Press Play: How Music Shapes My Shoots

There's a moment at the start of every shoot, right as the camera comes out, where I press play.

It's a small ritual, but an important one. The right music shifts the atmosphere in a room almost immediately. A slow ambient track can make a space feel more expansive. Something with a little more pulse brings energy to a grey morning when the light isn't cooperating. Either way, music sets the pace and the pace shapes everything that follows.

My playlists on shoot days tend to move between chill, ambient, and house. Nothing too distracting, no lyrics fighting for attention, but enough texture to keep things moving. The goal is always the same: make the day feel less like work and more like something worth being present for.

I've found that music affects not just me but everyone in the room. When there's a good track playing softly in the background, clients relax. Designers loosen up. The conversation flows more naturally. That ease tends to show up in the work, in the small decisions about what to move, what to leave, how long to wait for the light to shift.

Interior photography can sometimes feel like a precise, technical exercise. And in some ways it is. But the spaces I'm drawn to and the images I'm most proud of tend to come from days that had a certain looseness to them. A sense of play. Music is a big part of how I get there.

There's no formula for the perfect shoot-day playlist. But if you ever find yourself on set with me, expect something considered, unhurried, and just interesting enough to keep the day moving in the right direction.

Here's what's been on rotation lately: Soft House Lounge on Apple Music.

/M