Randy a good question. File examiners love good photos and good captions. Let the photos sell your scope for you. If 4 is required send in 10. Do your photos just like your inspection. When you drive up take a lond shot of the front of the house from the street of more than the front, but I always try to get in the complete front and one complete side. The caption should say Looking N,E,S. W or any compass point in between. Then I do a rear shot the same way if I have room (a 24MM) is a good investment. Allways take long shots to give an overall feeling and a close up of the damage. If you have a 2 slope roof do down to the end of the ridge and get a long shot of both slopes and saw which way you are looking in the caption. If its a hail hit roof the test square will show in this shot, but then come in close and take the hit shots circled with chaulk. Do the same inside but if you do not have a 24-28 mm its hard to get the whole room, but try.ALWAYS put NORTH on the roof diagram. Always start at the front door and go around the house CW or CCW and label your photos the same. If you use sketch print an extra copy of the floor plan with NORTH indicated by an arrow. You can show the examiner by a pen were you took the photo from. Just think of it like this you do not buy ink or paper, but all this "paper" you are sending is selling your claim by the pound. Old time IA's , lawyers, public adjusters, engineers have been doing this for 75 years and I did not learn this until I was 25 years old........ but it works. Always glad to help out an old bud Randy, call me anytime. In my younger days I can still remember my SF file reviewers on an open file review make the statement . O nice to meet you Ray I have enjoyed the amount of time you spend on your Photos ( and this was 35mm days) with paste up captions and glue on the back of photos, but all my files sailed right through and I usally stayed around for clean up if I wanted.

Room names, directions (N,S,W,E) on roof slopes and exterior elevations should always be a given.  But sometimes the directions and floor level are forgotten on photos of interior walls/ceilings on questionable losses regarding wind vs. flood. 

But maybe the bigger issue is photos of "no damage" areas.  Once the field adjuster leaves the scene, the contractor or PA shows up.  And then, when we begin to compare the FA's estimate to the later repair estimate it's nice to have that documentation.   A prime example of this is a new home under construction that had wind damage to the shingles. Nothing else, no broken windows, no wind-driven rain claim.  But it sat idle for months with no A/C or dehumidifier, etc.  When the builder decided to continue completion, they found all the main level laminate wood flooring  & baseboards warped.   Clearly not a covered loss, and although they wanted to claim after the fact that maybe the wind had blown out some windows & allowed rain to enter.....the original adjuster had sufficient photos and there were no broken windows, nor any tiny trace of drywall damage on the main floor.    The house had just sat there several months in high humidity conditions. 

So, even though the vendor instructions may say you only get paid for "x" number of photos, it's the digital age.  Doesn't cost you any extra to upload a few more, but would cost you in terms of time if you need to go back & try to explain yourself weeks later.  This doesn't mean you should go overboard on photos, but recognize those certain areas/circumstances that just might raise a question later on.  Do your best though to avoid the overkill. I remember one particular newbie that sent in over 100 photos on a $15,000 loss, including every flourescent light fixture in a veterinary clinic just to show that they didn't have water in them. 

Randy you are one of the best student I have ever had. Just remembered something else. When you get to a roof claim, please walk all around the house and look for siding and window damage. Also splatter marks from hail on oxidized paint on AC condensers, and electric boxes, and black charcoal grills in the back yard. And point out damage to the homeowner they were unaware of.

When you get inside ask if they have water marks in any other rooms..... And then say well since I am here let me look in all the rooms, because I know what to look for (East Texas). This will stop a 2nd inspection many times. It make me think if some of you never have any call in's like this about your inspection. You may be over paying each claim. You don,t have to be Santa Claus, just fair and accurate

Since digital photos and paperless many carriers will not pay enough on photos to label them. But photos always sell your scope and I would cut adjusters loose on the first cut that did not treat this part of the file as # 3 in importance.