November 27, 2023 • 27 mins
In this episode, Robert celebrates reaching a remarkable milestone of 50,000 downloads. He shares his exciting adventures in Lake Louise and delves into the intensive preparation process for an outdoor adventure photography shoot.
Key points covered include effective communication with clients, creating mood boards, scouting locations, creating a shot list, and gear organization. Tune in to learn about these critical stages and pick up some valuable tips to enhance your outdoor adventure photography skills.
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Find all the show notes and connect with Robert:
Website: robertmasseyphotography.ca
Instagram: @robertmasseyphotography
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Robert (00:00):
How's it going everybody.
Welcome back.
I'm Robert Massey.
This is the travel image,photography school podcast.
Thank you so much for takingsome of your time today to
listen and to be here with me.
All right before we get intothis episode, I need to say a
massive, huge, thank you toeverybody who has listened to
this podcast because we'verecently hit 50,000 downloads.
(00:22):
Which is just mind blowing.
I can't even begin to fathomthat many downloads happening
and it makes me so stoked and soexcited and so grateful to every
single person who has downloadedan episode and listened to an
episode of being a part of oneand being interviewed and giving
me questions.
Just everything.
You're spectacular human beings.
And thank you so much for doingthis with me and for being a
(00:43):
part of this journey with me, Ireally appreciate it.
It's been an absolutelybeautiful and wonderful journey
and yeah.
50,000 downloads.
That is just amazing.
So, thank you.
Thank you to everybody.
All right, let's get into thisepisode.
So I am on my way back from anadventure in lake Louise today,
I did a little bit of Nordicskiing, did a little bit of
(01:04):
hiking, a little bit of skating.
It's a great, beautiful blue skyday.
And I was thinking about acouple of questions.
People have sent me in the lastlittle while, but getting ready
for your first outdoor adventureportrait session.
Now at a few people reach outsaying that they were working
with couples and with familiesto go out and document them
while they were skiing or bikingor snowshoeing or whatever the
activity was that they were upto that they were doing an
(01:26):
outdoor adventure session.
And they just had a lot ofquestions about how to prepare
and what to look out for andthings to do.
And I thought if they werehaving these questions, maybe a
lot of other people were.
And so I wanted to today'sepisode on how to get ready for
your first adventure sessionoutdoors, especially when you're
working with people that aren'tnecessarily high end athletes.
You're working with families andmaybe weekend warriors and
(01:48):
people who like to do thesethings, or maybe don't even
like, do these things.
And it just looking for anoutdoor adventure.
But aren't necessarily a proathlete because honestly,
working with athletes is a loteasier to prepare.
You don't have to worry so muchabout making sure that they have
all the right equipment, thatthey know how to do things that
you're on trails that are safefor them, all those kind of
pieces.
Because if you're working withpro athletes, They know that for
(02:08):
themselves, they know what gearto come with.
They know where they can andcan't do.
They know everything that theyneed to.
So it's much easier to workdoing an outdoor adventure
session with a high end athletethan with those weekend words
and those families who don'tnecessarily know, or sometimes
over estimate their skilllevels.
So in this case, we're talkingabout how to get yourself ready
for those family sessions.
So some things will apply toworking with those high end
(02:29):
athletes, but this will focus onthose other sessions and those
outdoor adventure engagements,portraits, and all those sorts
of fun.
Beautiful pieces where you'renot working with high end
athletes.
All right.
So someone has reached out toyou.
They've said they're interestedin outdoor adventure session.
What do you do?
The first step is to get a holdof that person who contact you
and find out a little bit moreabout the session that they're
interested in.
(02:49):
Where their skill level is at Ywhat activity they want to do.
If they have any skills in thatactivity where they want to go.
All those sorts of questions.
Now you need to figure out allof your basics first.
And then you need to judge fromthere.
If you can go with them and dothis activity.
I've had a few people ask if Icould do a certain venture with
them.
And I had to say no, because Iwasn't capable of doing the
thing that they were looking todo.
(03:10):
For example, I am not amulti-pitch rock climber.
I will never be a multi-pitchrock climber, and we needed to
be out on multi-pitch and I hadto tell them, Hey, that's not
me, but I sent them the names ofa few local photographers who
are multi-pitch rock climbers,and who could do this kind of
work for them.
