Casing the Location

I shoot at a lot of locations. Make that I shoot at a lot of locations I've never been to before. Time, of course, is always of the essence. So, the first thing I do, even while I'm carrying in my gear, is I begin casing the location for a good place to shoot: One that, hopefully, offers valuable (usable) light plus decent backgrounds or settings I can steal for my shots.

Yep, like a thief casing a house or a business to rob, I case shooting locations for the those things I can steal... photographically steal, that is.

I have this "where I'm gonna shoot" casing process going through my head the moment I walk through the door. First, I have to make sure I'm not looking at places to set up that are going to conflict with the video crew. This requires asking an obvious question: "Hey! Where are you guys setting up for the first scene?" Wherever that is, I need to be as far away from it as I can get. It's not only about not having all of us shooting on top of each other, it's about my strobe flashes bleeding onto their set should they be shooting and I be shooting at the same time. This, of course, often limits where I can shoot. You'd think I'd have at least as much juice as the vid's crew when it comes to picking a spot to shoot my stills. My work, after all, is going to sell the product. But that ain't the way it goes. Why? Well, for one thing, the director isn't much interested in what I'm doing. He or she is only interested in their visions being captured in the coolest places the location has to offer and with the minimal of fuss. Can't have some stills guy getting in the way of genius. I'm not bitching. I'm only saying... saying how it is, that is.

Once I've established where I can't be, I start looking for a spot where I can be. The video peeps, as I mentioned, almost always stake out the best spots to shoot... as well as the second-place and third-place best spots to shoot. Okay. I can deal with that. I'll forgo the win, place, and show spots and go for the "also-ran" spots that, hopefully, offer something in terms of coolness and interesting-ness.

Being the photographer on a movie set can be a very Rodney Dangerfield-ish position to be in.

The next problem I have to deal with is finding a spot where neighbors or others can't see what's going on. Often, many locations have great shooting spots that are, unfortunately, within easy viewing of other homes or buildings or even the street. This would be a big no-no. My models are going to get naked and I can't have "civilians" peering at my naked models. Sure, there's plenty of onlookers who might truly enjoy "the show." But there's also plenty of them who will immediately call the cops. We always have a shooting permit but the permit is pretty specific about citizens not being able to gaze upon whatever is going on, especially when whatever is going on includes naked people!

On a perfect day, I'll find a nice spot that's away from everyone else, has an interesting background and some decent natural light. Unfortunately, perfect days are few and far between. Whenever I can take advantage of natural light, I'll go for it. Who wants to set up a bunch of lighting gear when Mother Nature has done the job for you? Not me. But that doesn't happen too often. Most of the time, I'm lucky if I find a spot outside or inside (near a window) that offers some good natural light I can take advantage of. In fact, when I'm inside, even when there is a window, it might not offer much in terms of good, usable, light. I might still decide to shoot there but, more often than not, I'll have to set up some artificial light to mimic natural light coming in through said window.

Another consideration that's goes through my melon (as I'm casing the location) is "ease of setup" and "ease of shooting." I can be lazy and, when I am, I'm going to be looking for an easy spot to shoot, one that meets certain minimum criteria. I'm not sure if all this is making much sense. I'm probably rambling and this update is kind'a becoming a post about being like a Maytag Photographer... i.e., a comparison to the lonely part of the Maytag repairman commercials, not the having nothing to do part. I'm not sure if any of this is of much interest to any of you. I just felt like writing.

The image of Rebecca at the top is an example of finding a cool spot to shoot that didn't conflict with the video guys. It was the entrance way to the location house-- An entrance way that was more like an atrium with a glass ceiling. It was an overcast day so the light was beautifully soft (enhanced by the white walls and white tile floor) and there wasn't enough room for the video people to work in so they stayed away. All I had to do was place a single strobe on the other side of the French doors and it turned into an exceptionally nice place to photograph her.