breakfast counter through kitchen to diningroom.

We shot this residence in Saratoga, CA – a town on the south-west end of the San Francisco Bay – a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of fun working with Marie. She has worked with some very good architectural photographers in the past and understands the need to be careful and work hard at getting things set up just right. She always brings fresh flowers and a good selection of vases. She really is quite good at floral design and her minimalist discipline really worked well to contribute to the final images without taking over the shots.

The home was bright and airy and the interior design had a clean, fun feeling to it. I shot it using the High Dynamic Range Imaging technique to capture the natural softness of the light to enhance the contemporary design.

The homeowners were absolutely wonderful about letting us come into their home and make the changes we needed to create these wonderful images. They had a remarkable collection of glass figurines. I was almost afraid to touch any of them but we did what needed to be done to get the job done… we just did it very carefully.

Marie and I had to go through a few rounds of proofing because both she and I wanted to make sure the colors were just right. I’m always happy to work with my clients to ensure their work is being represented the way they want. It took us about a week and five different sets of digital proofs, but I am very proud to say that the color is perfect – according to Marie. I am very proud to hear a client say such a nice thing about my work.

Registration is for Security not to get you to “Join My Club”

I want to assure everyone that the purpose of requiring registration for both the blog comments and gallery is simply one of security.

I did not require registration for the first couple of weeks and then I was “discovered” by at least one spam-bot. I really had no choice but to require registration, it was either that or shut down the blog and I don’t give up that easily.

But please rest assured that your e-mail address will not be visible to anyone on the blog and I’m an architectural photographer in the heart of the San Francisco Bay technology corridor I don’t do spam.  I do send out once monthly notices to all of my client’s about the photograph of the month but other than that any e-mails I send are strictly related to your needs and the projects you ask me to help you with.

As far as the registration at the gallery is concerned that is a different matter entirely. Proofs must remain confidential until after you have used them because my clients have first usage rights to the images I create for them. This is an industry standard “Best practice” and because of that I must password protect the proof galleries until after you take delivery of the files and use them.

By registering I can assign you to view galleries by group rather than by project, in example if your firm is ABC Design I can allow you to see all projects that i shoot for abc design and you only have to log in once. However, if I password protect each gallery individually you will have to enter your password each time you view another project. And I will have to expend considerable time and energy attempting to keep track of all the passwords manually.

I hope you understand that the registration procedures are intended to provide an acceptable level of professional security with a minimum amount of inconvenience. My goal for these upgrades is to help my clients by improving the customer service I give them. I will never send you unsolicited e-mails, or allow anyone else to gain access to the confidential, information you entrust to me.

Web site updates are complete

I pay close attention to what my clients say they need from an architectural photographer and what I can do to help them. My commitment to customer service is just one of the many things that help me stand out from my competition here in San Francisco. “Helping you is why I am here” is not just a tag line it is the core principle upon which my business model is built, if you tell me what you need I will do all I can to help you.

I have been making some dramatic changes to my website over the past few weeks, the implementation of the blog for communications and the gallery for proofing required completely redesigning the structure of my entire web site. Everything I have done has been based on comments made by my clients about difficulties and requests for additional services.

It has been a challenge, but now I believe things are pretty much set up for me to provide for the known, predictable needs of my clients for at least the next three or four years. Of course, technology will change everything tomorrow and when that happens I should adapt to the new environment with a minimum amout of hassle for both myself and my clients.

Well now it’s time for me to work on populating my new photo gallery with wonderful images so there will be photographs to be seen.

Oh and please note that I have added a larger more prominent “contact me” button. Please feel free to send me a note or you can always call me on my toll free number 866-499-8083 and I will do all I can to help you… “Helping you is why I am here”

Architectural Photography Portfolio & Proof Gallery

Some of my clients have mentioned that the flash based web galleries I have been using to display my portfolios and client proofs load slow at times. And many have commented that the security system I have been using leaves something to be desired.

Last week I began reviewing the various options that were available to address both of these issues and also create a stable on-line archival storage system so my clients can have quick and easy access to their images anywhere and any time. The gallery incorporates a security system that allows the individual users to select their own passwords and provides e-mail notification in the event you forget yours. Verification and admin authorization is required to gain access to the secure proofing areas of the gallery but there are public areas that are viewable by anyone at any time.

The gallery also provides the opportunity to rate individual photographs and post comments about them as well. I believe this will help us when we consult with an the agent, graphic designer and marketing director as well as the designer or architect because each of us will be able to communicate our ideas and feelings at our convenience whether we’re in the San Francisco Bay Area or not.

Today I am proud to announce that I have created a system that should provide for my clients needs and greatly expand my ability to respond to their ever evolving needs when using their photographs.

Please take a few minutes to look over  my new gallery and let me know what you think. I am still populating it with images but there is enough there to show case the new capabilities it provides. Please feel free to ask questions, post comments or offer suggestions about how to make this gallery work better for you.

Thanks,
Dean

http://www.djbphoto.com/gallery