Maui Photography Tip- Shoot a project - by Maui Photographer Behind The Lens Maui

Whether you’re remodeling your kitchen, putting in a water garden, or refinishing an antique car, you’ll want to record it—not just the before and after, but each step along the way.

Tell a story
Take a sequence of pictures that conveys the main points of the project—tearing down a wall, digging a hole, framing a wall. Include all the steps. Make a sequence by standing in the same spot and taking a series of pictures from the same vantage point at various stages of the project. Who knows, that magazine just might want to do a story on your project!

Start with a “before” shot
Don’t forget to take a picture of your starting point before you begin any work. You’ll be amazed how plain the lawn looked before that garden was there.

Include people
Don’t just show the project in its stages; include pictures of people at work. Projects that are accomplished by magic only happen in storybooks.

Show details
Take close-ups of the final product or along the way of hands putting in a screw, goldfish being released, or a paintbrush putting on the finishing touches.

Shoot at different angles
Vary the level of your viewpoint. Kneel or crouch down, or stand on something sturdy, and see how a different angle can dramatically change the appearance of your subject.

Fill the frame
For a close-up view of small objects or details, shoot at your camera’s closest focusing distance. Some cameras have a close-up (or “macro”) setting or accept accessory close-up lenses. Check the camera manual. If the subject still isn’t big enough, you can crop and enlarge it on a Kodak picture maker. With a digital camera, shoot at the highest resolution and then crop the picture in the computer.