It’s essential to tell a story. You need to draw the reader into the location through your images and provide a sense of place
THE SHOOT
This is where the fun starts – it’s time to get out there and capture those images. When you first start a shoot there can be a little apprehension and even nerves – just like before the kickoff of a big game!
I find the best thing to do is hit the ground running and get that first good shot under my belt as soon as I can. This sends all preconceived notions away and I settle in to my rhythm to do what I know I do best.
What’s the story?
For editorial assignments especially, it’s essential to tell a story. You need to draw the reader into the location through your images and provide a sense of place. You need those ‘hero’ shots for the opening spread, but it’s also important not to forget the details that make a place come to life. Street scenes, landmarks, portraits and food can help make for a great story that shows the heart and soul of a place. It’s important to be ready and have your camera at hand to capture those details and off-the-cuff moments you couldn’t have planned. These images, intertwined with your perfectly planned and executed landscapes, provide a true sense of place.
It’s important to shoot a range of images, especially for editorials, as no editor will want 10-15 images of sunset and sunrise. The majority of editors and buyers prefer to have variety and it’s impossible to tell what’s going to work best on the page when you are shooting 500 frames a day.
Don’t stick to the plan
On arrival at a location I’ll already know where I want to be, thanks to my research. In most locations I would try and scope out other possible angles and compositions that would be worth photographing once I’ve got my primary shot sorted. I’d generally be able to do this from my primary location.
As an example, I was recently at a lake in the Dolomites and I shot sunrise from a raised position overlooking the trees and lake in the foreground, and the mountains with the rising sun in the background. I could see a few other compositions from the lakeside that would also look amazing: the autumn colours reflecting in the lake; using a few conveniently placed rocks and reeds to add foreground interest; a closer shot of the distant cabin. These all made for great alternative images and ensured I got the most out of my location.
Cover all the angles
It’s almost impossible to undertake reshoots, so it’s imperative you get the shots in the bag the first time. In almost any scene I will produce a portrait and a landscape version. One will always be more compositionally correct, but you want to provide images to get the most exposure and you can’t always be sure what format the client will require.
Where possible I will also try and include a person in the shot. Brands and editors love to see people interacting with a place, or product, so it’s useful to have people in your shots. This can add a different dynamic to the images, as they help viewers visualize themselves there.
Get up early, stay out late
The two best times of day to shoot almost anything are first and last thing. It’s a pain, but worth getting to your spot in plenty of time. You don’t want to be rushing around and if it’s a spot where real estate is at a premium you’re more likely to get a good plot.
A lot of photographers leave a scene after the peak light, but if you hang around a little longer, you often find yourself in for a treat. This is especially true of sunset shots. Most pack up once the sun has gone down, but the sky doesn’t normally get those lush candyfloss pinks and purples until about 30 minutes after the sun has set.
GET INTO THE HABIT
At the end of the day it’s time to backup, process and upload. If you leave this to the end of the shoot you’ll have hundreds of images to work through, which can feel insurmountable. And if the worst happens and you have a card or disk failure, you’ll only lose a small amount of work. It’s far better to get into a routine.
Backup plan
Backup time is still the scariest part of any shoot for me… Those seconds between plugging in the USB reader and waiting for your laptop to pick it up are horrible. I shoot on 64GB XQD cards, which are about as reliable a format as you can get now. I don’t like to use cards that are too high-capacity; in the rare case that a card does fail and can’t be recovered, it limits the damage. This means I have lots of smaller cards, which costs a bit more and requires changing cards often, but it’s worth it for the peace of mind.
Every evening I backup all my cards to two separate Sandisk solid-state 2TB drives. This gives me plenty of storage space, and what I love most about these solid-state drives is that they are almost indestructible. Durable and super-fast, with write speeds of 550MB/S you can backup a 64GB card in roughly six minutes. When it’s been a long day and you need some rest, this speed is a lifesaver. The
Tourist boards and National
Geographic never use heavily edited images. I spend a lot of time getting the image correct in-camera
Sandisk SSD is small enough to keep on me at all times, just in case something happens to the room or vehicle I am using when I’m not there.
Once I get back to the studio my images are backed up to two 16TB NAS boxes: one in the office and another off-site for added security. Only then are the SSDS formatted and ready to use again.
Editing workflow
I shoot Raw (which, as you already know, is essential), editing everything in Adobe Lightroom before tidying up in Photoshop. I start my editing process by culling images. This is usually done in the evening, as I find it more efficient to cull whilst the images are fresh in my mind. Aside from composition and the aesthetic of an image, the only other thing I’m checking for, at this stage, is that the image is sharp. After I’ve made my selections I’ll use some minimal Lightroom. I’m not a fan of over-edited photos – and neither are my clients. Tourist boards and National Geographic never use heavily edited images. I spend a lot of time getting the image correct in-camera, so now I’m just looking to make sure the image replicates the light and tones from the scene.
Time to deliver
Every editor has their own preference as to how they want to receive shots. Generally they require high-res JPEGS, but it’s best to get this info beforehand. I also provide a low-res set of images that can be easily and quickly used for proof-viewing of images. It’s worth checking how your client wants the EXIF data, key wording (where required) and files named. Once you have everything ready, it’s over to Wetransfer to deliver your images, then waiting for the proof of the layout to land in your email. And there’s no better satisfaction than when you finally see your images in print and shared with the wider world.