Pixtus - Photography Forum, Photographers, Photo Tips

DEMDeepEllumMusic

Almost weekly we have photographers asking about where should I take my clients to shoot a portrait setting, I am talking about people who live in that city not going to a city because the client is there and the photographer is elsewhere.

If you have CLIENTS you should be taking the time to LEARN YOUR CITY and to know various types of backdrops/scenic areas that are your primary choices to shoot at. YES IT TAKES TIME AND EFFORT to LEARN but it takes TIME AND EFFORT TO RUN ANY BUSINESS RIGHT!

Now I am not against saying I have not been at X lately so has it changed and if anyone has shot there in the week/month-graffitti art can be there one morning and gone that afternoon so no better to check online than drag a client 20 miles to a site that is totally different than what you are expecting but that is the nature of the beast called Graffitti Art.

I've been biting my lip for a while but there are enough threads about backgrounds under the various cities that the GENERAL I HAVE A CLIENT AND I NEED A BACKGROUND questions are getting tedious. (Also no chastising the person who does 90% seniors and family portraits wanting advice for a corporate background or the shooter who is going 50+ miles out of his normal stomping grounds to shoot but the people who are too lazy to get out and look around even while they are SHOPPING!-can't use the $4 a gal gas excuse right now folks!)

So, yeah let er rip if you agree or think I'm full of it.

kimberley · 04-20-2009, 05:09 PM

yeah your full of it..lol..

Nah I understand, when we spend time looking for spots, alot of time and then other just ask and shot away its hard and make it feel like sometimes we dont wanna share our locations...but weve all been there seen a cool spot and it never hurts to ask and it never hurts to be helpful :)

dtscds · 04-20-2009, 05:09 PM

There are a number of threads that seem to pop up continually that bug me. I guess it's easier to start a new thread than to do a search. (Or, heaven forbid, take the time to find it on your own.)
I'm not opposed to helpin a brother out, especially if it can cut down on the "reinventing the wheel" factor, but still...

I have no problem with someone seeing a posting, liking the location and asking where it is. But, that's not really what is being discussed here...

While I have the floor, can someone tell me what kind of camera I should buy?

mom2aidan · 05:27 PM

it has irked me a bit too and i thought i was the only one who used the word "irk"

DEMDeepEllumMusic · 04-20-2009, 05:29 PM

Now I am not talking about the weekend warrior asking about good spots but PEOPLE WHO ARE TAKING CLIENTS TO LOCATION TO SHOOT and to me that means that they are just not professional. (This does not include people new to the area- we get about 300 people new to just the DFW area every day- or locations outside of your stomping grounds [you get a client in city and you live out past McKinney-DFW reference here- and you would like some advice/help].

As most on here for a while know that if I find a great location and someone asks I will let them know about it but in the case of Graffitti art-back in the day where it existed in Deep Ellum- there was also the caution that it may change in a matter of hours.

alamoshutterbug · 04-20-2009, 05:41 PM

I used to be pretty active in a forum for orchid growers (yes I know, strange, and EXPENSIVE, hobby). The same thing happened there. I think every forum, despite their respective subject matter, has a few topics that come up repeatedly, to the chagrin of those who have been around longer. Add to that people who were just googling for info and stumbled upon what is to become their first forum experience, and well, the rest you can surmise.

ShaneKislack · 04-20-2009, 05:43 PM

Yeah, but how much should I charge for it?

