Taking on a new location!

We asked Sophie (founder and owner of Light Locations) to take us through what happens once a new location has been selected to feature as one of our beautiful, inspiring lifestyle locations for the film, TV and photographic industries…..

Getting To Know The Location and its Owner

One of the best parts of my job is doing the photography for the Light Locations website. It gives me the opportunity to see the location in person, meet the owner and know what it is like to shoot there. This is where Light Locations stands out from other agencies as we visit all our locations and meet every owner which means the owners know who they are talking to on the phone and it gives us a great insight into the property.

The process of taking on a location is time-consuming and there is a lot of work involved. After seeing photos that have been sent to us and I have decided that the location will work with us I arrange a date to visit the location and meet the owner.

Taking the Promotion Shots For The Website

On the photography day, I leave the house with my camera and tripod, which are my essential bits of kit. I take all my photos in natural light so no lights are needed just a relatively nice day but not too sunny. I always hope for no direct sunlight as it always complicates and slows down the process – harsh yellow light does not look nice!

Depending on the size of the house the photos normally take me around 3 – 5 hours. I shoot every suitable room and shoot all good angles of the room to make sure I show off its full potential. I always try to give my photos a ‘flow’ by shooting the house in a logical order. This means that when clients view the property on the site, they feel they are being walked around it.

I generally shoot the house as it is so that my photos are as true to life as possible but I do like them to also be inspiring. Depending on the house I may not move anything but occasionally I have to move something out of shot if it distracts a view or if the room is not being seen in its best light. I always move TV’S out of every shot as there is nothing worse than having a big black thing in the corner of a room!

Editing The Shots

After the photography is done time is then spent editing the photos to make sure they reflect the property. Once this is done they get sent off to Nicola who is in charge of putting the locations live on the site. Nicola goes through every photo making sure it is of good quality, prepares them for the site and creates a page for the new location. Nicola sorts out all the other information needed like maps, transport details, Ecards, shortlists and a newsletter montage.

Promoting The New Location

Once live on the site the owner is informed and a newsletter is sent out promoting the new location to all our subscribers so that everyone is made aware of our new property. These newsletters always give us an immediate response, so are a great publicity tool.

We also use Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to not only promote the new location to potential clients but also to inspire anyone and everyone interested in stunning interior designs.