Every city or town has its key places that photographers like to use for their outdoor photoshoots. For example, here in Columbus, Ohio, we have places like the famous Inniswood Metro Gardens, German Village, The North Bank Park Pavilion, Schiller Park or Creekside in Gahanna. No doubt, each of these locations are beautiful and worthy of a photoshoot or two but, you might find that the locations may be over utilized and over-saturated at times. If you are a photographer that is looking to stand out from all the others and/or want to provide your clients with unique photographic memories, you are going to want to challenge yourself to be more innovative when choosing your photoshoot locations. Being a pioneer of undiscovered photo locations could be a game changer for your business! Not only will your clients love you for it but also, you will find that being in a new context with new subjects is a great way to exercise your ability to engineer more aesthetically pleasing and expressive work.

So how do you go about finding these new locations? There’s no need to limit yourself to what others have established as the status quo for the “best photo locations in your city”. Here are a few tips to help you find some fresh new photoshoot locations:

Walk When Scouting. Your first instinct might be to drive around town, and that’s ok but, I want to encourage you to actually get out and walk around. By doing this, you will be surprised at how differently things look when you aren’t speeding past them in a vehicle. Walking allows you to take in more details of your surroundings and provides you with easier access to the nooks and cranny’s of different areas. For example, there may be some amazing streams or ponds in your city but, you may not have noticed them because they are under the bridges you normally drive over. When you get out and walk, you uncover new perspectives which will ultimately lead you to new locations!

Consider your Context. Have you ever come across an amazing new location but then decide you don’t want to give it a chance because it’s busy or because there are unsightly things in the surroundings? Yeah, I have too. The good news is that this doesn’t have to be your cue to move on; instead, consider the fact that you have the ability to take anything out of context in any given area. Recently, I was able to discover a beautiful tucked off alleyway with lavish green vines and gorgeous red brick road but, one side of the alley was lined with those ugly blue city dumpsters and some old broken wooden pallets. Instead of trying to find a different alley altogether, I simply staged a scene that intentionally cropped the unappealing items out of the view. Voila! I just created a new photo location!

Become BFF’s with Bokeh. Bokeh is the beautiful and soft out of focus blurred background that you get when you are shooting a subject with a fast lens at the widest aperture on your camera. With this tool, you have the ability to make even the most bare and plain locations seem striking and luxurious. Take a plain field of wildflowers for instance; to the untrained eye, they don’t have much to offer but, by utilizing Bokeh you can turn that ordinary field into a background that not only offers gorgeous coloring but also, dimension and a forced focus on the actual subject as it stands out brilliantly.

Embrace the Ugly. Most people will naturally lean toward the search for the photo locations that are already manufactured with beauty, wonder and attraction in mind. While that option is convenient, it’s not the best option for the photographer that wants to experiment with different styles and themes. Don’t get me wrong, botanical gardens and beaches are classic but, imagine the artistic wonder you could create when you turn something that is normally unattractive into something that conjures emotion and establishes an ambiance. You can’t get a grunge vibe from a background full of flowers alone now can you? Sometimes, it’s ok to look for ugly. An old building with the paint peeling off or a fence with a little rust might just give your photo that energy or zest you need to take your photos to the next level. Try it and see, I guarantee you are not going to be disappointed.  

I hope these 5 pointers help you all the way they have helped me. You’ll have to put in some work to get your list going but once you have it, it’s yours to add to and create from. Have you discovered some amazing tucked away locations that you’ve used to create amazing photos? We’d love to hear about it, tell us more about it in the comments below!

Written By: Teah Ojeda