Outdoor Portrait Location Scouting Tutorial Video Lecture | Capture like a Pro: Digital Photography Tutorial - Professional Skills

hi I'm Tony Northrup and I'm Chelsea and
for our books sending digital
photography we're in the car today
because this is where portrait location
scouting really starts for us now if
we're doing location scouting for
landscapes or cityscapes it would
typically start with satellite imagery
would go to Google Maps or Bing Maps and
kind of scope out because those are big
pictures you're taking pictures with big
locations and you can see them from the
sky but for portraits you really are
focusing on smaller backgrounds you're
thinking about texture and light and I
really have to be there in person to see
it and one of the things I do is I just
drive around and whenever I'm out
driving I'm keeping my eye open for a
really nice pasture or a field of
flowers or sometimes they're just Reed's
that I know will catch the light just
right I'll be looking for different
types of locations too for example if I
have some male high school senior
pictures coming up I'll be looking for
maybe brick walls with graffiti because
that sort of thing tends to be popular
with them so keep in mind different
moods being near the water is also nice
too now something you need to keep in
mind when you're looking for locations
is finding a spot that is relatively
private because spot in a public place
where the model would be clearly visible
that'll freak out people who aren't
professional models and even some
professional models so I like to find
nice and quiet places you should also
think about the rights that you have to
take pictures at the location because
for example in New York City you're not
legally allowed to take professional
portraits anywhere without having some
paperwork filed and cops will come up to
you and they will ask for your papers
and if you don't have them it's going to
be the end of your portrait session and
it's going to be quite embarrassing so
make sure you have everything in order
but for the most part if you're in a
public place or course private property
that you own you're a okay so I happen
to know where a park is so I'm going to
drive there and on the way I'm going to
be keeping my eye open for any locations
on the way that I might want to visit
one of the things we look for is a big
open space with no distractions and
nice clean lines it's especially nice if
you're taking a group photo because you
don't have to worry about zooming in to
get a nice background you have a nice
open clean simple background for a lot
of people to pose in it's also good if
you are taking pictures of little kids
because they have a nice open space to
run around in without many distractions
in other words if you can find a big
space like this wherever you happen to
point the camera is going to be a nice
composition if you're familiar with our
photography you may recognize this spot
Tony took a picture of me wearing a nice
red dress sitting on a suitcase here I
really like that the columns on either
side add a lot of depth to the picture
and the background is nice and clean so
once again we're looking for a nice
clean location with no distractions the
overhead pergola also helps control the
light so even on a bright sunny day you
won't get harsh lighting on the model I
also really like these columns and
there's a tree off to my right that
provides some shade when the Sun is out
the background is nice and clean too so
this spot is good for either full body
shots or a nice close headshot it's also
a nice location for the model because
having an extra element in the picture
like this post gives her something
different to do you can lean on it or
kind of work with it a bit once again
this is a great location for a portrait
because it not only has some natural
framing in the shot but it has a nice
clean background the wall here provides
a lot of shade at least when the Sun is
lower in the sky if the Sun were high up
in the sky and I was shooting midday I'd
have to bring a diffuser or some other
form of artificial shade so the model
didn't have bright Sun and his or her
face one of the most important factors
in a portrait location is convenience
for you because after all if you have to
drive an hour it's going to end up just
costing you more because it takes more
time so if you want to keep your
portrait prices down set up something at
your own house where you can at least
get headshots if not full body shots now
our own backyard doesn't have expansive
views or beach that we can use as the
backdrop but we do have enough trees
here that we can do simple head shots in
natural light and for a lot of people
especially people who need pictures for
their website that
all they need they might want to be
outside so that they get that natural
vibe for me I know at any different time
of day that I can move to different
locations in the yard and get a spot
where the trees and the backdrop are
nicely illuminated one of the
disadvantages to shooting at my own
house is that I don't have shade where I
have nice backdrops and for that reason
if I know the Sun is going to be out
I'll pull out a diffuser here now these
diffusers only cost ten or twenty
dollars and but they provide instant
shade you can simply unfold it and then
hold it between your subject and the Sun
they get blown over by the wind you can
buy a stand for it but even if with the
sandbag the wind can easily push it over
because this becomes a sail really
easily so you often need a second person
just to hold the diffuser but check out
Chelsea's face here in the direct Sun
you'll see the lighting isn't that
flattering but if I just hold the
diffuser up you can see it instantly
looks much better and in fact the
diffuser itself becomes a big light
source out and a nice soft light source
I actually recently did this I have a
friend and she's into alternative
healing and she didn't want the typical
clinical headshot with an all-white
background so what I did was I took her
to this exact spot I put a diffuser on a
stand and I got some really beautiful
natural shots and you would never guess
they were just in somebody's backyard
well if you like this video I hope
you'll check out our book stunning
digital photography because it has a lot
more information especially about
lighting and posing and everything else
you need to know to take a great
portrait you can get it at Amazon or at
our website directly for a lower price
at stunning digital photography comm I'd
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