Progress-photo organization guide

Photographs are the cheapest record a project produces and the one most often lost. This guide gives you a naming convention, a folder structure, a list of what must be photographed in each phase before it is covered up, and a way to photograph so the picture is useful a year later. The habits are taught in Module 10. The photos themselves live wherever you keep them; only the checklist state below is saved, in this browser, and you can export it from the binder page.

1. The naming convention

Name every photo the same way, the day it is taken, before it is forgotten:

YYYY-MM-DD_location_direction_subject

Examples: 2026-09-15_kitchen_sink-wall_rough-plumbing-tape.jpg, 2026-09-22_driveway_cabinet-delivery-damage-detail.jpg, 2026-10-02_kitchen_north_pre-drywall-boxes.jpg. Most phones let you rename in bulk at the end of the day; the date and location are the parts that matter most if you only have time for those.

2. Folder structure by phase

Phases, not dates, are how you will look for a photo later ("what was behind the sink wall?"). One folder per phase, with the same names used in the checklist below, plus a folder for deliveries and one for inspections that cut across phases:

Keep the folder in a place that is backed up automatically and that someone other than you can reach. Share it with your contractor or designer read-only; a shared folder is also where their photos of pre-cover conditions can land, in the same convention.

3. What must be photographed, by phase

The checklist below lists the photographs that cannot be taken later because the thing will be covered, removed or installed. Tick each as it is done and write where the photos are stored. Filter by project type; a renovation does not need the foundation rows, and a new build does not need the pre-demolition rows.

4. How to photograph

• Wide, then detail. First a shot of the whole wall or area from the doorway, then the close-ups. A close-up of a pipe with no wide shot is a pipe somewhere in a house.
• Include a reference object. A tape measure hooked on a stud, a yardstick, or a known object (a standard brick, a door) gives scale. For anything that will be inside a wall, a tape measure from a fixed point (the corner, the window edge) lets you find it again.
• Daylight where you can, flash off where you can. Open the blinds, turn on the work lights; flash flattens texture and hides the ridge in the drywall you were trying to show.
• Straight on, at eye level, camera level. Tilted shots distort lengths. For floors and ceilings, stand in the same spot each time (mark it with tape on the day) so the photos line up over the weeks.
• Every wall, in order. Before drywall, walk the room clockwise from the door and photograph each wall, then the ceiling, then the floor. Say the wall name aloud as you shoot if your phone records it; the names go in the filenames.
• Photograph the paper too. Inspection tags, delivery slips, the label on the box, the model plate on the unit. A photo of a packing slip is often the only record of what arrived.
• Same day, same convention. Rename and file before bed. A folder of IMG_4471.jpg is not a record.
• Note what you cannot see. If something is already covered when you arrive, photograph it covered and write it in the issue log with the date. That record is as useful as the one you missed.