“Don’t let a location lock you into an expectation. Keep an open mind!”
These are a few ideas, images, and an example from one of my recent shoots. I hope it helps to expand your photographic opportunities when out in the field.
We all go out with expectations for a location shoot!
Preconceived ideas and expectations of a location shoot; we all have them.
Often when we go out to photograph we have a particular image or idea in mind of what we want to photograph. It maybe a beautiful landscape, flowers, birds or a venue known for its subject matter like an old car graveyard. So we pack the gear we think we need to capture those subjects. (That is unless you always take everything with you.) However I like to think beyond the expected.
Plan for other opportunities and changing light conditions.
That was just the case on a recent photo trip I made with some fellow photographers. So I thought great rusty old cars when I was packing my camera bag but I also packed my macro lens just in case! You never know what will present itself.
Reality can be challenging.
Well it turned out to be a blue bird day, with bright sunshine and bold blue skies. Not the best for shooting rusty cars, with their bright chrome and glass, but I was there. So now what? HDR Ok but even on a bright day HDR isn’t the best… but I did make one.
So plan B?… Look! Walk around and look!
LOOK for subjects you don’t expect.
I walked around looking at the completely vine-covered cars, stretching my mind to see an image that resonated with me. It was hard. I made a few shots of what I had hoped would be cars in the landscape.
Then, while slowing my pace, standing and looking at one old car after another: I found a shot, an unexpected shot. A macro shot! In the window of an old car I saw some cool abstracts, in the shade with awesome light coming from behind the window. Perfect!
Work the scene.
Once I found the macro scene, I made several compositions to be sure I had a shot I was going to be happy with in post processing. Then I began to see more macro opportunities in windows of nearby cars and came home with many unexpected abstract images!