We know that most people are nervous at the thought of a photoshoot – particularly when they arrive and meet someone they’ve never met before. This lady was fairly quiet when we met, and a little anxious about the photoshoot we were about to do together. Therefore, during the first half of the photoshoot we took our time to get to know each other, giving her a lot of direction on how to pose.
After a while, once she’d seen some of the photos we were creating, she began to trust us and she became happy to try out some more informal things. We agreed to spend a few minutes just having some fun, so this willing participant had a great time doing some fabulous jumping poses during this photoshoot, which we feel look so good and really show off her inner personality.
Did someone say anxious and lacking in confidence?!?!
Sometimes you get fabulously lucky in a photoshoot. We were heading to an area that we’d used many times before, only to find that someone had stretched these bright pink and orange strings in front of a large piece of street-art.
Lucky for us the string was an exact match to this woman’s pink-died hair. It makes for a really interesting portrait that’s a long way from what you’d normally expect. It’s a riot of colour, but it looks fabulous as an unusual personal portrait.
We used a number of different locations during this urban photoshoot. We were deliberately looking for a variety of gritty artificial urban backgrounds to give a really modern feel to these photos with a fashion-based theme.
If you find great urban areas that are on the quieter side you can use several locations in the same photoshoot to give some really interesting backgrounds for an urban photoshoot like these.
If you bring along a hat and an extra jacket or two you can add a lot of variety for yourself as well. That way we can create a great set of combinations to give you a wide range to choose from.
the one thing we need for great photos is great light on your lovely face(s), which becomes much more of an issue outdoors,
we have professional lighting that we can bring to any location, indoors or outdoors, which will make you look fabulous wherever you are, however, there’s only so much that artificial lighting can do,
if you’re after an outdoor photoshoot, and you don’t mind having dark backgrounds, then you can choose any time of day for your photoshoot,
however, if you want an outdoor photoshoot with lighter, naturally-lit backgrounds, like most people do, then we’ll need to start a family afternoon/evening photoshoot no later than 2 hours before sunset,
for example, in April and late August the sun sets around 7.30pm in the south of the UK, so we would aim to start a photoshoot by 5.30pm,
whereas in late June the sun sets around 9.30pm in the UK, so we could start later, though we’d aim to start a photoshoot before 6.30-7pm,
however, with photoshoots of pets or adults we can start later, since the photoshoot won’t last as long as it would for a family with young children,
the table on the right shows the latest start times for outdoor photoshoots, with different start times for families, pets and adults.
Temperature
on very hot days (above 25°C): you’re usually better off having a photoshoot as early in the day as possible (see Earliest-start-times-for-an-outdoor-photoshoot) before the heat of the day really begins.
on very cold days (below 5°C): you’re usually better off having a photoshoot late morning or early afternoon and not leaving it until the end of the day when the damp and cold sets in.
Sunset photoshoots
for photoshoots based around the sunset, then the start times can be later, as you can see in the ‘sunset’ column,
as a rough guide, if you wanted a summer sunset photoshoot, then you could start an adult photoshoot around an hour before the sunset times,Â
but these times can vary by location, as well as if the area is surrounded by buildings or trees.
Sometimes the background is almost not required at all. That was the case here, where the dress this woman was wearing needed nothing behind it to compete with it. A bright red dress against a white studio background will really stand out and look great as a piece of wall art.
In the middle photo we went for a casual look in the grimy alleyway to give us a modern and gritty look. However, for the others we went for the opposite look with some elegant clothes and more gentle backgrounds to make the tone a lot softer.
This woman was a contemporary dancer and wanted some photos for her portfolio. We therefore did this photoshoot in two parts.
In the first half we created a range of static portraits that we wanted to look quite dark, urban and cool against a modern set of backgrounds. Then, during the second half of the photoshoot, we created lots of action dance shots in this urban location.
This is a tricky question to answer, as there are so many choices of location where you might have your photoshoot:
outdoors, in a natural rural location,
outdoors, in an artificial urban setting,
indoors, in your home,
indoors, in a studio,
or indoors in some other venue.
There’s no ‘right answer’ to this question, as so much of it depends on ‘the look’ you’re after, the rooms in which you want to display the photos, as well as your personal preference.
But here are some of the things you might want to consider to help you answer that question…
Your preference
do you already have a strong preference, but some other reason is making you doubt taking that option?
if so, we’d suggest going with your gut instinct and taking your preferred option – a great photoshoot is so much more about how comfortable you feel than the location you choose.
Weather
this is always a big question – and ‘sunshine’ isn’t always the best answer,
the big ‘weather’ consideration is “will you be comfortable for the duration of the photoshoot?” you’ll no doubt be thinking ‘rain’ and ‘cold’ are the biggest issues – you’d be right, they definitely are,
however, you’ll be just as uncomfortable wearing makeup on a ‘melting’ hot July day while squinting in the bright sunshine,
none of these issues are things we can’t solve with shelter or shade, depending on the weather, but if you’re after an outdoor photoshoot, these are the things we should chat about beforehand.
Who is taking part
restless young children – if it’s not cold or wet, and they’re mobile, then rural outdoor locations work best, so they also have the chance to run off some energy,
families where the children don’t get tired from spending an hour on their feet – outdoors works well (but indoors at home, or in the studio, can also be just as good),
elderly people, or those who are less mobile – at home or in a studio are best, to avoid the standing around that’s inevitable at an outdoor location.
Time of day
The one thing we need for great photos is beautiful light for your lovely faces. This becomes much more of an issue outdoors, so we’ve created two more detailed posts to help you work out:
You probably already have a good idea of what style you’d like – a lot of this will depend on where you want to display your artwork, but it might be one or more of these:
a contemporary white background – this is best done indoors at home, or in a studio,
darker black background – this is also best done indoors at home, or in a studio,
natural green backgrounds – outdoor, rural locations,
urban backgrounds – ideally outdoors,
super informal style – either indoors at home, or outdoors at a rural location.Â
More information
Alternatively, we’ve got some more location advice that you might find useful:
Accessories are great, as they show off your personality and what you’re interested in. These can be the more conventional accessories that you’d wear, such as earrings, necklaces, hats and shawls, to more adventurous accessories related to your interests.
Sunglasses:
Regardless of the season, sunglasses can add that extra touch of variety. It gives you something to play with in some of your photos. Of course, they’ll also make you look extra cool.
Hats:
We LOVE it when people wear hats – they look fantastic, as they add great variety to your photos and are really eye-catching.
clothing – shawls and scarves can be great, as you can wear them in different ways – you can also wave them around (sounds strange, but it looks great),
interests – accessories don’t just need to be the things you wear – they can also be objects that define your interests. In the past we’ve worked with people who’ve brought along skateboards and guitars as accessories that were important to them,
Rural locations are great for family photoshoots, because everyone can be themselves without worrying about other people. It also means you can get really... READ MORE
Weather
a contemporary white background – this is best done indoors at home, or in a studio,
