By the time a project opens, most of what went into it is behind finish. The sequencing, the coordination, the assemblies that were hardest to get right — covered up and out of sight. Documentation is how a project keeps a record of itself: for the draw, for closeout, for the certification file, for the question nobody expects to be asked in eighteen months, and for the story you will want to tell about this building three years from now.
The work is deliberate, editorial, and built to hold up in a portfolio, a press kit, and a booking engine alike.
What gets documented:
Progress and pay application — Scheduled visits on a set cadence: monthly, biweekly, or tied to milestones. Broad coverage of every elevation, level, and active area, shot for the record rather than the portfolio. Delivered organized by date, level, and location, so it holds up inside a draw package or a schedule conversation without anyone hunting for the right frame.
Milestone and concealed work — Targeted coverage of everything about to be covered up: assemblies before closure, MEP rough-in, envelope and waterproofing details, structural connections, insulation and air barrier continuity. Coordinated against your schedule so the visit lands the day before it is concealed, not the week after somebody realizes it wasn't shot.
Completion and project marketing — The finished building, photographed with time and light. Scouted for sun angle and shot across the hours the building actually looks like itself — for awards submissions, publication, proposals, leasing, and the project page on your own site. This is the one that gets used the longest.
interiors and FF&E, exterior twilight, time-lapse installation, 360 capture for as-built reference, licensed aerial through a partner operator.
Engagement Models
One documented visit. Good for a milestone, a closeout, or a first look at how this works before committing to a cadence.
A set monthly or biweekly cadence for the life of the project. Priced per visit, invoiced monthly, cancelable with thirty days.
Preconstruction through completion, including the finished-building shoot and the complete organized archive delivered at closeout.
Every project scopes differently. Send the schedule and I will send a number.
Who it is for:
You need the record more than the picture. Consistent camera positions month over month, complete coverage of concealed work, and files named and dated so anyone on the team can pull the shot of grid line C from the week it mattered. Site-safe, insured, and able to work around an active crew without slowing it down.
You need proof and you need a story. The same visits produce the documentation your lender and your closeout file require, and the images your leasing page, your board deck, and your groundbreaking-to-opening narrative get built from. One engagement, both jobs, no second photographer at the end.
You need the building understood. Photographed by someone who reads a set, so the frame holds the detail you spent six months resolving instead of the room it happens to sit in. Delivered sized and licensed for awards submissions and publication, with in-progress coverage most firms never get back.
Why Choose Paaause?
Paaause is run by someone who has spent the last two decades walking jobsites for general contractors, developers, and building owners, including LEED documentation work outside of photography. So we arrive knowing what the building should look like, what has to be photographed before the next, and which images a reviewer, investor, or inspector will actually accept. You shouldn't have to explain your project to your photographer or what comes next on the construction schedule.
The rest of it is what Paaause has always been about; slowing down enough to see the work clearly. A jobsite is the least still place there is but we work around the process.
Get started now!Deliverables
General liability certificate on file; additional insured on request.
Our own PPE, site-specific orientation completed before the first visit.
Five business days standard but typically a forty-eight hour turnaround
Full-resolution and web-sized sets. RAW files retained and available on request.
Unlimited use for the project team. Publication and third-party licensing handled per project.
One project archive, accessible through closeout and retained after.
Southeast Michigan and Metro Detroit. Travel by arrangement.
Have a construction question?
Are you insured and site-safe?
Yes. General liability with a certificate on file, additional insured on request, and our own PPE. We can complete site-specific orientation before the first visit like any other trade.
Can you work around an active crew?
That is the normal condition. I work around the schedule rather than pausing it, check in with the superintendent on arrival, and stay out of the critical path.
How far ahead do you need to be scheduled?
Two weeks is comfortable for a recurring cadence. For concealed work about to be closed, let us know as soon as you can and we will try to make that window.
Do you handle LEED or certification photo requirements?
Yes, and it is the reason a lot of teams call. We do LEED documentation work outside of photography, so we know what the reviewers need to see and when it has to be shot.
Do you provide aerial drone footage?
Yes, we are a licensed FAA drone operator and can coordinate footage on the same visit.
Who owns the images?
Paaause holds the copyright; your team gets unlimited use for the project: marketing, submissions, internal records, closeout. Third-party publication licensing is handled per request.
Can you pick up a project that is already underway?
Yes, send us what has been shot so far and we will match camera positions and naming so the record reads as one continuous set.