Digital Photographer - USA (2019-07)

1

ExplorethelocationWhenyoufirst

arriveleaveyourcameragearpacked

awayandexploreonfoot.ifcompletely

unfamiliarwiththelocationcheckfor

potentialsubjectmatter,orifit’swell

photographed,lookforthekeyaspects.

2

Shootwidestartwithawidefocal

lengthandframeimagethat

incorporatealargeamountofdetail.This

compressesthesceneintotheconfinesof

aframe,whichwillhelpyouidentifywhere

itisbesttotryanddirectviewerattention.

3

Selectalensnowthatyouhavepicked

outkeyareasofthescenetofocuson,

pickalensyoufeelwillbestrepresentyour

subject.unlessthereisanobviousneedfor

aspecificlens,standardfocallengthsform

asimplestartingpoint.

4

ChangecameraheightVarythelevelof

yourcameratoincreaseorreducethe

presenceofforegrounddetailinyourshot.

Thiswillalsoalterthewayyoursubject

isrepresentedandcanchangethewider

contextofthelocation.

4

Takebehind-the-scenesshotsuse your

smartphone or a second camera to

take contextual shots, to remind you of how

and where you set up your camera for the

test images. These can act as a reference

if you arrive in poor light, to maximise time

spent creating final photographs.

5

Checktheforegroundlookforunwanted

detailattheverybottomofyour

composition,whichmayimpacton

theabilityofthesubjecttoholdviewer

attention.Toaddressanyminorissues,

makesomesmallalterationstothepitchof

thecamera.

6

ScanframeedgesBeforedecidingon

yourfinalcomposition,checkthe

peripheryofyourshotfordistractions.At

thisstageyoushouldassessifyouhave

chosenthebestbalancebetweenaccurately

representingthelocationandproducinga

compositionallysuccessfulimage.

chooseashooting perspective

Findthebestaspectsofasceneandlearntoexploitlocationpotential

The

Photographer’s

image

byspending

timeconsidering

multiple

composition

possibilities,a

photographercan

identifywhich

characteristicsof

alocationwillbest

representitinthe

boundariesofan

imageframe

©

Peter

Fenech

x4

©

Peter

Fenech

x7

©

Peter

Fenech

©

John

erwin

MAsTer lOcATiOn scOuTinG