When you're photographing people in the wild (and not in a studio) - you have to balance several different factors. The first of these is the environment - which sets the overarching theme and backdrop for a portrait shoot. Then there's the time, (be this on the clock, or the calendar) and finally, there's the weather.
There's other considerations, of course - accessibility of the terrain, effort required to get in and out - and as a result of the environment - the gear that is going to be the most useful.
This post is a brief run down of how I tend to complete my photographic scouting for locations.
Once I've agreed with the model the time, date, and place for the shoot, I'll generally make an effort to go visit the location within a week of the shoot date. This will help me with my punctuality on the day - as knowing where to park is immensely time saving, and allows me to give directions better on the day for the meeting spot.
The second thing I'll do is I'll time how long it takes to get there, with a comfortable barrier of time either side. It doesn't pay to be late, and if I want to ensure that I'm approaching my work in a professional manner, punctuality is one of the most important things!
In order to scout, I'll go around the same time as the shoot - if we're meeting at a place at 2pm, I'll rock up about 130, and hang around until about 4pm in order to see how the light changes in that environment - which will help me think about what sort of gear I'll need, or what sort of photographic settings I'll need to use.
Most importantly, I don't take my camera on these scouting trips, I just take my phone, a drink bottle, and my self. I'll snap some shots on my mobile to capture potential locations / angles, and wander around thinking about how the environmental portrait might best be composed.
I'll also take note of the terrain as I wander about - in order to ensure that I'm providing adequate advise about potential footwear or other hazards.
When I went out to Anstey Hill - I parked the car at Gate 6, on Perseverance Road. This is the most easilly accessible trek to the Newman's Nursery Ruins, and there's quite a few interesting stops along the way in the valley. It's a mild up-hill hike, which is not an incredible amount of fun with camera gear in tow.
Newman's Nursery Ruins is the main prize on this trek, but it is a shame the majority of the ruins are defaced.
There's plenty of green throughout the park - and the paths are pretty busy with people passing by, walking dogs, or taking their mountain bikes out for a jaunt.
I've produced some prior work in Anstey Hill, and it turned out well - I'll be attempting to emulate the same sort of mood and feel.
From phone snaps to D-SLR snaps:
I'll see what the shoot brings, and of course, I'll post the images here when I'm all done! :)
Wild people photography! 😁
Wild people all over the place! Will have the images from the shoot up shortly!
Do you scout locations every time even if you've been there before in case something's changed the last time you were there?
We'll be waiting for those images ;D
I've been to Anstey Hill many times before, didn't stop me from scouting again!