So the first thing is tounderstand if you can actually
achieve what they're looking forand if you can participate in
(03:32):
the sport.
Or if you can't.
But you need to be honest.
'cause you can't just say, oh,I've Rockland once, or I've done
whatever, once it should befine.
In many cases you need to bejust as good or better than that
athlete.
You're working with.
Because you need to get there aswell, but you won't necessarily
be on route.
In some cases, you're going tobe off on another route.
(03:52):
You're going to be runningaround ahead of them and doing
all sorts of other things.
You will be probably movingalmost as much or more than your
athlete.
I don't remember.
I think it was about a decadeago, 15 years ago now, probably
that to skier skied off ofEverest and they want Nat Geo's
at ventures of the year award.
Now their story was alldocumented by the amazing Jimmy
chin.
And he didn't actually getrecognized as part of that group
(04:14):
because he wasn't technicallypart of the expedition.
But the two skiers who did winthe adventures of the year.
We're like, Hey, Jimmy skiedtwice as much as we did, he was
up and down and all over theplace around us.
And that's really telling momentof yeah.
There's these two athletes whotook on the challenge, but the
person documenting thatchallenge was right there with
them and doing it as well.
(04:34):
And in some cases doing more.
So first things first lookinternally, look, to make sure
that you can do this yourself.
Then ask yourself if the peoplethat you're working with can do
this as well.
Based on the experience thatthey've offered you.
Thankfully, I've never had thishappen, but I have had friends
out here who people havecontacted them.
They're coming to the area.
They've never hiked before.
This is the first time they'vebeen in the Rocky mountains.
(04:56):
They're just coming here andthey like to hike wherever
they're from.
And they're like, yeah, let's doMount temple.
Mount temple is a big, long,arduous day.
There's a bit of glacier travel.
There's some really goodexposure.
You need some good scramblingtechnique.
It's not an entry-level.
I've never seen a mountainbefore kind of hike.
It's stunning, but it's not thatkind of hike.
So you need to gauge if yoursubject can participate in this
(05:17):
activity.
So ask your potential subjectsquestions.
Like how long if you'd done thisfor and what other activities
like this, have you done before?
Where else have you participatedin these kinds of activities?
Just learn more about theirskillset and then you get to
learn more about them as well,which will make taking their
photos easier.
But you can also help them gaugedoing the right activity.
(05:38):
That's not going to put anybodyat risk.
That's going to make everyonehappy and feel good and have a
great time.
Now, if you feel like they cando the adventure, they want to
go on with you.
That's great.
If you don't, it's up to you totell them that and offer other
suggestions, expecially.
If they're coming outside intoyour area and don't have a lot
of expertise with where you are.
You're the expert in that area,you should be offering them
(05:59):
better suggestions.
And being honest, if the thingthat they want to do is
comfortable with their skillset.
Now when the best things thatyou can do is if they have
picked a trail out and you knowthat trail and they're capable
of it, but honestly it's a dulland boring trail.
And even the viewpoint at thetop is kind of doll, unless they
have an emotional connection tothat hike.
Give them different options thathave better viewpoints and look
(06:20):
better.
For where they want to go.
Because things are just going tolook better.
If you do this, their images aregoing to turn out better.
They're going to be more stoked.
If it's a boring trail, it'shonestly not that great of a
hike.
They're not going to enjoy it asmuch.
The photos aren't gonna look asgood.
So give them better options andthere'll be happier with it.
And this is one of the other bigdifferences between working with
a family or a weekend warriorversus working with a
(06:40):
professional athlete.
Typically that pro-athlete haspicked that line area, ski run,
whatever it is for a reason,they're looking to be the first
person to do something or tochallenge something that
somebody else has done and do itfaster.
There's typically a reason thatathlete is looking for that
specific spot.
But if you're doing adventureporch with someone they're
looking for cooler venture, butalso pretty photos.
See what offer them some bettersuggestions and ones that will
(07:02):
turn out photogenic.
Better for you and for them, andeveryone will just be much
happier about it.
Now you've gotten a hold ofthem.
You've talked to them abouttheir adventure.
You've understood what they wantto do.
You've kind of taken all thesesteps to be aware of.
Everyone's signed up that'scritical.
Step one.
Get that locked in because youneed to know if you can do the
work for these people andhonestly, the adventure you're
(07:22):
going on and the work you haveto put into it and prepare.