Jake · 04-20-2009, 06:18 PM

I guess I don't get it.
There are tons of repeat threads, but location ones are kind of legitimate. I've lived all my life, but if I need a blue wall in Plano or blue wall in Ft Worth, I'm sure as heck I'm not going to go looking for one before I ask here.
Even if gas is only $2 a gal, it's not very
"green" to drive around looking for crap when you can just ask. Al G would be pissed

Sure people could just search TPF, but think about it, when you look at all the older threads they have different info in them. Not all of them, but a lot of them. If everybody just used the search feature then there would only be one thread on each topic!

cooltouch · 04-20-2009, 06:40 PM

<rant> As long as we're on a rant . . .TPF's BBS software, VBulletin, is a great package, and I like it a lot, but it has a really lame advanced search function. I pretty much always do a search on a topic before I start a new thread, but there have been times that I was just so overwhelmed with hits in which one or more of the elements of the search topic was buried somewhere within multiple-paged threads, that I've given up on more than one occasion, and just started a new one. It's pretty frustrating to dig through an 8-page thread only to find that only one of the terms of a multi-term search was found. Grrr. If the VBulletin folks would set things up so one could use simple Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), it would make the whole process easier and much less time consuming. And maybe there'd just be a lot fewer repeat threads started.</rant>

Okay, now I feel better.

toverman · 04-20-2009, 08:31 PM

I just think it's funny when somebody is looking for urban locations in Dallas or Fort Worth.

Cajungaltx · 04-20-2009, 08:35 PM

I can understand your view point - however I joined TPF, and try to be an active member, in part because of the community aspect of being a photographer in Texas.

I can drive all day around Houston, and honestly, the likelihood of me having EVER gotten over to Elgin/Cambpell at any point ... yeah, not very likely. That is NOT a place you are going to 'accidentally' stumble across in my opinion unless you are someone who drives around that area as part of your regular behavior.

Texas is a huge freaking state.... and Houston is a 600 mile area...... and there are areas of Houston that I've photographed, that others might not have thought of... and vice versa. (More vice versa than the other at this point, lol).

I think the longer you are in this business, the larger area of knowledge you will have in regards to good shooting locales....but to imply that someone who has been doing this for years, and inquires on a location suggestion is less than professional... or even lazy... is, in my opinion, baseless. I drive around all the time and look at different options for sessions.... but I live 35 miles West of Houston.... if I hadn't asked for suggestions from those are are more familiar with the area, I would have missed a prime shooting location that I really enjoyed...

So... sorry you feel that way... but I entirely disagree.

Imagebuffet · 04-20-2009, 08:45 PM

The main problem that I have with locations in Texas is that most places look the same to me, and few of them look very good. I'm sorry if this offends the natives, but Texas is about the least photogenic state I have ever seen. Trying to find something unusual that is also spectacular is virtually impossible. I try; believe me, I try.

Even if I weren't a photographer, I would still be scouting for these places, simply because that's what I enjoy doing. When I see a deserted road or a trail that goes off somewhere that I don't know about, I'm tempted to follow it to see where it goes. I've found lots of interesting places that way, even in Texas. Even so, it takes a lot of work to convert these discoveries into a location shot that people like to see. As for taking clients to them, well, some of them are more work than a client would want to endure, I would think.

I joined some local hiking groups to help me scout around for locations where I can shoot nudes in nature. As a side effect, I'm learning more about the area and my location photographs are valued by the preservation societies.

ka5txl · 04-20-2009, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtscds

While I have the floor, can someone tell me what kind of camera I should buy?

Be unique go with a Pentax K20D.

toverman · 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imagebuffet

The main problem that I have with locations in Texas is that most places look the same to me, and few of them look very good. I'm sorry if this offends the natives, but Texas is about the least photogenic state I have ever seen. Trying to find something unusual that is also spectacular is virtually impossible. I try; believe me, I try.

I'm not a native, nor am I particularly offended ... I just disagree. Not that DFW as a whole is scenic, but opportunity is everywhere. It takes just a little effort to filter out the stuff that distracts to find great things in any city or small town in Texas (or anywhere else). To me, a great location is first about the light and then about a "background." For clients, though, a particular location is important because some people have to be put in the mood to be photographed. There are parts of Texas that have a distinct look, and then there are the miles and miles of strip malls and parking lots that look like the ones in Tennessee.

toverman added 0 Minutes and 15 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Quote:

Originally Posted by ka5txl

Be unique go with a Pentax K20D.

Pentax ME Super.