January 21, 2008 - Rob Farrow stands at the foot of the house he and his wife Christina found and renovated in Palolo Valley. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF 10-22mm f3.5-4.5, Aperture Priority, 1/800 sec at f/6.3, ISO 400, Daylight white balance

I recently went on a shoot for the business section for a story on a couple who bought a run-down house in Palolo with the idea of fixing it up and selling it. Turns out they are going to be living in it for a while.

The assignment mentioned that they’d be showing us around the house, and we’d need a number of photos for a centerpiece story.

So when I showed up, they were talking with the reporter in the driveway, and I started shooting. I avoid doing set-up “smiley people looking in the camera” deals as much as possible. Sometimes it’s simply unavoidable; there’s nothing going on, there’s nobody talking to anyone, and a set-up starts to loom on the horizon. So in a situation like that, I ferry everyone into some pose, have them look directly into the camera (eye-contact with the camera establishes the “I set up this shot” motif) and fire away.

In this case, Rob was talking with the reporter, his wife, and the realtor, and when I saw the corner of the house, I whipped out the 10mm for something a little wacky.

Then they invited us into the house to show what the interior renovations looked like. I’m always still impressed that people will invite me, a complete stranger, into their homes and let me take pictures.

January 21, 2008 - Christina Farrow shows how she and her husband plan to cover up the electrical box in their newly renovated home in Palolo Valley. Exposure details: Canon EOS 20D, EF 10-22mm f3.5-4.5, Aperture Priority, 1/30 sec at f/6.3, ISO 400, Daylight white balance

They were showing the living room, and lamenting on how the due to building codes, the electrical box had to be placed on a conspicuous wall right in plain view. The reporter asked how they planned to deal with it, and Christina grabbed a framed piece of art and placed it over the box. I ran over and fired off a few frames. I ended up with something natural from what could have been a pretty static photo.