One of the best uses of your photographic skills and your time is to work on a project that you will hopefully never need to present to anyone…taking home inventory photos. If a disaster was to hit your home or if it was burglarized, an organized collection of photos of your home and possessions will be invaluable when dealing with police reports and insurance claims. Why go to all this effort?

• After the trauma of the disaster or burglary, your memory may not be as accurate as usual
• You may not remember that you own a particular item until months later when you discover it missing
• Photos communicate in ways words can’t, such as the condition, design and appearance of collectibles, antiques and other hard-to-identify pieces
• Insurance adjustors will likely treat your claim more favorably when presented with a complete inventory that contains detailed facts and photos documenting your property
• The process of creating an inventory will help you establish a realistic total value of your household possessions so you can insure it for the proper value. Not knowing until after the disaster that you had too little insurance can be a costly mistake.

WHAT YOUR PHOTO INVENTORY SHOULD INCLUDE
Your photo inventory should have three components: (1) pictures of your home and its contents (2) a detailed listing of major possessions with description, date purchased and serial numbers and (3) copies of receipts. While a film camera can be used for this project, a digital camera is ideal because of the ease of shooting and editing a large number of images, adding captions, dropping the images into documents with your computer and making several copies of the final photo inventory for safekeeping.

SHOOTING INSIDE
Include pictures of each room of your house. A wide-angle lens will be helpful, especially in smaller rooms. If you are using an SLR camera with a separate flash that has bounce capability, experiment with using the bounce since the lighting it creates will be softer and more even.

Start by standing against one wall and take a picture of the opposite wall. Move on to the next, until all four walls have been photographed. Take extra pictures of entertainment systems, paintings, items hidden behind cabinet doors and closets, etc. Pull out any particularly valuable item and take some individual photos. For example, maybe photographing each garment you own is overkill, but shots of expensive gowns, suits and items of sentimental value should be covered.

Collections and small antiques will benefit by special treatment. Create a mini-studio by using a large sheet of white or light-toned cardboard or paper as a background. A plain bed sheet, drape or other large piece of fabric will work well, too. Place this background near a large window or arrange some artificial lighting to illuminate your objects. (A couple of the Fotolite Single Lighting Units 450124, p.77 or the Light Porter II 3-Light Kit, 450616, work well for this purpose.) Take some overall views, and then move in close for detail shots that show serial numbers and engraved markings. When photographing china or silver service, set out a place setting and include a detail shot of the hallmark on the bottom of one piece as an identifier.

EXTERIOR VIEWS
Take a series of photos to show all sides of your home. Also take some further away to include landscaping and any outbuildings you may have. For best results, take the pictures on a lightly overcast day so shadows won’t hide important details. Shoot pictures inside your garage to show some of your smaller possessions, but move cars, bicycles, lawn mower and other equipment outside in front of an uncluttered background for individual photos.

SCAN RECEIPTS
Your insurance record book will be enhanced by documenting your purchases with all relevant receipts. If you are creating your insurance record book with a computer, just scan the receipts and add the JPEG images to the document.

THE PHOTO INVENTORY IS DONE, NOW WHAT?
Note the completion date on your photo inventory so you will have that as a point of reference. Store the photo inventory away from your home such as at your office or with a friend or relative for safekeeping. If you created it on a computer, print out a couple copies, then burn several copies onto CD-Rs. Periodically update it, at least every five years, more often if you acquire substantial new possessions. Be sure to make the date of revision on the photo inventory, then create new copies for off-site storage.

Now that your home photo inventory is done, consider providing this service for a friend or family member as an unusual but greatly appreciated gift. The experience you gained doing your home will make creating subsequent photo inventories easier and faster. With luck, a home photo inventory will never be needed, but the information is contains will be priceless if disaster ever strikes.

We Have A Winner!

Congratulations to Curt Moore for winning the
Porter’s/Tamron April 2007 Monthly Calendar Photo Contest! Curt’s winning entry in the “Circle” category is ready for downloading as a 2007 monthly calendar at www.porters.com.

Visit our web site and check out the monthly themes for the rest of this year and send us your best shots!