Interior Design Photography - Photographers Responsibilities to the Designer

Photographing interior design is a challenge not only because it is difficult to define a clear subject, but because the interior designers are talented artists in their own right with high expectations and sophisticated tastes.

In choosing to work with a specific photographer a designer has decided to not only make an investment of time and money in their photographs but to let that photographer have an impact upon the future of their business and their career.

Many photographers do not understand the level of trust placed in them by their clients and therefor do not recognize the importance of their photographs to the designer. The designer will use their photographs in sales presentations, to submit for editorial publication, in mailers, magazine advertisements and on their web site. The interior designer will be using their photographs in more ways, to do more things than any other business tool they posses other than their telephone. An interior designers photographs are every bit as important to their professional image as their business cards.

As an architectural photographer San Francisco Bay Area it is my responsibility to ensure my clients get high quality images that meet exacting technical standards in regards to exposure, focus and color rendition, but these technical issues are only the beginning of the photographers responsibilities. In order to craft a visual representation of another artists work the interior design photographer must also have a strong talent for composition as well as the ability to communicate complex concepts to the client in terms the client can understand and to understand the communication of complex concepts being directed at them.

Communication is the Key - You Can Learn Nothing if You Do All the Talking

For many photographers it is not difficult to share their ideas with others, but it is difficult to have others share their ideas with them without being "put off" or offended in some manner. As interior design photographers we must be able to accept criticism not as judgmental or as condemnation of our ides, but as constructive contributions to achieving the goal of communicating the interior designers ideas and design concept. To achieve this we have to acknowledge that we are part of a team and be willing to accept that the other team members ideas are every bit as valid as our own and we have to hear what they are saying not just listen to the words, and incorporate their ideas in our compositions.

Two Heads Are Better Than One

As professional photographers we are expected to create dynamic images that catch the eye and elicit a visceral response from the viewers. By openly collaborating with our clients we not only create the best images we can, we create images that clearly speak with the designers voice. And this is what our clients' need to make sales, win competitions and get published.