All those pieces will also workinto your price.
So figure out these detailsbefore you start quoting a price
to somebody.
You should obviously have astarting price for adventures
that are somebody who wants togo on an easy adventure where
you hike around the lake shoreor do have an easy to go longer.
Hypo hike.
A couple mountain or somethinglike that.
The really easy, basic thingsyou should have the app be your
(07:44):
baseline price.
And then from there, you need todecide how much more effort you
were putting into the shoot andthen change your price
accordingly to what amount ofeffort you were putting in.
So if it's a multi-daybackpacking expedition, you're
working basically 24 hours aday.
You're shooting while they hikeyou're shooting.
While they're putting camptogether, you're shooting night
photos of their camp sittingunder the stars.
(08:04):
Your.
Up before them in the morning.
So you have photos of them asthey're making breakfast, you're
doing a lot.
And you've still got to makeyour own food.
Get your own tent set up.
Make sure you still get enoughsleep.
Get everything else done.
So if you're in a multi-dayshoot, Our multi-day expedition.
You're going to be doing a tonof extra work than if it's just
a couple of hours around thelake shore.
(08:25):
Now, even if you're out for 12hours in the mountains and
you're doing something that'sdangerous, you still got to prep
a little bit more gear.
It's still be a little bit moreprepared.
That's still a lot more workthan two hours around the lake
shore.
Go and get that worked into yourpricing as well.
Now talk price, lock that infigure out a comfortable spot
for everybody.
And if you still wanna moveforward.
Happy you've got your firstadventure, a couple of workout.
(08:48):
And now we can get into the funpart because let's be honest.
That other bits, not the funpart.
It's super important to get allthose dates and the logistics
stuck aside.
But now we can get into thebetter pieces.
And it's time to start workingon your mood board or a style
board, but I prefer to call themmood boards because I don't see
them as just the styling for theshoot.
I see them as how you want theshoot to feel.
So obviously you're going tohave your photographic style
(09:09):
that you like to work with,whether it's moody, light, airy,
vibrant, whatever, you're goingto have a style that works for
you and the people that arehiring you because they like
that style.
So keep that style there forsure.
But you need to build this moodboard out for the chute to
understand how they want to lookand feel during your photo
shoot.
So mood boards should includesome example, poses, some
(09:29):
outfits and some ideas for whatthey should wear and what they
should bring with them.
Potential expressions andfeelings you want to express.
Because your style while itshould still be there, it should
also be able to be expressedacross an emotional spectrum.
So whether somebody is happy orsad or exuberant or
non-committal or anything.
Your style should work, but itshould be able to be expressed
across an emotional realm.
(09:52):
Nope.
Start by building your moodboard based off of your previous
conversations with yoursubjects.
But once you have somethingbuilt out, send it off to them,
talk with them about it and makesure that they are happy with
the direction this is going in.
This is your collaborationspace.
This is making sure that whatyou envisioned for their shoot
is what they envisioned fortheir shoot.
And you are connected before youever even get on the trail.
(10:12):
So when you're doing portraitswith somebody typically, it's
great.
Like, they want to look good intheir portraits and they might
have.
Slightly different changes inexpression and things, but
really the ideas make you lookreally, really good.
But when you're working with anathlete, they might want
something very specific and alittle different.
They might not want to lookincredibly pretty during the
shoot or incredibly handsome orwhatever they might want to look
like they're working hard andthere's chalk on their face.
(10:34):
And.
All those sorts of things orconversely, they want to look
amazing and perfect.
Well, they're out rock climbingand they don't want any of that
chalk on their face.
Who knows?
So you need to talk to yoursubject.
Figure it out and put your moodboard together based on that.
Now I've had a couple of mood,board programs, specific ones
that are made for mood boards.
But if you don't have anythinglike that and you don't want to
(10:55):
pay for anything like that,Pinterest works incredibly well
for building a mood boards.
It's a great resource.
You can pin basically anythingonto those boards and it's free
and pretty much anyone canaccess it.
So.
If you're just starting out, youjust starting to build a mood
boards and figured out I'dsuggest just starting out with
Pinterest.
You can also build out a Googledoc with screenshots and
formatting and all those otherthings.
But I find Pinterest just to besimpler and cleaner, to
(11:16):
organize.
