How to Capture Better Photographic Evidence on Site

Shoot in context-and-close-up pairs

One wide shot establishes the location; one close shot shows the condition. On its own, a tight crop of a crack could be anywhere in the building.

Give the viewer a sense of scale

• Include a familiar object, a tape measure or a marker in the close-up.
• Frame a fixed feature — a socket, skirting, door frame — in the wide shot.
• Keep the camera square to the surface so the defect is not distorted.

Work with the light you have

• Avoid shooting straight into windows; move to put the light behind you.
• Use a torch at a shallow angle to reveal surface undulation and hairline cracking.
• Take a second exposure in difficult light rather than relying on one attempt.

Annotate at the point of capture

Marking the defect while you are standing in front of it is more accurate than trying to remember its position later. Arrows and outlines also stop clients hunting through a photograph for the finding you meant.

Keep sets small and deliberate

Twenty considered photographs are more useful to a client than two hundred unsorted ones. Capture what supports a specific observation, and delete duplicates before you finalise.

Name and order photographs consistently

• Attach each photograph to the observation it evidences rather than a general pool.
• Keep a consistent room order so reports read the same way every time.
• Check that every priority finding has at least one clear supporting image.