How to choose the best location for your next photo-shoot
The setting for your photo-shoot is such an exciting and important element to get clear on well before the day of your session.
Featuring heavily in the shots, the location will say a lot about you and your work-in-the-world, setting the scene and colour palette for your branding, and telling a story about who you are in your business.
It might make sense for you to be photographed in your office or studio, your favourite local streets, beloved nature spots, luxurious hotels or the coffee shop around the corner.
Or, you may be wanting to keep things simple with plain backgrounds or a studio setting, and don’t want to give anything away with the location!
Choosing the best environment for your next shoot all depends on:
how you’re going to be using the images
what’s important about the aesthetic of the photos and
what you want to communicate through the shots
Here are the first three powerful journal prompts to help you get clear on the kinds of locations that will work best for YOUR next shoot.
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Pens at the ready!
The journal prompts
1/ How & where will you be using your photography?
Write a list of everywhere you’ll be be using your new images, so that you know exactly what you’re planning for here.
This may seem ridiculously obvious(!), but it’s so important to be clear on this before your shoot, and can be a really helpful exercise in itself.
Knowing where you’ll be using your photos means that you and your photographer know what types of shots you’ll be creating, and have shared intentions for your session together. This will also help you to choose locations/backgrounds that will work well for the uses you have in mind.
This simple list-making process can also inspire ideas you may not have had yet (or confirm your intuitions)!
Once you’ve jotted down your initial ideas, look through your website, social media profiles, mail-outs/newsletters, press pack, etc, as well as thinking about your marketing intentions for the coming months, to help complete your list. You can check out a full list of ideas here.
2/ What will be important about the backgrounds of these images?
Depending on how and where you’re planning to use the photos, you may have some ideas about what kinds of backgrounds you’d like to have in your new shots (e.g. your office, a plain background for layering text, in nature, etc).
You're probably going to be using your shots in a variety of places. Consider how much you’d like to share with the environment for your photos. How much you want to give a glimpse into your world, style and location?
Make a note of any ideas that come to mind at this stage. Don’t worry if you’re not completely sure about this yet, stay curious for now and make a note of any initial thoughts that arise.
3/ What do you want people to know about you?
Your photo-shoot location is an opportunity to tell your story and connect with your ideal clients. What do you want them to know about you? Note down what comes to mind.
How could your choice of locations communicate something about you as a person and a professional? Perhaps you would like to give them a glimpse into where you’re based and work from? Or the kinds of locations you would meet, if you were to get together in person? Or perhaps in places you feel most inspired, or where you hang out in your spare time?
Consider again where you are planning to use the photos, and what kinds of environments will make sense for the posts or pages you're planning to share, or offerings you're making.
Some ideas could be: your office/home office, your home, your co-working space, a local cafe you love, a favourite hotel lobby, a hotel meeting room, your favourite spots in nature or a garden, special streets in your local area.
Examples: On my shoot with Jodie, we captured her in her creative work-spaces at home, in a trendy local cafe where she often meets with clients, and in favourite city hangouts, to show where she lives and what she’s into. Everything had the aesthetic she loves, was aligned with her brand, and the locations were chosen for this reason. On this shoot with Rachel, I set up a pop-up studio so we could create lots of plain-background shots for layering text and images later. We also shot in a local forest where she often goes for walks, ceremonial work, and adventures with her family. It resonates with her life and work-in-the-world.