What to consider when shooting on location.
When conducting a photo shoot on location, it is important to consider the following variables because they are critical to the importance of your session.
Sometimes, photography can take us to some interesting places; especially when we are trying to execute a conceptual shoot. While magic can be made in the studio and post-processing software allows us the creativity to put a subject in almost any setting, there is simply no substitute for being on location. However, there are certainly some considerations one must keep in mind when conducting a photo shoot in the wild.
Recently, I was able to work with one of my favorite models, Nathaly Gamboa, to execute a fashion shoot that she has wanted to put together for some time. A fan of the cyberpunk scene, Nathaly had never been able to bring that style to a photoshoot so I was excited to help her explore one of her passions.
Fortunately, I knew the perfect locations for us to bring her vision to life. At Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in Denver (where I earned my degree in photography) there is a building that is now only used for storage by the maintenance department but was once used as a medical facility. Being mostly abandoned for decades, this building has taken on the look of a post-apocalyptic world, especially one particular room that has been used to store paint and which has some creative graffiti-styled art on just about every wall and an industrial-looking fan mounted into a cutout of a cinderblock wall. What’s more, beneath the RMCAD campus are tunnels that look like something out of a movie set (and which are supposedly haunted by ghosts of former patients and employees of the hospital).
Thankfully, Nathaly has a huge sense of adventure and she was willing to head to both spots to conduct our photoshoots. Neither the grime, dust, decay, or general filth phased this talented model. In fact, she seemed to come alive as she saw both locations and realized how they fit with her concept. I couldn’t be more pleased with how both sessions turned out and the images we captured were some of the best I have in my portfolio. However, there are some things I wish I’d known before shooting on location in such unusual settings.
First, safety must be the priority at all times. Often, I tend to get so caught up in the process of photography that I get tunnel vision (no pun intended). That happened when we were in the tunnels as I was looking around for a place to shoot and not watching where I stepped as I put my foot right on the edge of a manhole cover which flipped up and cracked me in the shin causing me to fall flat on my face. Fortunately, I was not injured but I did crack the screen on my phone (as I was using it as a flashlight at the time) and even more importantly, it was not Nathaly nor my wife (who was there to assist me) who fell. Also, I was lucky that no equipment other than my phone was damaged. Still, this incident served as a reminder of just how careful we must be when shooting outside the studio and in some unusual settings.
Another consideration that must be part of the equation is how to manage logistical situations. In both locations, I realized that there were no restroom facilities close by. That made it tough for Nathaly to change outfits though in the first location she changed in the room we were shooting in as I stepped out and closed the door and in the tunnels, we did not do a wardrobe change. Additionally, as I was setting up in the graffiti room prior to Nathaly’s arrival, I left the building and was locked out meaning I had to flag down a member of the building staff to let me back in. That would have been embarrassing had clients or models been present at the time so from now on, I’ll look into making sure I have easy access to all locations.
Also, we have to consider the comfort of our models and everyone else helping with the shoot. Both of these locations were without climate control meaning that each was a hot setting. That limited the time I was willing to dedicate to the shoots and required that I be efficient with my actions. Thinking about how long we can expect people to be in a particularly uncomfortable environment should be part of our planning process.
Finally, I wish I would have slowed down, especially when I was gathering up my equipment after the shoot in the painted room. Trying to make sure that Nathaly was comfortable and trying to help her get out of the building, I packed up as quickly as I could but when I walked across campus and back to my car, I realized that I had left a light stand on site. So again I had to have one of the campus facility crew members let me back in. That’s not a very professional look and I would hate for that to happen in a corporate setting where decorum and professionalism are more important than they are on a college campus where mistakes are more readily forgiven.
Ultimately, I prefer to work on location rather than in the studio. While the control that one can exert over the environment in the studio is nice at times, using the world around us to give our photos an added element is exciting and challenging. But taking our photography into the real world comes with some extra elements that I am now aware of. Hopefully, in the future, these considerations will become second nature to me. Of course, there will always be new situations we face at each on-location photoshoot but being able to anticipate some common challenges will help us make sure our sessions are safe and successful.