Reviewing and adapting at a Grand Parisian home

24 Aug

Composing in-camera for a Homes & Gardens magazine feature

The Brief

I spent a week with Sean Symington and his team capturing this spectacular family home in the French countryside just south of Paris on The Seine. The goal was to illustrate how Sean and his team had completely renovated the property, blending classic French architecture with contemporary design. We composed our shots with editors in mind, which led to an extensive feature in Homes & Gardens magazine.

The Process

As we had five days to shoot, we divided the property into sections to ensure we worked at the right tempo. We also took images of all the rooms before we started to make sure we could return them to their original state for the client. The homeowner had a fantastic art collection which helped with styling; we also sourced props from a local market to keep with the French theme.

The Result

With each room, we had one eye on the magazine feature, making sure we got the "link shots" to show the flow of the property as well as those important hero shots of the main spaces. Having a whole week enabled us to get the styling and lighting right on-site with the final images needing very little digital retouching. We captured multiple angles of the kitchen, sitting room, and master suite, which gave Homes & Gardens plenty to work with and resulted in a fantastic ten-page feature.