Basement Finishing Design Preparation Requires Many Digital Photos

Taking Photos and Sending:

When taking photos for me, always remember that I need the best ones you can take and share as I use my photo editing software to view, lighten and or to zoom in to see details. Therefore, taking photos far away is best for me and it’s ok if they are a little darker when you send them. This is how I can see your project without being there. No need to number the locations you take them from either; I have a very high comprehension for this and I’m extremely gifted at figuring this out. Close up shots if you can imagine are hard for me to understand without the far away image of the same thing as well. Since I’ve never been there, I will have no idea where the photo was taken and what location in your project it was taken without the far away imaging as well to see where the close shot is located.

If you merely stand with your back to each wall per 15-20 foot section in the areas needed, taking the imagine with a fairly good digital camera/cell phone that has at least a 5 megapixel camera or better yet like HD quality. I want to see originals in JPEG format only not HEIC as I have to convert them. I’ll get clear images this way and I will later be able to zoom in on them as needed. Some cell phones just do not take good images and for HD photos I want, check your settings. So please review any images you’re sending first to make sure they are clear to see. I might mention this more than once but I will see more if you turn the cell phone or photo equipment sideways, side to side or in landscape position NOT up and down as in a TicToc images also called portrait. Notice the first image below can’t show as much of what’s there to the left and to the right as the same shot taken in landscape just below in the 2nd image example.

TRY NOT TO TAKE PHOTOS THAT ARE NARROW

THIS IS A GOOD WAY TO TAKE THE PHOTOS, MUCH MORE CAN BE SEEN PER IMAGE

Try not to take the image of things on the floor so much or close-up photos (not concerned with a messy basement or what you have in storage; I see so many of these anyway) but take the photo shot as far across the ceilings far back as possible showing less (but some) of the floor area and mostly all Ceilings. MAKE SURE I CAN SEE AS FAR AWAY TO ALL WALLS WITH YOU BACK TO THEM FAR ACROSS THE CEILINGS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. I only need images of pipes, sump pits and drains on the floor but clear these areas and I’ll see them in your far away photos with or without any close-ups by zooming in with my photo software. In fact, I can even lighten any dark images you send me so don’t worry so much on this but do turn on any lights. In Taking Photos and Sending, as mentioned above, the wider angle (landscape) type of photos, not (portrait) are best. Hold cell phones turned side to side not up and down. I can see more left to right this way. I want to see as much as possible from left to right always (I’ll surely see more) and not so much top to bottom unless it’s like the inside of the stairway, ok?

Unorganized Storage & Play Area

Don’t feel embarrassed about all the stuff in your basement! I’ve seen thousands much worse I’m sure and I am only interested in seeing all the ceilings and walls.

The following example below is a sample CAD drawing for a basement as just a footprint plan. Notice the large red “X” and an arrow showing the direction to take the photo. Depending on the size of your project, I will need to see about 12-18 photos on average but areas larger than 1500 square feet may require more photos.  It may also depend on the shape and or configuration of the space; this sample drawing is for 1600 square feet of space but needs about 22 photos when Taking Photos and Sending to me in order to see all of it well. As a rule of thumb, about 1-2 photos per 100 square feet of space on average. Always remember how well I comprehend basements; years ago I stood in over 2000 basements personally and if I have good photos, I no longer need to stand in the basement to understand it. I just have a very high aptitude for this! So as long as I have plenty of good photos, you’re in good hands!

TAKE PHOTOS IN DIRECTION OF ARROWS STANDING WHERE THE RED “X” IS LOCATED

When sending these original images to me, remember I need the high quality original digital photo files so I may zoom in. No real need for close-ups unless you show me the same far away so I know where you took the close up. Remember, I’ve never been in your basement so I won’t understand a close up photo and where it was taken in your basement without a far away one of the same shot to associate the location of the shot. You can then group all the photo files that are in your saved folder and zip them into a compressed folder to attach in an email to me and if larger than 4-6mb total per email or you can send 3-4 at a time in emails to me. I really don’t mind many emails if sending me these larger high quality files. Note: Many cell phones take lower resolution images and are blurry if I zoom in on them.  Some iPhone 4 or newer work ok and some 8 megapixel or higher might be fine too.

Another way is to upload them to a place like OneDrive; https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/. Or any cloud service such as Google Drive for example. You can download this to your Windows or MAC PC and even synchronize any important files we share here and then tell it to share these documents and or photos with me. These are easy for me to download and you can upload the entire photo folder at one time which in turn is faster for me to download it from this site at one time. OneDrive has Apps for smaller devices too at this link; https://onedrive.live.com/about/en-us/download/ There are other programs that make me sign up just get your documents and or photos and I really don’t need more programs on my PC.

Many clients use this OneDrive as it creates a folder on your PC that you can merely drag and drop documents and images in a saved folder on your PC and it will sync with that folder. Then just share what you wish by pasting my email address to the files you share and I’ll get that email. This is handy too when you print out a revised plan we’re working on with your notes and or corrections; just take a clear photo of it if you don’t have a scanner, it’s a photo copy of course and this too can be uploaded to a cloud based site like Google or OneDrive to share it from.  No matter what program you wish to link me to for Taking Photos and Sending , just make sure it has a download function to get all of them. I hate to copy and paste one at a time, lol. You can FAX (if such a device still exist) sketches and other documents or the printed out PDF’s corrections I send as well but remember that a FAX image will come to me more faded and harder to read. Always remember that if you don’t have a scanner or FAX, once again you can just take photos of any plans or documents you need to send to me making sure to send me a clear one if showing numbers; this was called a photo copy back in the day.

I don’t use a MAC PC but OneDrive claims to work for either type of PC. In short, just make sure you can send me the original digital photos and don’t worry about my storage, I have over 8 terabytes to fill up on my PC so I can take a lot of client files, ok?

Before you finish taking photos; if I’m doing a design for you, also include photos of your main floor upstairs to show me any architectural features you may want me to emulate in your design. Items of interest in other words that show me a style or theme can also be shown to me that you found on the internet or magazines too but show me door style, archways, niches, railings, cabinets, built-ins, fireplaces and just about anything that your thinking so I can see what’s on your mind as well for the overall appearance. Thank you so very much for understanding my methods.