We’ve teamed up with Adorama to bring you a series of photography tutorials called “Master Your Craft” to be featured on their Youtube Channel. Subscribe to see more of our videos on their channel that covers all things photography-related from lighting and posing to editing to help you hone your skills and master your craft and don’t forget to check out our playlist to watch the entire series! In this video, the model chooses our photoshoot location and I’ll be working with what I have to get a great portrait!

Video: Anywhere Challenge: The Model Chooses the Photoshoot Location

One aspect of photographing on the go is keeping an eye out for great locations. However, I turned the tables this time and gave Brandon, the model, the chance to pick the photoshoot location for me. I had with me the Canon EOS R5, Canon RF 15-35mm, as well as a Profoto A10. The challenge is to work with the location of his choosing with the gear I had and create a great and unique photograph.

Finding the Photoshoot Location

photoshoot location overview

Brandon picked out a small tunnel in between buildings. Immediately, I saw great leading lines, symmetry, and a great backlight from the background. When I find locations, I try to see how I can use the features that are already existing. To build the look of our image, I switched over to the wide Canon 15-35mm for this shot. I’ll also be following the C.A.M.P. framework.

Composition

photoshoot location composition

At the widest 15mm, the bright background created a great backlit that led us to Brandon in the center. However, Brandon was under-lit and I wanted to hide the bright hotspot in the background.

photoshoot location composition

By coming in closer, I was able to block the hotspot as well as the distractions at the end of the tunnel. I also got low, angled up, and posed Brandon crouching down.

Ambient Light

I loved the deep shadows in the tunnel and on Brandon so I set the settings at 1/200, f/4, and ISO 100. I then needed to add light on Brandon’s face to bring him out into the scene.

Modify/Add Light

I positioned the light in the direction of Brandon’s face.

I added my Profoto A10 with a grid and a MagMod MagShoe to prevent the light from spilling all over the place. Then, I positioned the light on Brandon at camera-right and set the power low enough to add just a splash of light on only Brandon’s face.

photoshoot location adding flash

With some subtle tweaks, I was able to capture a great shot.

Photographing the Final Image

photoshoot location remove shadow
A plate image allows us to remove any distractions in Photoshop.

I noticed a shadow on the wall behind Brandon that was produced by the flash. To remove this, I took a “plate shot” of the exact frame without the flash and painted over the image with the flash.

photoshoot location final image
VF Presets > Modern

We worked our pose and captured this final image.

Conclusion

I encourage you to try letting your model pick your photoshoot location! The key of the challenge is to look out for very specific features of the location that you can utilize for a unique composition, especially in new and unexpected places. Doing this challenge without any prior planning keeps your creative eye active and is a great skill to tune in.

For more tips on location lighting, check out our Complete Lighting Course on the SLR Lounge Premium Channel.

Don’t miss our next episode of Mastering Your Craft on Adorama’s YouTube channel next week! If you want to catch up on all the episodes, make sure you check out our playlist!