Pixiq

If I’m envisioning a shoot on location, I’ll scout the location in advance so I know what I’m dealing with. I look for things like where the light hits during different parts of the day and where it is coming from, the elements available at the location, and how many different set-ups I can get out of one location.

Looking out a back window of my daughter’s house, there’s a great view of this big, sunsoaked yard and you can tell that it is a great place for taking people pictures.

Photographers should be aware of the location of any nearby parks and where the light comes in at various times of day, so you’ll know when and where you’ll get the kind of lighting you want. You wouldn’t go out there at noon, for example, just because it’s a pleasant location; you’d wait until it’s the end of the day, when the light comes through the trees. You should have a list of places where you take people. The beach is almost always great, but even there, it is easier to shoot on overcast days, in the early morning, or late in the afternoon when the light isn’t so harsh. Whatever you do, make sure you see places before you schedule a shoot there. Go check them out to see the lay of the land and avoid unpleasant surprises.

Lighting on Location

Working on location does impose certain limits. For one, you don’t have complete control over the light, so you must plan in advance. As with my approach to photography in general, I keep my location lighting as simple as possible.

I’ve mentioned that I like to work in the afternoon, from about 3:30 P.M. until sunset—there’s not a soul in the world who looks bad in that soft, diffused light—but I can’t always plan my shooting around late afternoon light. So, to deal with this, I’ll shoot early in the morning until the light gets too harsh, and then I’ll begin working with umbrellas, reflectors, and the white nylon in order to control the light as best as I can.

You have to be able to outthink the light; I’ve found I can get away with noontime light if I’m shooting down from a high angle with the model right below me. With the sun directly above, I can get a nice look to the image.

Props on Location

Sometimes a photograph—or an entire shoot, for that matter—can be completely inspired by a single element. I went on location to Prague once, and the entire trip was based on a prop. It was an article of clothing—a cape. I had shot an image of a girl in a cape at one time, and I liked the outcome, so I pursued the idea again with a different model and in a different location to see how far I could take it this time. The whole shoot started with that one element.

Any location will have its own set of suitable props that goes with the setting. If you are shooting in a public park, there are most likely benches, trees, and swings at your disposal. If you plan in advance, you can bring things to supplement this vision: A picnic basket, a blanket—anything that achieves the look you are going for.

If you’re going to the beach, take a nice looking beach chair and sit someone in it. You need predictable things that you can rely on. I always keep a bunch of hats in the car. Hats are neat props, and it is nice to work with certain things that you’re familiar with. Hats are good visual accents and kids love to play with them. A nice hat can really enhance a headshot. I’m always on the prowl for interesting props—I guess you could say it’s an essential part of my photographic technique.

Today, capes are costumes; you usually see them in movies, on Broadway, or in old photos. I think my fascination with capes as clothing props began years ago when I did a photo of a model wearing a red cape at Westbury Gardens on Long Island. The photo of the model positioned between two trees and wearing a cape had such a great look and provoked such strong reactions that I used it as a pro motional card. It was a real attention getter. Some people saw a Little Red Riding Hood figure in a peaceful garden; to others, it was very eerie a mysterious figure in a cape in the forest. In any case, I knew I was onto something with capes. I went to Prague with only one model. I deliberately decided not to take two models, because I thought that might make Prague look like a commercial, tourist attraction city and I was going for a more mysterious look. I took with me three elegant, colorful capes that were specially made for the shoot. Two of them were reversible, so I had even more colors to work with. I rented a car and scouted around for locations for a few days. Then, I drove back to the places I'd noted and did the shooting. In one way, I was very fortunate: I got the kind of overcast, gray days that added so much atmosphere and drama to the photographs (I'd deliberately scheduled the trip for winter). On the other hand, I didn't get the snow that I'd hoped for. In a few cases, we got extraordinarily lucky and found old mansions and castles featuring painted trim that closely matched the colors of the capes. It looked like the capes belonged there, and the interplay of color, texture, and mood was perfect. I couldn't have planned it better.

I’m also a big fan of umbrellas. I have quite a number of them that I take to the beach. First of all, an umbrella makes great shade for a headshot—you can just put that over the subject’s head and have diffused light. But it’s also a neat prop. You can be shooting from a long distance and if someone has an umbrella waving in the air, that one detail can make a picture interesting, when it might have been boring otherwise. Even in the workshops I’ve conducted, we’ve always had a load of props available, so students know just by looking in the back of the car, “Oh, here’s what I should be doing.” Bring some things. Don’t just stick a person out there and have them stand and do nothing. It helps your models if they have a little something going on—unless of course they’re just absolutely natural models who can create something outstanding just by body language or expression alone. All it takes is one little thing to transform a shot, and these are things you learn in time as you keep shooting and refining your skills.