ShootDotEdit’s Fast Five — 5 useful quick tips you can apply to your photography business right now!
As a wedding photographer, you’ve probably Googled ‘best photo location near me’ many times when looking for unique backgrounds for your couples. It can be a challenge — finding the perfect spot. It’s also a challenge finding the perfect spots you haven’t already used for other clients…
You don’t want to fill your portfolio with different couples all in the same poses at the same locations. Plus, your clients often want shots that are unique to them and their love. So how do you find those new and amazing photo locations (or use familiar spots in new and exciting ways)?
Find out in this week’s Fast 5!
Let’s get to it!
Capture Unique Photos in Any Location You Find
1. Make the Location Personal
Clients don’t often realize what makes them unique or what resources they have available to them. You can ask them the place of their first meeting or engagement place through questionnaires when they book you. It can be an indoor cooking class or an outdoor park.
You can ask them about places special to them as a couple, they might have fond memories of some locales, and this will give you a cue for a good location. It can range from a nightclub to a university or maybe even a museum!
2. Prioritize Light Over Background / Location
If you find a great background for a portrait, but the sun is directly in your client’s eyes, they have sun and shade spots on them, or they’re in the shade with a bright background — your photo won’t be stellar. But if you have a simple or nondescript background with fabulous lighting, you will likely end up with a high-impact image. Great lighting is far more important than the background. So stop looking for great backgrounds and start looking for amazing light! Here are some more tips for lighting!
3. Compositional Elements
Shadows aren’t objects per-se but they can function as such. Lines can help to lead your eye to the subject, as well as frame your subject. You can find so many reflective surfaces at your photography locations. You just have to be on the lookout for them if you want to incorporate them into your images. You can also use shallow depth of field and foreground elements. Another compositional element you can be on the lookout for when choosing locations is the opportunity to change your shooting perspective.
4. Change Up the Location
You have a favorite location – or maybe many – that you love, and they are the ones you are used to shooting at. They are great and familiar locations. Clients keep choosing them because they are popular, but it can become monotonous for you to photograph your couples at the same location over and over. So what can you do when you get another client request for the same location? Just walk around the place and choose a different spot — maybe a different landscape if the location offers that diversity. You can capture these locations in new and exciting ways by playing with light and shadows a little differently than the last time.
5. No More Excuses
Though this post is about finding spots to photograph your clients, we would say maybe we all need to stop relying so heavily on great locations in order to make great images. Because, it’s you who makes amazing images — not locations. So no more excuses! You can make a great image ANYWHERE.
To get more tips and learn in detail about finding photography locations near you, you can read our blog — SIMPLE TIPS FOR FINDING PLACES TO TAKE PICTURES NEAR YOU.
At ShootDotEdit, our goal is to take the “heavy lifting” of photo editing off your plate — giving you more time to run your business, spend time with your family, or even just have a weekend to yourself again!
Click here to learn more about what ShootDotEdit can do for you!