address common
setbacks
Itistruethatthebestlaidplansrarelysolveall
problemsrelatingtogettingwhatwewant–a
notionuniversallyacceptedbyphotographers
withexperience.Locationscoutingisan
essentialsteptowardsensuringweareas
preparedaswecanbetocapturethebest
aspectsofasiteoncewearrive,butthereare
certainfactorswesimplycan’taccountforin
ourplanning.Natureisnotoriouslydifficultto
predict,hencetherequirementforadaptability
toweather,butthereareothercontributorsto
thesuccessorfailureofaphotoshoot.
Forexample,peopleplayalargerrolethan
isperhapsobviousinsomegenres.Even
landscapephotographycanbeimpactedon
byhumanfactors.Landitselfisoftenowned
byanestateorindividual,soitispossibleto
arriveon-locationonlytodiscoverthatawell-
photographedsceneisactuallyonprivateland,
whichiscurrentlyclosedtopublicaccess.
Toproceedwithoutpermissionwouldbe
trespassing,soitisalwaysusefultoresearch
landownershipbeforeattending,Scouting
isgreatlyhelpfulinthesecircumstances–
learningofaccessissuesearlywillallow
youtimetocontacttherelevantauthorities
orindividualstoseekpermissionaheadof
yourshoot.Thishighlightstheimportance
ofcommunicationinanylocationscouting
process.Regardlessofthesubjectorplace
youhopetoshoot,communicatingyour
intentionscansolvemanyproblems,from
avoidingunpleasantconflictstoreducing
wastedtimeforgreatershootefficiency,and
evenimprovingyourchancesofafruitful
photographysessionviainsiderknowledge
providedbypeoplethankfulforyouropenness.
Anotherhumanfactorissecurity–some
locationsmayimposeaccessrestrictions
orprohibittheuseoftripods.Thismay
notbeclearfromwebsitesinformation
pages,especiallyiftherehavebeenrecently
updatedpolicies,soconsidercontactinga
venueinadvanceofyouscoutingtrip,to
ensureyoucanspendmoretimeplanning
yourcompositionswhenyouarrive.Youmay
evenbeabletoarrangeaspecialpassfor
photographyifyouadvisesitemanagement
yourintentionsandrequirements.
Scoutingsetbacksaremostcommon
whenwevisitalocationorplanashoot
farinadvance,orwhenweareunableto
repeatedlyvisitthatlocation.Thelatterwill
alwaysimposegreaterpressuretocapture
theimageswerequire,butthekeystrategy
istoadaptyourresearchproceduretoyour
intendedlocation.Alteryourvisitingtimes,
numberofhumancontactsandadvance
planningonavenue-specificbasistoensure
youcollecttheinformationyouneed.1 Unstableterrain
2 Busyforeground
3 Opentotheelements
4 Watervibrations
5 FlathorizonLocation scouting
casestudy
Whatworks–
finalimage
core location
challenges
Identifyelementstoweigh
upthecostsandbenefitsSettingthescene
takingastepbacktostudythislocationbyeyeand
viatestshotsallowedchallengestobecomeclearand
avoidancestrategiestobecalculated.Behindthescenes
Reconsideryourchoiceofshootingpositiontovary
interestinyourshootseries.Recordingwhereyou
capturedasuccessfulimagecanhelpplanfutureimages.emPhaSISeDtextURe
byarrangingtheforeground
carefullyagoodfeaturecanbe
madeofthevisiblepatternsin
thescene–amainattraction
ofthelocationoPPoRtUnItyFoRmovement
Duringinitialscoutingthe
photographercouldidentify
thatthesewaterchannelswould
introducemovementinlonger
exposures,breakingupthestantic
bottomhalfoftheframeRightbelow
Lookfortheephemeral
lookforthingswhichmaychangeover
timewhilevisitingalocationonascouting
trip.identifyingchangeablefeatureswill
helpavoidunwantedsurpriseslaterRight
Thinkcontext
itisworthlookingforsubjectsthatarenotoverly
specifictoaparticularlocation.Thiswillgiveyou
somebackupshotoptionsshouldconditions
preventthecaptureofplannedimagesLearnhowtopredictfrequentlyexperienced
challengestominimiseon-shootstress
© Peter FenechTechniques