“I’m off to photograph some stairs!” I said to the kids. I am sure you can imagine the look they gave me!
These were not your ordinary stairs however. This was a stunning curved staircase by 'Max Stairs' that was being installed in the heart of an incredible home renovation in Leicestershire. I was photographing them for entry into a competition.
I had seen examples on Max Stairs' website, but when I turned up on a cold and rainy morning, I had no idea what to expect. When I saw the staircase it was quite a site.......a stunning site, and a building site. Waldemar and Agata were desperately cleaning off dust, there was a bath awaiting fitting in the corner, loose wires meant for future light fittings and no paint on the walls. It was also magnificent.
I knew that the turnaround time from being asked to take the photographs to them being needed for a competition was quick, and that there would be some editing involved. As I looked at the beautiful staircase in it's gorgeous, but unfinished setting I knew there would certainly be some editing needed!
I had to be really careful not to disturb any dust, or get more dust on the staircase when I went up them, and after a few hours I was happy that we had the images that we needed, it was time for editing.
In such a short turnaround time there was an important balance to find: creating images that were good enough to really showcase the stairs for the competition and not spending so long on each image that we missed the deadline. We found the balance through sending early proof edits and lots of conversation and found what I believe to be a great balance for the final images.
I won't go into the details of the editing here, but I am really chuffed that the staircase has made it into the finals of the competition. I'd be interested in knowing what you think of the before and after pictures.
Here is what Max Stairs had to say:
“Dan was doing a photoshoot for the staircase which was going to be entered to the awards competition. Thanks to his lovely photos and nice work around our product as the interior was not completely finished, our staircase is in the final. Very professional with a positive attitude. Highly recommended. Our company for sure will use his service in the future.”
You can check out more of my interior photography here.
AFTER....the final edit:
Some of the BEFORE pictures (click on images to see up close)