Have you ever arrived at a wedding or portrait session, taken one look at the location, and thought, “You’ve got to be kidding me! How am I going to make this work?!” I have. There have been countless times in my career when I’ve wondered, “How in the world am I going to turn this lousy location into a great portrait spot?!”
Over the years, I’ve learned how to make almost any scenario work!
I’ve gathered some of my best tips for transforming LOUSY LOCATIONS and I’m sharing them in today’s YouTube video!
I hope you enjoy and take away a few tips for the next time you find yourself in a less-than-ideal shooting location! If you didn’t have a chance to watch the video, here are some quick tips that I mention in the video!
How to Transform a Lousy Location:
Get Creative with Your Crop: Strategically crop out distractions in the background and foreground to make your images appear more high-end! You can also use cropping to eliminate unnecessary negative space.
Use High Compression Lenses: If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I love prime lenses and high compression! My 85mm is my FAVORITE portrait lens and will always be my top pick. High compression makes the background blurry and appears almost right behind the subject while creating a creamy, highly compressed foreground. It’s a perfect way to hide unwanted elements in your location.
Shoot Vertically: This simple trick can be a game-changer in a poor location. Shooting vertically (and closer to your subject) eliminates distractions and helps you frame your subject more effectively. This approach allows you to photograph more intentionally and saves editing time and image quality by reducing the need to crop out unnecessary negative space.
Create Foreground to Add Visual Interest and Hide Distractions: Foreground is my favorite element to work with. It’s fun to photograph and adds beautiful layering! When dealing with a challenging location, this is my go-to trick. Sometimes, I don’t have a bush, flower, or branch to shoot through, so I hold objects in front of my lens to create the effect. This technique hides distractions and softens your images.
Use Bodies to Block Distractions: Use your clients’ bodies to hide unwanted parts of the location. When you view a location, think, “Can I block that with their bodies?” This approach opens up more possibilities. To block unwanted elements, you’ll need to choose a pose that makes this possible, often by positioning your subjects close together without any space between them.
How to Practice These Tips: To get better at applying these tips, think about them all the time. When driving, constantly pass by locations and think, “How could I make that work?” Medians on highways, Target parking lots, random flowerbeds at the mall—consider how you would make it work if you had to shoot a portrait there. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s ingrained in my head! I encourage you to think about it next time you’re out and about!
