On-Location Photography

Shooting on location means giving up the control of a studio and gaining something far more interesting — the unpredictability of the real world. This section covers what it takes to work successfully on location: finding and vetting locations, navigating permits, managing gear in unpredictable conditions, working with available light, and turning environmental challenges into creative advantages.

A Foggy Landscape Shot With an Unconventional Focal Length

What happens when one photographer wanders through a foggy scene with only a prime lens that we don't typically associate with landscapes? If this was you, do you think you'd be successful or frustrated using this particular prime in this scene? 

Sydney's Five Best Landscape Locations

This article is for first time visitors to Sydney, Australia. The city and its beaches are riddled with picturesque spots so it will be difficult not to find a unique location. I will include the general areas around the beautiful harbor.  

Here Are 10 Location Ideas for Your Next Photoshoot

Sometimes, it's more fun and interesting to stop shooting every portrait at f/1.4 and instead find locations that complement or juxtapose with your subject to create more compelling photos. This helpful video will give you 10 location ideas that should be accessible for just about everyone. 

Brace Yourself: Lavender Season Is Coming

Are you ready to photograph some lavenders? Do you know when and where to go? Here is the answer and everything else you would like to know. 

Personally I like videos with a huge amount of practical information on photography locations. That is why I made this video on photographing lavenders.

The Fro Knows Paris

Recently Jared Polin, better known as “The Fro” visited The City of Lights to add to his portfolio more time-lapse and slow-motion work. Polin takes his viewers along as he journeys through Paris, offering tips along the way.

Interview with Set in The Street Photographer Justin Bettman

Justin Bettman is a portrait and editorial photographer based out of NYC and I first came across his #SetintheStreet project while scrolling through Facebook. I thought it was a fun, creative and unique project that was worth sharing! I love that the art kind of lived on after the shoot itself with him leaving the sets in place for people to engage with. So cool, right!?!

How to Discover Unique Landscape Photography Spots Before Takeoff

Getting ready for your next landscape photography expedition? If you want to bring back winning shots, you need a variety of great places to shoot. Points of interest are easy to find, but the easy-to-find places are prime targets for hordes of tourists. 

Embracing the End of the Seasons

Here in NJ we are lucky enough to have four seasons: Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. Maybe I shouldn't say "lucky" because it would be nice to have warmer weather year-round but the seasons do make for taking great photos. Though it's the first week of spring, we were just slammed with another big snow-storm and hopefully the last.

 

Improve Your Composition With This One Simple Change

When it comes to taking a great photo, many photographers argue that it starts and ends with great composition. I’m not sure I’m so black and white in my outlook, but good composition is hugely important without a doubt. And one of the most overlooked parts of great composition is adding foreground interest.

How to Become a Nomad and Travel in the Digital Era

As a photographer, becoming a digital nomad empowers you to see the world as a native, not as a tourist. It’s helped me take better photos, boosted my creativity, and given me more time to dedicate to photography outside my day job. You don’t need to wait till you hit the road: you can start becoming a digital nomad now before you ever sell your house. 

How to Edit Every Ugly Location to Look Like an Editorial

I have always loved shooting in ugly places such as gas stations and abandoned buildings, but it took me a while to learn how to make these places look magical in my images. You can't just put a beautiful woman in front of these places and expect it to work. 

Creating World-Class Fine Art Images on a Budget

A couple of flowers, some DIY, and basic Photoshop skills along with a strong creative vision in mind is all you need to make a stunning image. If you are starting out in photography and want to get into fashion, beauty, or fine art but have a rather small budget, you should definitely look at this inspiring behind-the-scenes video of Bella Kotak. 

Build Rapport on Your Photography Shoot With the Language of Music

At the onset of a portrait shoot it is important to come packing the usual garden variety of a few safe jokes to lighten the mood, some fail-proof poses to keep things moving, and direction for the model to play off of. It is easy to forget, with all the headspace that pours into reflecting the images from inside of our heads, towards reality, that when the time comes to start working with

How to Control Your Portrait Backgrounds With a 70-200mm Telephoto Lens

No matter if you photograph headshots, weddings, portraits, or sports, one of the most important skills you can have as a photographer is picking out interesting yet non-distracting backgrounds. Many photographers prefer shooting with fast prime lenses but in today's short photography tutorial, I'm going to show you why I prefer the power and versatility of a telephoto lens. 

On a Deadline: Quickly Shooting Food With Limited Gear on Location

For over a year now, I've been the lead freelance photographer for Stock and Barrel Magazine, a food and beverage publication here in Columbus, Ohio. Often, assignments get thrown my way with not a lot of time to get them done before deadlines hit. That means I get to shoot a lot of places in a very short amount of time.

