"Make it work." --Tim Gunn
I love location scouting. Hiking with my kids and exploring new places is has turned into a favorite activity for our whole family. But...it does lead to some questionable places.
Thank God my clients trust me. When I tell a client where we are meeting for their shoot, I'm 100% sure they are questioning their deposit and are probably wondering, "WHAT is she thinking?"
Example: This SMELLY back alley...please note the trash and something is leaking.
But what I see...
Or this classic example. Below is Miss Avary, twirling on this BEAUTIFUL tree covered road. Wanna take a guess on what's just to the right of where Im shooting?
That's a car bumper, I think...mixed with a lot of other trash. And if you were to walk down the street far enough, there is an old toilet on the side of the road. Sadly, unkept overgrown and barely used roads make phenomenal locations. Side note, that's my oldest eating a soft shell tortilla and letting me use him as a test subject lol.
Here's a few more before and afters for your viewing pleasure.
Then there is this spot...which requires a little explaining. Such a sweet moment, you can see the sunlight is just hitting the tops of their heads, and there is a little bit of gravel so they don't have to sit IN the over grown grass.
But pull back a little bit, and you see a few hints. They are walking on an obvious road, but if you see the two red arrows, there is actually a few mailboxes and a power line overgrown with vines. The blue arrow is pointing to the gravel I mentioned above...which is actually a driveway. The yellow arrow is pointing towards deep dark woods, right? Wrong. There is a condemned house there...and a broken down small raft type boat out front. What I didn't know (until the clients told me!) was that is area is in a floodplain.
Location, location, location. Make back roads, alleys, and even bulldozed junk yards look magical. Just trust (or cross your fingers) your photographer sees something special in that really questionable spot.
This maternity session was shot in a bullbozed car junk yard. It's since be mowed, put up for sale and sold. My heart breaks a little each time I drive by it; but here's to more hiking with my kids.