Location Scouting.

    Not many people consider location scouting to be a big part of a photographers job but the truth is that it is just as important as choosing the right models, right props and everything else. In this post I am going to talk a bit on the topic of location scouting. When planning a shoot you need to take everything that is going to end up in the final shots into consideration. Does your model’s look fit what they are doing? Does what they are doing match their outfits? Does the location match all of the above? I have a shoot coming up that is centered around fishing that I just went scouting for and I am going to write about my scouting process from start to finish.

    Step one for me is always brainstorming.  What do I want the shoot to feel like?  For this fishing shoot I have coming up I want people to look at the images and have no idea where this place was. I want it to be all natural. No buildings, no paved roads, no street signs, etc. Taking away these familiar reference points can take the pictures to something of everyday life to something exotic, less familiar and finally, more interesting. Another obvious thing I needed in these shots was water. Either a lake or river surrounded by trees, marsh, etc. The closest thing to me is a river so I had a choice to make. Where do I want the sun in the sky?  I knew I wanted to get a lot of backlighting so the sun was going to have to be low in the sky.  Since this means the sun is going to be in the west I needed to be on the east side of the river so when I shoot towards the west the rest of the river will be in the background. These are all things to keep in mind. After brainstorming, the next step for me is always Google Earth.

    Google Earth is amazing for quickly finding areas around you that may be what you are looking for. For example, I scanned the river for areas that had dirt roads, tons of trees and no annoying buildings in the way. After you find a few areas… go to them!

    When you actually go to scout out the area make sure you remember three things, Go scouting at the same time the shoot will be, bring your camera and if you can, bring someone else. I always try to bring someone along for two reasons. If you don’t think of something when you are at the location, the other person might. The other reason I bring someone along is because I always do some test shots and if you are going to be shooting models on the shoot day why not do the test shots on the person also.  When I went out scouting the other day we pulled over on the side of the road near the river a few times to follow foot paths into the woods until we finally found a great spot.  The spot had everything I needed.  No buildings or anything familiar, EASY water access and nothing but nature. It also had plenty of spots for me to store props, reflectors and other things when they aren’t being used. Now that you have your location you might think that you’re done but you still have one more thing to do.

    Follow up! This fishing shoot isn’t until the end of the month. What if I show up on shoot day and there is some construction going on? What if I show up and there is trash EVERYWHERE? A simple visit the day before can prevent a big problem and a lot of wasted time on shoot day.

    Location scouting is just one of the bajillion things you have to account for when planning a successful shoot. A good location can make a shoot and a bad one can break it.  A few photos from the fishing location scouting trip can be seen HERE.