Scouting is one of the most important aspects of any of my shoots. I try to scout every single shoot now, its that important to me and for my clients. For years I would sometimes scout, or not worry about it for a home interior shoot, thinking I could show up first thing in the morning on a shoot day and figure it all out. I think many photographers that shoot for interior designers fall into this category, and they are missing a huge opportunity to make the shoot a success before it even happens. From a scout I’m able to determine the angles that work best, which shots should not even be attempted (huge time saver), and a schedule of how I want to shoot the house based on the lighting throughout the day. But probably the main reason I scout every shoot is to inform the styling of the final shots. For example, you will see in some of these examples several things were changed, and some only floral was added.

As you can see from this shoot with Allison Seidler Interiors, we decided to move furniture around, swap out a couple of lamps, side tables, and restyle the coffee table. Everything was shifted quite a bit towards the camera to allow for separation with the white chair and table, and sofa on right was moved into the space.

This kitchen shoot with Staci Steadley really benefited from the scouting shots. The florist, Haile Wossen, was able to determine the scale of floral to bring to fill in the window on the right, and the new barstools brought in by Staci changed the entire feel of the room. Removing homeowner clutter and knowing how much work will be needed ahead of time are huge time savers. Bring extra help!

And lastly, this living room by SBLong Interiors needed a lot of minor adjustments that we were able to decide before starting our shoot that day. Walking into this room knowing what was needed to happen made this transformation last about 30 min from start to finish.

So, you can see how and why I scout all my shoots. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of what can feel like a stressful day if you aren’t prepared. Do yourself a favor and scout!