Journal
Photographs that stand up when the client walks the same floor
We still see packs with a gallery of wide shots and no activity IDs. They look busy and prove almost nothing. When the client walks the third floor a week later, the argument is about whether the photographs were even of that floor.
Our walkdown sheets use a simple rule: one primary photograph per activity claimed as complete or substantially complete, taken from a viewpoint a visitor can repeat. The caption carries the date, the gridline or flat number, and the programme activity ID. Secondary photographs show adjacent work that might be confused with the claim.
Light and weather matter in Scotland. A grey afternoon can make first-fix look unfinished. We note the conditions rather than waiting for a perfect day that never arrives before the reporting freeze.
Do not photograph people unless they have agreed, and never photograph a visitor’s face as proof of attendance. Proof of work is in the building, the date stamp, and the activity list.
If a area is closed for a test or a pour, we photograph the barrier and the permit board instead of inventing a progress percentage. Closed is a status. It is not 80 percent.