Tellusaboutyourself.Whatareyour
photographicspecialisms?
iamalandscapephotographerspecialising
inphotographsofcountyDurhamandthe
northeastregion.ihavedonecommercial
work,commissions,markets,retailselling
alongwithonlinesalesfrommywebsiteand
photographictuition.Flexibilityinmywork
processhasopenedopportunitiesforme
andenabledmetoundertakeworkfora
rangeofclientele.Asthingshavechanged
quitealotoverrecentyearsthisflexibility
hashelpedmeadapttowardsthechanges
inthemarketplace.Whatdoyoulookforwhenvisitinganew
locationforthefirsttime–howdoyou
decideifitisworthrevisiting?
Whatilookforwhenvisitinganewlocation
issomethingthatiscompelling.ideally,it
givesmegoosebumps.Whatthatiscanbe
manythingstome,alonetree,abrokenfenceindunes–somethingthatireallylike,
andthenhopesomeoneelsefeelsthesame.
Thenwheniamphotographingit,iamin
therightframeofmindandengrossedin
mysubject.Agoodinnerfeelingorinstinct
aboutthelocationisfundamentalforme.Whenscoutingalocationhowdoyou
predicthowitmaylookindifferent
lighting(likeifyouvisitedduringtheday
andplannedtocomebackatdawn/dusk
etc.)
Whensourcinganewlocationagreat
resourcearethestocklibraries.Youcan
typeinalocationandfindimagesfrom
manyphotographers.Thiswillquicklygive
meanoverviewofgoodviewpointsand
whattimestobethere.Thisbecomesthe
draftforinvestigatingthelocation.Whenat
thelocationiwilllookatpostcards/books,
aslocalphotographersknowthearealike
thebackoftheirhand.Thirdly,iwillinvest
timeinexperiencingtheareaformyselfand
seewhetherthereareanynew aspects
thattrumptheviewpointsihavealready
researched.
Duringthisprocessiprevisualise
compositions(takingintoaccountthe
lensesihavewithme)soifionlyhavea
wideangletheni’llonlythinkofwideangle
compositions.icouldendupwithmany
possiblecompositions.sotakingonboardtheweatherforecast,thepositionofthe
sun,anyobstacles(it’samazinghowoften
scaffoldingrearsitsuglyhead)iwillthen
paredowntoafewstrongcompositionsi
wanttoworkon.itsnicetohaveaplanA,
butifitdoesn’tworkouti’llhaveaplanBif
needbe.Towhatextentdoyouplanyourshoots?
Describeyourprocessforscoutingfor
newlocations.
Theextentofplanningfornewshoots
dependsonafewthings.Basicallytheless
timeiamgoingtobeatanewlocation
themoreiplan.ifit’sanewlocationbuti
amonlythereforonemorningtheniwill
doextensiveplanningsothatoncethere
igostraighttotheviewpointsetup,and
everythingispreparedinadvance.imay
altermypositionaccordingtotheprevailing
weatherbutatleasti’minagoodposition
tocomebackwithsomething.idonotwant
toberunningaroundinahurrybecausethe
viewpointisahalfamilewalkbutthere’s
hardlyanywheretoparkandidon’thave
therightchangeforthemeter.ican’tafford
towastetimewhenihaveoneopportunity.i
alsoaskmyselfforanygivenlocation,what
cangowrong?Arethereanyrestrictions,
hazards,obstaclesoranythingthatcould
ruinit?
Website:www.johnerwin.co.ukthepro’sadvice
PhotographerJohn
Erwindescribes
histhought
processbehind
locationscouting
andfindingnew
locationsallimages©JohnerwinTechniques