Struggling with Shooting Locations in my area

[dnpayne]

Hey all, I just can't seem to find really good shooting areas in my local area for engagements, family, etc... There are a few, but I try to go to different places each time to give each person a unique feeling. Anyway, We hardly have any nice parks around me, or lakes, etc... I would LOVE to try to find old barns and county type locations, but I just can't do it. do I just roll up on someone's property and say, "Hey, can I bring people here to photograph?" Probably not.

How do you all find your shooting locations? I think I'm just in a bad area. :\ Southern Indiana near Louisville, KY.

[BigFuzzy]

First, yeah, ask people. What can you lose. Just be prepared to give them a business card so they can look you up. What could they say, "no"?

Second.. I fear hearing "old barn" tells me a bit of your mindset. I promise you, there's ton of stuff around you. Get out of the box mate!

Look for walls with texture
Look for long alleys/streets/roads with trees lining it and combine it with shallow depth of field. Shallow DoF can make many typically boring backgrounds exciting.
Look for interesting floors/pavements and shoot from above.
Parking garages are a unspoiled resource!
So many things.. I promise, you're not looking hard enough.
Push yourself! Or look at flickr and see what people do in urban areas, portrait wise and get some motivation.
Good luck!

[dnpayne]

lol, obviously I would ALWAYS shoot around old barns. I would just like to do it once honestly. A really old, distinctive barn. But seriously, I'm always getting people that say, "We'd like to shoot our pics in a nice country setting, maybe a park with a lake." We just don't have many around us that are in close proximity.

But, thanks for the other ideas. I just need to spend some time traveling around town to areas I don't usually go. Maybe I'll stumble upon something.

[Niresangwa]

There's absolutely no need to come up with new unique locations for each couple... if you try to do that you'll drive yourself up the wall.

What you need is a stable of a half dozen, convenient places according to the kind of settings you want. Try to find locations that have a couple of different looks in a small area.

The point being, if you're relying on the location to make the images look good, you're barking up the wrong tree. I've shot about 40 engagement sessions past 12 months and have used the same half dozen or so locations...

...yes, to you, it feels like they all look the same, but to the couple in the pictures, and their friends and families, it doesn't.

AS Al said, it doesn't really matter where you go, if you have control over your light, equipment and creativity, you can be imaginative with any location.

[BigFuzzy]

Thanks Steve, I was about to touch on the issue of how the images look to the client mattering.. not you knowing you've used the same 5 locations. You saved me some time.

And yeah, taking a day to get to know your area will pay dividends.

And keep in mind things like whether there is cover (for bad weather) and areas where you would have good open shade on those times you absolutely cannot avoid shooting in less than ideal shooting conditions.

[GreggObst]

"Close proximity" is a subjective term. What do you consider to be your limit for travel radius from the area you mentioned ?

Just plugging in "Louisville, KY" in Bing Maps - driving directions, routes, and traffic and using the "birds eye view" and scrolling a little northward into southern Indiana, I see lots of lakes, ponds, and places like Deam Lake Recreation Area.

[dnpayne]

Originally Posted by GreggObst

"Close proximity" is a subjective term. What do you consider to be your limit for travel radius from the area you mentioned ?

Just plugging in "Louisville, KY" in Bing Maps - driving directions, routes, and traffic and using the "birds eye view" and scrolling a little northward into southern Indiana, I see lots of lakes, ponds, and places like Deam Lake Recreation Area.

Well, anything over 40 miles would be an additional fee, so I try to stay under that. But I've shot at Deams late a couple of times. They do have some decent areas, but it's not as nice as it sounds. The beach on the lake is nice, but usually over ran with thousands of people. Especially in the summer months. Fall isn't bad though.

But, most of the ponds and stuff I'd assume were private property.

[GreggObst]

Here are a few more resources you might try:

Map view of the photos in the southern Indiana lakes Flickr group:
Flickr: Explore photos from the Southern Indiana Lakes group on the map

Map view of the photos in the southern Indiana Flickr group:
Flickr: Explore photos from the Southern Indiana group on the map

You might also try to see if there is a camera or photography club in your region. Often times they will have an online forum where you can ask for location suggestion from people in that specific area.

[dnpayne]

Originally Posted by GreggObst

Here are a few more resources you might try:

Map view of the photos in the southern Indiana lakes Flickr group:
Flickr: Explore photos from the Southern Indiana Lakes group on the map

Map view of the photos in the southern Indiana Flickr group:
Flickr: Explore photos from the Southern Indiana group on the map

You might also try to see if there is a camera or photography club in your region. Often times they will have an online forum where you can ask for location suggestion from people in that specific area.

Interesting. This is pretty cool. I didn't realize you could do this on Flickr. Thanks for sharing.

I'm definitely searching for some photography groups around the area.

[Izzy]

I used to drive myself crazy with different locations for each couple. When I started looking at my pictures for back ground similarities I realized that location was not all that it was cracked up to be. Like the previous posters I found repeatable locations that were near by.
I think I had about 10 locations. These became the locations I used for senior portraits with the exception of the leaning brick wall shot which was reserved for the fastest to book. I consider the wall to be a prop and that is what I did not duplicate if I could help it. Otherwise I reused locations all the time.

I would do one set at the family farm (lots of those around me) or house and then go from there. I learned that time does show on their faces so the shorter the shoot the better. Which means short travel time.

Some locations you have to pay for. Reach an agreement with a landowner with a killer location and you will be made. Private outdoor studio. I had 2 of these. I gave them 10% to gain access.