First of all, I should preface this with, I am not an expert on teaching other photographers how to do things.  I’m still constantly learning new things and new ways of doing things, and I feel so honored that some of you have reached out and asked about some of the things I’m learning!  So that brings me to the question of today’s post: how do you pick locations for your clients?  Well the answer plain and simple is that I usually don’t.  I’m a firm believer in having my clients choose somewhere that’s important to them.  For example, Mitchell’s senior portraits were shot at the house he’s grown up at and then we headed over to a park that he spent a lot of time at as a little kid.  This made it a lot easier for him to feel natural and at ease… and those are the kind of images that I love!

Now what do you do if a client picks a less than ideal spot?  You look for the best light that there is.  I feel confident shooting pretty much anywhere because I know that there’s always going to be good light somewhere!  Great light can make anything look good!  I’ve said it before but I’m pretty sure you could even make a dumpster look good if the lighting is good!  So don’t panic!  You should be looking for good lighting anyway, wherever you go!

 

Finally, if my client can’t come up with any places that are important to them, I usually have a list in the back of my head of places that all have different feels to them.  I always try to get to know my clients first, before a shoot anyway, but if I don’t feel like I know them super well, I ask them some basic questions to figure out what their style is!  Then I pick from the list in my head based off of their answers!  For example, I have an anniversary shoot that’s coming up in September with a couple I know loves boats and nautical things, so Annapolis is a perfect spot for them!

Hopefully that makes sense and answers your questions!

 

If you have more questions about weddings, photography, art, or really anything, make sure to email me at lauren@laurenrswann.com!