It happens. The building is finished, the shoot is booked, and not everything is ready when I arrive. There is often a way to make it work on the day.
Moving what’s there
At Luray Caverns Airport, only part of the lounge furniture had been delivered. So I photographed the chairs that were there in one spot, moved them, photographed them again, and then did it a third time. Combined, those frames make the finished photograph above.
One piece standing in for many
On one office shoot there was a single monitor. I hung it in one cubicle after another, photographed each, and combined the results.
Photographing around it
Other times I have just photographed where the construction isn’t.
Coming back
When what’s missing can’t be worked around, the shoot splits across more than one day, which often costs a little more. I have made as many as three visits to finish a shoot, because something came up or wasn’t ready.
Choosing
What’s missing decides whether making it work is possible at all. When it is, the choice is yours. Making it work solves the problem, but it takes time on site that can’t be spent on other shots.