Landscaping Photography...

[Steve Parr]

No, not "landscape", but "landscaping".

A friend of mine here in San Diego owns a good size landscaping company. He's asked me to take before and after photos of work that he's doing. Primarily, I'd be concentrating on those jobs which came about as a result of the wildfires we had here back in 2003, but would shoot others, as well.

This may seem like a dumb question, but is there any preferred way to shoot landscaping projects?

Thanks...

Steve

[Scottes]

I would not approach it as if I were making art, but rather recording the scene for accuracy. (Though I'd still try to make it look good, of course.) So I'd make sure that I'd include things for scale, like the house, or at least a complete object, like a door or window. If possible, take a shot or several from a high angle, like the top of a stepladder. Print the "befores" before you shoot the "afters" and try to get the same composition. Try to get an idea of the plann before shooting the "befores" so that your matching "afters" don't suddenly have a new tree directly in front of the camera.

The "afters" is where I'd really try to make art. In fact, in might be worthwhile to take some significantly unflattering "befores" and very flattering "afters" to make people go "Oooh" and "Aaah." :wink:

[Steve Parr]

I would not approach it as if I were making art, but rather recording the scene for accuracy. (Though I'd still try to make it look good, of course.) So I'd make sure that I'd include things for scale, like the house, or at least a complete object, like a door or window. If possible, take a shot or several from a high angle, like the top of a stepladder. Print the "befores" before you shoot the "afters" and try to get the same composition. Try to get an idea of the plann before shooting the "befores" so that your matching "afters" don't suddenly have a new tree directly in front of the camera.

The "afters" is where I'd really try to make art. In fact, in might be worthwhile to take some significantly unflattering "befores" and very flattering "afters" to make people go "Oooh" and "Aaah." :wink:

Hehehehe... Yeah, nothin' beats the "Aaaahhh" factor! Seriously, though, the idea of "unflattering" before-shots would certainly make the landscaper look good in the after-shots. Truth be told, the guy's an amazing, so I won't have to work that hard in that area.

Thanks for the other tips, too...

Steve

[Scottes]

Ya know, I'd take a copy of his "blueprint" and scope out some scenes with the idea that his new stuff will make the compositional leading lines elements of the scene. For instance, let's say he's planning a row of bushes in a line or curve. I'd try to get an idea of how those bushes would look in a shot, and plan the before & after shots with those bushes in mind, in a way that the bushes lead the eye up to the house or the new gazebo or whatever. The before shot would not have the leading line, so it would be dull and boring, or maybe just less pleasing.

Put your mind's eye to work on planning the final artistic shots, and take befores of the same scene.

Maybe it's me, but I hate when a "before" shot shows the left side of the house and the "after" shot shows the right side. I like to see the same scene. Of course, with digital you could take 100 befores and 100 afters and pick the appropriate ones.

[Steve Parr]

Ya know, I'd take a copy of his "blueprint" and scope out some scenes with the idea that his new stuff will make the compositional leading lines elements of the scene. For instance, let's say he's planning a row of bushes in a line or curve. I'd try to get an idea of how those bushes would look in a shot, and plan the before & after shots with those bushes in mind, in a way that the bushes lead the eye up to the house or the new gazebo or whatever. The before shot would not have the leading line, so it would be dull and boring, or maybe just less pleasing.

Put your mind's eye to work on planning the final artistic shots, and take befores of the same scene.

Maybe it's me, but I hate when a "before" shot shows the left side of the house and the "after" shot shows the right side. I like to see the same scene. Of course, with digital you could take 100 befores and 100 afters and pick the appropriate ones.

Some excellent ideas; thanks!

I'm going to compile these ideas with some others I've had, and present them to my friend. His idea is that I'm going to "just come take some pictures". I want to approach it from a more methodical perspective, and I want him to know that I don't want to just "take pictures"...

Steve

[aam1234]

Some points from an article I read in Pop Photo which might apply here:

1- If you are shooting /including a house, try to include more than one side.

2- Watch out for lens distortion.

3- Try not to include other houses/properties.

Edit: Here's the article (http://www.popphoto.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_id=1613).

[Steve Parr]

Some points from an article I read in Pop Photo which might apply here:

1- If you are shooting /including a house, try to include more than one side.

2- Watch out for lens distortion.

3- Try not to include other houses/properties.

Edit: Here's the article (http://www.popphoto.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_id=1613).

Very cool, thanks!

Steve

[Scottes]

Aam's post made me remember something that Photosguy keeps trying to pound into my head (and rightly): If you're taking a shot of the house keep the back of the camera level, straight up-and-down. Then you won't have perspective distortion where the top of the house converges. You may get a smaller usuable area of the shot, since you'll have as much ground as sky, but just crop it. You probably won't be printing 20x30s of these, right?

Of course you can always use CS to edit out the perspective issues...

[aam1234]

That lady is very talented, check out her site (http://www.bjorgmagnea.com/).

[Steve Parr]

Thanks for all of the tips. Appreciate it!

Steve