How to Create Photographs with Complex Lighting Scenarios on a Budget

Multi-light setups can seem complex and intimidating for several reasons, not the least of these are all the variables involved. Where do you put the lights? What power settings do you use? How do you balance everything? What if there is ambient light from other sources? Then there’s the cost aspect. How can I afford enough lights for these complex set-ups?

Adapting to a New Location: What Should You Photograph?

Maybe you are like me and you just settled into a new place and are looking for places nearby that you can shoot. After moving to a new location about an hour away from where I was living at home, I have been trying to keep up with all my shooting.

More Awesome Photographers Shoot the Same Model: London Edition

Hopefully by now people have had a chance to get familiarized with videos that are circulating featuring three to four photographers all getting together for a day and shooting the same model. It's an awesome idea that can really bring together a small group of creatives for a fun and challenging group project and photoshoot.

Does Your Photography Tend to Change With the Seasons?

A simple question for you: do you find that from January to December, over the course of a given year, your photography changes along with the seasons and the environment? Kind of a loaded question though, right? The answer probably depends quite a bit on what exactly your brand of photography is.

How to Produce and Shoot Your Own Outdoor On-the-Go Fashion Editorial

Outdoor on-the-go DIY style editorials are really picking up in the fashion world. It is a good skill to have in your toolkit as a budding photographer. In this article, I want to break down how a small team of talented artists and myself went about producing and shooting two full on-location, outdoor editorials for Bullett Magazine in less than two weeks in NYC. 

How to Transform Badly Lit Conference Rooms Into Beautiful Backdrops

It's quite common to shoot photo sessions in unimpressive locations; it goes with the territory when shooting on-the-go and outside of a studio. Fortunately, we have options to help us transform boring locations into beautiful backdrops, and it’s easier than you think.

Firefighter Photoshoot BTS: “Can We Use Real Fire?”

Every year for the past few years, I’ve donated photo work to a local organization that puts on a half marathon in coordination with the local firefighters union chapter to raise money for local charities. Last year, I ended up doing a relatively simple shoot with just some firefighters and a ring light. This year, I wanted something different.

Swimwear Photoshoot: No Beach Access? No Problem

I'll be honest, when it came to shooting swimwear, I went straight to Pinterest looking for whatever ideas and inspiration I could find. Swimwear is different enough from the other types of shoots that I was typically shooting that I really had no idea where to begin. Granted, my clients weren't clothing line companies, so I wasn't aiming for the more routine, catalog-style shots.

Photography Adventures on a Budget? Go Camping

So you want to create images and travel to gorgeous and beautiful places but how are you going to afford to travel several days or weeks and still pay for food, a roof over your head, and the costs to go from point a to b, c, d, e, etcetera? Well, do you like to camp?

Shoot All Day Long: Techniques to Improve Daylight Photography

Golden hour. That time of the day where the warm sunlight makes every shot look like a magazine cover or a movie poster. It would be great if that light could last all day long. Yeah, well a lot of things would be great but not likely to happen.

Taken Back in Time With 'One Night in New York'

I'm a sucker for simple videos like this and can really appreciate what goes into making them. As I strive to jump more into video, it is interesting to stay tuned and watch what other people create to help give me ideas for future work. The coolest thing to me about a video or even a photo is the mood or feel it can convey.

Making Something Cool When Your Environment Is Boring

Have you ever felt that certain photographers and film makers just get the great shots because they get to go to some super locations? Or because they get commissioned by the top brands to have all the best lighting and equipment? A guy called Brandon Li had almost the same experience.

Four Knots You as Photographer and Filmmaker Must Know

It's an ancient art-form, and it's something you need to know to get your location photography set ready for action. Have you ever needed to put up a scrim while being able to tighten it after the knot's been made? This video is for the photography and film industry  

Planning and Executing Impromptu Location Portraits

I recently travelled to the local racetrack with my brother for an open track day and decided that while he was out riding, I would try to make a few portraits of the other attending riders. I spent plenty of time ahead of the trip planning lighting, gear, locations, and more. This is a step by step walkthrough of how I created this series of portraits. 

Portrait Photography Tips You Can Use Today

As with any craft, there are fundamental techniques which should always be considered regardless of the job, model, or location. Even working professionals overlook general rules from time to time and occasionally need to be reminded. 

Planning for a Photo and Still Shooting When Things Don't Go As Planned

The past few weeks I have been driving up the parkway here in New Jersey for work, my eye kept getting drawn towards this one specific railroad bridge between exit 136 and 137. Every time I passed by it, my eyes would follow it until I had to turn to see the road in front of me again.

How to Plan a Successful Landscape Shoot

Landscape photography is all about patience, preparation, and planning. Here are five simple tips to help make sure your next landscape outing is a success.