Tips for hiring an architectural photographer #5

This is post 5 of a series of 10, in a series detailing important aspects to hiring an architectural photographer while avoiding the most common pitfalls.

5. GET THE RIGHT LICENSE.

Great savings are within reach if you predetermine how your images are going to be used, including potential uses that might not appear necessary at first. Discuss your licensing options with your photographer and favor open source licenses (such as Creative Commons) over copyrighted images as these will give you more flexibility in the way the images can be used and limit your legal liability in case of a dispute. It is important to understand copyright law and how you can use your images - not all licenses are created equal - and be sure to ask your photographer to walk you through the type of license he/she is going to use and how it will impact your rights to the images. These licensing terms should be clearly detailed in the photographer’s contract. 

View fullsize

Tips for hiring an architectural photographer #4

This is post 4 of a series of 10, in a series detailing important aspects to hiring an architectural photographer while avoiding the most common pitfalls.

COLLABORATE

Photographing buildings and interiors is not an exact science and it requires collaboration between the photographer and client, in order to achieve the client’s vision. Photographers have a particular way to look at spaces, usually different from the clients'. It is a good idea to use this difference in viewpoints as a sounding board for coming up with ideas that neither you, the client, nor the photographer might have thought of on their own. The pre-production meeting and the scouting shoot are great places to brainstorm and kick-start this process. If you are going to be present on the day of the shoot, use this to you advantage by discussing each view with your photographer and formulating your specific needs in the clearest way possible. Your photographer should be able to show you each shot prior to capturing the image to serve as the basis for discussion. 

Yorkville residence, Audax Architecture