Honeyourresearchskillsandusethe right tools to
collecttheinformationyouneed
Find the best location
Findinganideallocationforphotography
isafarmorecomplexprocessthanmany
newphotographersappreciate.Picking
therightplacetomakeimagesmayseem
likeanobviousstep,buttherearemore
considerationsinvolvedthansimplywhere
tovisitandfromwhichdirectiontoshoot
yourimages.Everylocationisanextensive
arrangementofpotentialframes,overlapping
andinteractingwithoneanother–finding
orderinthiscacophonyoftextures,
lightandcolourrequires
experience,timingandalittle
experimentation.Deciding
onthelocationitselfisa
choicethatisdetermined
bynumerousfactors.
Onsomeoccasionsthe
decisiontomakeimages
atalocationismerely
influencedbypersonaltastes
andanambitiontocapture
apre-visualisedcomposition.
Perhapsyouhaveseenimagesmade
ataplacebyotherphotographersandwish
toattemptyourowninterpretation.Inother
instancesyoumaybeseekingaspecific
subject,whichisexclusivelyfoundatoneor
similarlocations,suchasawildlifesubjector
plantorinsectformacrophotography.Inall
ofthesecasesyouareworkingwithafixed
locationchoice–yourdecision-makingisrestrictedbythedemands of your subject and
islessopenforadaptation.
Whereyouhope to capture animals or
plants,yourtiming will also have to be a
consideration.Certain species are only
presentatparticular times of the day or year,
sowhenyougoto visit the site will add an
extradimensionto the planning and scouting
tripsyoumaymake before your main shoot.
Conversely,if an image style is what
youseek, rather than a specific
composition or subject, then
timing may be of greater
importance than location
itself, in which case your
approach to scouting
should be adapted to find
image elements, such as
water, forest, elevation
etc. Working free of the
restrictions of a fixed locale
can provide more creative
opportunities, but be mindful of
agreaterrange of factors. Will you
beabletousethe common compositional
techniques?Who does the land belong to?
Isitaccessibleat the right times? Are there
safetyorconservation challenges?
Partoftheprocess of location scouting is
beingabletoidentify when a site is unsuitable- choosingnotto shoot somewhere is as
importantasdeciding when a place is ideal.
1
FlickrWhileknownasagreat
platformforshowcasingwork,
Flickr’ssearchfeaturesallow
rapidrecallofimagestaggedwith
appropriatekeywords.Functionalityis
simple,whileamapcanbedisplayed
iftheuploaderprovidedlocationdata.
Thevastnumberofimagecontributors
createsaninclusivedatabaseofpreview
imagesevenoflesser-knownsites.2
GooglemapsProvidinginteractive
remoteexplorationofeventhemost
geographicallydistantlocation,GoogleMaps
andstreetViewofferafantasticresource
forassessingterrain,checkingaccessibility
andplanningpotentialcompositions.Due
tocoverageandchallengesofscouting
affordability,theseareespeciallyuseful
fortravelandcityscapelocations.save
permalinkstomapsforinstantrecall.3
SocialmediaWhilenotnecessarily
thebestchoiceofphotographic
repository,Facebook,Twitterand
instagram provide an exhaustive
collection of images of a huge variety
of destinations and viewpoints. A quick
hashtag search will call up multiple
compositions in most weather and
lighting conditions, offering you a
detailed preview of expected conditions.Useonlineresearchresources
Usethesetoolswhenyou’reunabletovisitasiteinperson or prior to a scouting trip
RemembeR
atoRch
When exploring locations
a torch is useful for safety
reasons, especially during pre-
dawn or dusk. It is also useful
for simulating lighting on small
areas of a frame, to predict
how detail will appear as
the sun changes
position.Techniques