Lesson Info
13. Location Scouting
Summary (Generated from Transcript)
The lesson is about location scouting for engagement photography. The instructor emphasizes the importance of scouting every location, even if it's a familiar place, as it helps with lighting, planning, and creativity. The instructor also discusses how location influences the style and approach of the photos, with good locations allowing for wider shots and less modification, while worse locations require tighter shots and more special effects.
Q&A:
Why is location scouting important for engagement photography?
Location scouting helps with lighting, planning, and creativity.
Should photographers rush through a shoot without scouting the location?
No, rushing through a shoot without knowing the scene and available light may result in shooting things that look the same as what the photographer has always done.
How does location influence the approach to photography?
Good locations allow for wider shots and less modification, while worse locations require tighter shots and more special effects.
Should photographers use a beautiful location to its full potential?
Yes, using a beautiful location allows for showcasing the natural beauty and requires less modification.
What could happen if a client permits a beautiful location and the photographer only shoots tight shots?
The client may be unhappy as they expected the photographer to showcase the beauty of the location in the photos.
Lessons
Class Introduction
12:56 2Posing Guidance for Him
08:14 3Posing Guidance for Her
09:02 4Foundational Posing
05:11 5Posing Touch Points
05:55 6Couples Body Language
09:52 7Posing Three Point Check
05:22 8Posing Tips with Demo
08:05Verbal Cues for Posing
06:27 10Mood Board Tips
06:59 11Posing Questions
06:54 12Camera Settings Quick Overview
18:32 13Location Scouting
02:24 14Seeing the Light
17:34 15Shoot: Natural Light in Studio
14:50 16Homemade Soft Box
12:43 17Shoot: Wrapping Natural Light Around Couple
10:56 18Shoot: Flat Natural Light
06:24 19Special Effects Intro
09:13 20Shoot: Backlighting
18:07 21Shoot: Using Sparklers
09:59 22Shoot: Sparklers and Spray Bottle
13:01 23Shoot: Backlight with ND Filter
12:38 24High Speed Sync vs ND
04:27 25Shoot: Fog and Spray Effects
15:28 26Simple Lightroom Workflow
25:10 27Processing Black and White Images
16:50 28Culling and Presets
09:34 29Editing Using Presets
13:04 30Post Processing Q&A
05:46 31Flash + Ambient Balance
13:25 32Photographers Need to Practice
09:00 33Outdoor Engagement Location Scouting
12:22 34Meeting the Clients
11:27 35Basic Engagement Shots
16:59 36Getting into the Creative Shots
17:43 37Using Photo Mechanic to Cull
12:41 38Culled Edits in Lightroom
17:25 39Editing After Using Tilt Shift Lens
22:05 40Photoshop Editing for Print
23:34 41Engagement University Shot
21:35 42Daylight + Flash
23:44 43Engagement Picnic Scene
19:42 44Composite Street Shot
10:47 45Day For Night Engagement Shot
06:27 46Natural Flash/Bounce
04:10 47How to Make GIFs
17:22 48Simple Composite - University
09:38 49Intermediate Composite - Downtown
18:40 50Simple Background with Reflector
17:05 51Final Thoughts
10:53Lesson Info
Location Scouting
We're talking about location scouting. This is an excerpt from our wedding workshop. So location scouting helps with several different things. We location scout every venue, every place, if it's an engagement place that I've been to a thousand times I'll still go a little bit early, and when we take clients to multiple locations, don't be shy asking them, say, "Hey, guys, hold on for one second. "Just relax for one second. "Let me take a look at this area real quick." Do it, take your five minutes, don't be rushed, because this scouting is gonna help you not only with the lighting, but then the planning, and also I refer to shooting because it helps you with creativity. If you're running and rushing through a shoot because you have one hour and you don't know the scene and you don't know what's there and what's available and where the light is and so forth, then you end up just going back to your roots, which is you just default to what you're comfortable with. So you end up shooting t...
hings that look the same as what you've always done. So location scouting helps us get out of that a little bit. And what I want to say is that we play to every single location, okay? So this is our approach to scouting, is that we do this: if we see the location as being a good location, this opens up opportunity for us to shoot wider, to use more depth of field, and to use less special effects, meaning that the more of our work is already done for us, like and a scene is just naturally beautiful, the more that we kind of don't need to do that much to modify it, right? We might put down a light, we might do a few different things, but we're not gonna do a ton of crazy stuff, or at least we don't need to. When we flip to the other side, the worse the location, the more that we're gonna shoot tight, we're gonna use a very shallow depth of field, we're gomma use less depth of field, we're gonna use more special effects, and we got to become magicians. I'm gonna feel really dumb by the end of this doing that over and over and over. So this is our little chart that we kind of show our people, like look if you're going to a really great spot, use it. And if you, the other thing that we sometimes get is if a client goes and they permit a really nice location, and you go to that location and shoot a bunch of tight shots, from an expectation standpoint what's gonna happen is they're gonna be unhappy, right? Why do we pay for this, why did we get this beautiful place, and you didn't show it off in the photos?
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
CPR Photography
I think Pye Jirsa is one of the best, if not the best, instructor for photography on Creative Live. He is very personable, smart and approachable. He has a perfect blend of personality (comments, laughs, tangents..) to the amount of instruction. He asks the questions for you, because he knows you are thinking those questions right then. He's very good about identifying settings, gear, etc.. and not leaving us in the dark about how he "got the shot". He goes into great detail. His instructions flow, but are linear, which is helpful. He's very organized, and you can tell that he really put a lot of work into his presentations (slides, video, test shoots, live teaching, graphics, etc..) I have been listening to him for like 10 hours straight, and still haven't gotten tired of him. He keeps things moving, He's very funny too. Nice job, I've learned so much. :)
a Creativelive Student
This course was AMAZING. I'd say int he past year or two I've fallen into a slump. Uninspired by my surroundings and uninspired by my clients. As a result, it showed through my work. My posing suffered as well and more than a handful of times some of my shoots became more than awkward. Then I bought this course and watched most of it in the course of a day. I walked away inspired, blown away, and renewed. The next day I walked into an engagement session confident. I gave my couples a quick overview on posing and then we just had fun in front of the camera. Immediately afterwards they texted me about how amazing their shoot was and how relaxed I made them feel about posing. The photos turned out fantastic to say the least. I've since shot several more engagement sessions and each one of them has been amazing. If anything, this course should inspire photographers to think outside the box and provide you with the necessary skills to take incredible engagement photos. Thank you Pye and Creative Live! I cannot speak more highly of this course. I should also state I purchased Pye's Natural Light course on SLR Lounge: this course is a wonderful addition to that. If you already own the natural light course and are hesitant about purchasing this one, don't. Buy it and reap the benefits!
Laura K.
Hands down one of the very best, most informative classes I have watched on CreativeLive to date (and I've watched a lot of fantastic classes here!!! so many great ones to learn from!!). Pye's instruction on the six basic poses alone was worth the price of admission - but there is so much more than that included with this course. A lot of what I learned can be applied to wedding photography as well. Purchased the course and have found it to be worth every penny. Will be rewatching it again next week to help me internalize all the information. Pye's a great photographer, teacher, and mentor. Thanks for the awesome course!!!
Student Work
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