There is something about watching a building being constructed that I find fascinating. Seeing a plan become reality in steel, glass, and concrete, by the hard work of many highly skilled people, over a period of years, is simply amazing.
That is why I enjoy handling construction progress photo assignments. For these assignments I am required to deliver the digital images as unaltered originals, straight out of the camera. The terrain is sometimes rugged and muddy, and I always need to be aware of my surroundings, since construction vehicles can come at you from any direction. Wearing a hard hat, steel toed boots and a bright OSHA green shirt, vest, or jacket is essential.
I learned by being yelled at, not to ever cross an area that has red tape surrounding it. I also learned why hardhats must be worn on construction sites, since I have banged my hardhat on many overhead objects, that I thought I had cleared.
Documentation is critical with construction progress photos. Embedded in every digital photo I take on a construction site is a GPS coordinate that also includes altitude, the direction the photo was taken, as well as the date, time taken, camera, lens, and exposure setting. The information embedded in each image is called EFIX data or "exchangeable image file format".
I use an architectural site map and produce a PDF file with the frame number and direction arrow of each photo taken, that I deliver with the original digital images..
On a rare occasion I get to see compelling action like the time I covered a huge crane hoisting an immense steel beam over the Massachusetts Turnpike: http://info.2cimages.com/blog/48/big-cranes-in-boston , but recently my progress photos are taken after 2:30PM when all the construction crews have left for the day. It is much safer that way. Here are a few examples of the progress I have seen.
The hard part to take is that at some point in the future, the building is completed and there no longer is a need for progress photography. That's when I hope to find another building project that is just getting started; so that I can continue to be amazed.
Timothy Becker
Creative Images Photography
901 Main St.
Manchester, CT 06040
860-528-7818
Additional safety tips:
- Before you access the site check in at the job site office to sign in & out.
-Safety shoes with steel required.
- Yellow Safety Vest
- Don’t forget your safety glasses & possibility some gloves to protect your hands for small hand injuries.
Great Job !
Ed