Journal · 6 min read
How to prepare a property for a shoot
The work that happens before the camera comes out is what decides how good the pictures are.
Most of the difference between a good property shoot and an average one is decided days before anyone arrives. Below is what we ask of every property we photograph, and why.
Decide what the pictures are for
A picture for a booking engine, a trade pack and an Instagram story are not the same picture. Before we plan a day, we agree where each image will run. That decides the aspect ratios we shoot, whether we need room for text, and how many set-ups a day can realistically hold.
Give the rooms a service reset
Fresh linen, no creases, no visible cables, no branded amenity bottles turned the wrong way. Curtains hung to fall straight. Nothing on a surface that is not deliberate. It sounds obvious, and it is the single biggest time saver on a shoot day.
Plan around light, not around the diary
Rooms have one or two good hours. We shoot east-facing rooms in the morning and west-facing in the afternoon, and we keep the middle of the day for interiors that never see direct sun. A schedule that ignores this needs twice as many days.
Decide about people early
Staff and guests in frame change everything: consent, wardrobe, and how much time each set-up takes. If people are in the plan, we need names, sign-off and a wardrobe brief in advance. If they are not, we need the property quiet.
Agree the deliverables in writing
How many final images, in what formats, with what usage rights, by when. Agreeing this before the shoot avoids the most common source of friction after it.