Get a Background: Get Your Subjects On Location

Actor Anthony Robinson, on location at Greeter Falls.

By John O'Keefe-Odom

AgXphoto.info

We didn't fake it. He's not standing in a studio; that's not a still photo or computerized background behind him. Actor Anthony Robinson was knee deep in water when that photo was made.

The tripod was in the water. The lightstands were in the water. The photographer was in the water. The subject was in the water. That's where we had to stand to get that photo made.

You don't need digital wallpapers or custom-painted backdrops to make good portraits. Sometimes, you just need an old-fashioned travel plan.

Notes, notes, notes: field and labwork notes make later reproductions successful. The strip of contact sheet is actually a form of record keeping, because we know under what conditions it was made. It's now a set of visual notes.

All of these photos were achieved by bringing the subject to the location. The backgrounds aren't from fancy photo editing tricks, or computer hocus-pocus. We brought the subject to the location, and made the photo.

100% real, all-natural background. Get out there, and get it.

Get a plan before that trip begins. This successful outing was based on repeated trips to the location. I built several pages of diagrams like this one, outlining my ideas, before departure. Scout out those locations. This was another instance when repetitive visits paid off.

"I want to put you in this photo," I said. I knew where I wanted to place my subject for the photo session. Having some prints on hand and diagrams for explaining the plan helped to boost confidence. They help the subject to visualize success.

Pre-trip inventories were important. It was over 100 miles by road to the photo shoot's primary locations. No two days of photographing end up being the same. Make a bedsheet layout of the bag contents a standard practice before you leave, and you'll be more successful.

Key doodads. These small items made the lighting kit happen. If any of them had been left behind, the planned session would not have worked as desired.

35mm backup roll shot on location. While most web users want or need digital images, I prefer to shoot at least some film because I know that's how my most successful images have been made. Safe-side the plan, and don't risk everything. It's a hundred miles back out there, if you fail.

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