I recently had a call with a potential client who builds luxury custom homes. They don't use professional photography very often yet, but they clearly understand it's something they want to invest in.
So I asked a simple question: how many architectural photos do you need from this upcoming project?
Their answer: 60–70 images.
And my immediate thought was... what are you going to do with 70 photographs?
I'm not saying that facetiously. It is a very practical question. Take out a piece of paper. Write down the numbers 1 through 70, and next to each number, write down what you're planning to do with that photograph. Where will it live? What job will it perform? Why does it need to exist?
It gets surprisingly difficult. Fast.
I Think We're Asking the Wrong Question
A lot of businesses have been trained to think of photography as content.
They need Instagram content. They need posts. They need something to put on social media next Tuesday.
That thinking naturally leads to one question: "How many photographs can we get?"
But here's the thing: I'm a photographer, and even I don't think about Instagram as the end goal of my photography.
I want my work to attract a very specific type of client and a very specific type of project. Everything I put into the world should reinforce that. It's one of the reasons I created my Semi Silent film series. Those films communicate something about how I work, what I value, the projects I want to photograph, and what it's like to work with me.
Now, I'm NOT suggesting an architecture firm needs to start making films. I'm suggesting that you zoom out and re-evaluate what message you want to put out in your marketing.
A stylish, modern slatted wood living room in a high-end home I captured
How Do You Want Your Business to Be Perceived?
That's the question I'd rather start with.
What kinds of projects do you want more of?
What kinds of clients do you want calling you?
What does someone need to see to understand what you're capable of?
Now we can start talking about photographs.
The Short Answer: 10–20 Finished Images
For many residential architectural photography projects, 10–20 carefully considered finished images can tell the story extremely well.
That doesn't mean I only photograph 10–20 frames. I may make 50, 60, or considerably more photographs while documenting a project. The real question is how many of those ultimately deserve a place in your portfolio.
Think Beyond One Project
Here's another exercise.
Imagine discovering a company online and seeing the same project over and over and over again. Different room. Different angle. Different detail. Same project.
Eventually... what does that communicate?
Even if the work is excellent, it can create the perception that there simply isn't much other work to show.
Now imagine discovering another company and seeing exceptional photographs from five or six different projects. There's variety. There's depth. There's evidence of a real body of work.
If you have the resources to build a library of 70 excellent photographs, I'd much rather see 70 photographs representing five or six great projects than 70 photographs of one project. That's WAY more impressive.
Your Photographs Should Have Jobs
To be clear, I'm not arguing against licensing a large number of photographs. I have clients who license 30, 40, or 50 images from a project, and I'm perfectly happy to create them.
But I've also watched clients license dozens of photographs and barely use most of them. That's where I think we need to stop and ask: what are we actually trying to accomplish?
A frame from Semi Silent 3 - featuring me working at a residential design and build shoot in Asheville, NC for Assembly AB.
Where Your Architectural Photos Can Work
Your photography might support any of these (and one photograph can serve several at once):
Your website and portfolio
Proposals and presentations
Awards submissions and editorial pitches
Printed materials, PR, and advertising
Recruiting
Social media
...or something we haven't even thought of yet
The goal isn't to milk as much "content" as possible out of one photography day. It's to build a body of work that communicates who you are and helps create the opportunities you want next.
Start With a Better Question
So before asking "How many photographs do I get?" I'd start with this one instead:
"What do I want these photographs to do?"
Once you know the answer to the second question, the first one becomes a whole lot easier.
If you have a project in mind you are considering working together on, let’s get the conversation started and I can help you think through this before we even commit to anything.