For many people, renovations are an exciting yet stressful time in their lives and, while the end result is more than worth it, the process of getting there is often forgotten.  If you think you’d like to remember your reno through all the stages (the good and the bad!), it’s not a bad idea to document your renovation through photography.  Here are a few hints and tips to get you started. If you think you’ll slip up and miss a few important shots, you can always ask your renovation professional to do it for you instead!

Get Lots of Pictures!

This is pretty much the key thing when it comes to documenting your renos, big or small.  With today’s digital cameras and large memory cards, it’s easy to get snap happy, taking multiple shots of the same thing so that you can look at them on the computer later and choose your favourite shots.  No matter how good a photographer you are, getting lots of shots means that you can be sure that you’ve captured the perfect photo.

Check the Lighting

One of the trickier things about taking photos to document your renovations is getting the lighting right. After all, you don’t want dark pictures where you can’t even see the progress being made, and editing them on the computer can only do so much! You can take a few test shots to get your lighting and position right but generally we recommend taking your pictures in full daylight, or turning on the lights inside.  In many cases, you can set your digital camera to auto flash and it will use the flash to give any additional light if it’s needed.  Be careful to shoot so that you’re not picking up glare from windows and mirrors or shiny metal objects too.

Take Photos the Whole Way Through

To reminisce on a job well done, you’ll need to take photos the whole way through, from start to finish.  When choosing and organising your photos on your computer, group them according to the room and project stage, for example, master bedroom before, master bedroom during, and master bedroom completed.  Try and take photos of each stage from the same position so you get the most impact from the finished pictures.  If you don’t trust yourself to remember where that spot is, just mark it on the floor with a bit of tape!

Name Your Pictures as You Go

Finally, we recommend that at the end of each photo session that you take the time to give your photos detailed names on the computer.  This is particularly important for the progress shots as you want to be able to tell the difference between the rooms being worked on!  After all, if you’re pulling the rooms back to bare bones as part of the renovation, it can get very difficult to tell them apart.  This will ensure that you don’t get confused and that you can easily match up the photos that you are taking of each room throughout the reno.