Today, Jeffrey had a photo shoot at Lazar's Chocolate in Wheatly Plaza. His process is pretty similar for each photo shoot but he has to adapt to each business according to the size, location and possible surrounding interferences. His first step is to clean up everything to make sure the photography is "presentable" as Jeff stated. He explained to me that even a minor imperfection is emphasized in photographs so he tries his best to make sure that there are no flaws before he begins to shoot. 

During the shoot I noticed Jeff was constantly looking around. He does this to make sure that there will be nothing in the way such as people, or any objects. Something interesting that Jeff does is that he brings doorstoppers with him to every shoot; he opens doors that would possibly add a reflection to his photograph, which we wouldn't want. Also, he wants his photographs to last a lifetime so if there are any signs that are only temporary he would not include them in the photograph. 

Jeff started his shoot outside of the store, getting a wide shot in order for the viewers to get an idea of where it is and what is around it. He then came in the store and took photos of the outside from the inside to again enable the viewers to get a better understanding of the location of the store. Jeff takes photos from every angle, moving the tripod about 4 to 11 feet each time. A fish eye lens is used so that more can be seen in each photo. Some businesses only want photos to be taken of the general area where customers would be but for Lazar's specifically, they wanted the entire store. So after taking the photos of the store from every angle and of every area, Jeffrey went behind the displays and took photos from where the employees would be standing to receive the chocolate for the customers. It was an interesting view because this way there are no secrets for how the employees handle their products. The employees also were eager to have the kitchen photographed, which Jeff was not planning on doing but he was definitely willing to. It was really cool to go back there and see all of the machines and how the chocolate is made. I think it is important for the kitchen to be photographed in this case because as a customer I would be happy to see how clean their kitchen is and it is also very fascinating to see how the chocolate is made. 

After taking the photos that would later be stitched together for the virtual tour, Jeff switched cameras to begin with the still photos. Jeff said "I love the general the general photography part because I get to be creative." These photos were similar to those that were taken for the tour but with not as wide of a lens because he was focusing on more specific items and areas in the store. Jeff made sure that everything was "aesthetically pleasing" because taking each photo, so that it was better for the eye. The employees also wanted pictures of the three of them inside and outside of the store so Jeff concluded his shoot with that. And the best part is that we were both offered chocolate at the end! 

Watching Jeff do his photo shoot was very entertaining to me because I have never observed anything like this. To me, the photos for the tour was what was the most fascinating because he was taking still photos that would turn them into a virtual tour which almost looks like video. I have seen so many of his tours so it was cool to see the process before the tour is created.