All right.
That's your mood board.
And you're going to keeprefining the mood board as you
go along.
So once you build it once.
It's not done.
I want you to keep thinkingabout it and building it and
processing little pieces andadding little things.
You find new poses and thinkabout stuff.
So keep building upon it.
This isn't just set and overwith.
So, but your mood board it'sbuilt, it's going to move on to
the next phase.
(11:37):
Location scouting and thinkingabout location scouting.
So location scouting isprecisely what it sounds like
it's going out and it'sscouting.
your location so that, you know,the shape that it's in, the
condition that it's in, in theviewpoints that are out there
for you to work with.
So I know a lot of the trails inthis area, especially a lot of
the classic trails, but Icouldn't tell you off the top of
my head exactly where I want tostop for each type of photo and
(11:58):
where certain pieces will lookgood.
And where I want subjects towalk into images and stand.
And it could depend on what typeof images I'm going to take.
So I like to go back and rescout a location.
With my new photo-shoot in mindwith how I am thinking about
this new photo shoot.
Because it really does depend onwhat activity that they're
doing, what activity we're doingtogether.
(12:19):
So, and then while I'm out doingthis location scouting, I will
go off and mark off pointseither on a map or on Google
maps or anywhere they might haveaccess to it while we're
actually out in the field.
So I am not constantly guessingabout where I need to stop for
my next shoot.
So this takes a lot of thatextra brain power out of going
like, Ooh, I think it's up here.
Oh, I think it's up here.
Ooh.
It's around that next corner.
It takes that guessing outaround what's coming next.
(12:40):
And if you take that extra workout of your head, you'll have a
lot more room for creativity.
So go on a Prisco walk the area,make sure it's in good shape.
Because location's coding.
Isn't just critical for lookingfor viewpoints.
Like we just talked about.
But you can also find thingsabout potential hazards and
dangers.
So if a tree has fallen on thetrail and you're working with
someone who might not be able toget up and over that tree type
trail may not work for you.
(13:02):
If you don't encounter thatuntil the day of, and you do
beforehand, you can ruin yoursubject's day.
And all of a sudden you have todo another photo shoot and you
have to figure out where you'regoing.
So go out, look for thesepotential hazards as well.
Now if you have the time scout,a second or third location as
well, if you don't have the timefor that, at least look around
for a second or third location.
(13:22):
Because it's great to have abackup plan.
Because who knows, you mightshow up at the trail head and
there's been a bear sighting, soyou can't go on it or it's
unsafe for another reason, or itgets closed because part of the
trail washed out or the parkinglot's full, who knows there are
any number of reasons that youmight not be able to get onto
whatever trail you were lookingat working on that day.
And you need to be able to rightaway tell that person that
(13:43):
you're working with.
Hey, this didn't work.
This is why we can't be here,but there's a trail five minutes
down the road.
It's very similar to scuff uselike this.
Let's do this one to sit, or wecan do this one or this one, and
you can offer them a plethora ofother options.
Right away.
So the day doesn't start goingdownhill really quickly.
All right now you want to buildin your backup plans.
So think about, can this shootand will the shoot happen
(14:05):
regardless of the weather,unless there's severe
thunderstorms, massive blizzard,whatever, whatever extreme
weather might hit you.
Is this happening, even if it'sraining and snowing.
Is there anything that's odd ordoes it have to be crystal blue
skies for what you're lookingfor?
What will that mood entail andwhat will you still go out and
achieve in that activity?
If the weather isn't ideal.
I know I've done shoots wherewe've had to go back and
(14:26):
reproduce images because we shotthem on a gray day.
And they just don't work.
So we were looking for fun,sunny biking.
And it was gray.
It was slightly rainy earlier.
So the ground's a little wet andthey didn't feel like fun in the
same kind of images.
So we needed to go back andreshoot them.
So what's your backup plan andwhat does that backup plan look
like?
What's your cutoff time fordeciding on if the shoot goes
ahead, what's your deciding timeto turn around when the weather
(14:46):
turns bad.
All those sorts of factors thatcome into deciding if the shoot
is actually going to happen.
And then what do you do if thechute doesn't happen?
Do you have weather windows?
Are you able to reschedule?
Do you have indoor locationsfigured out.
If I'm shooting an adventuremoment, I like to have a window
of two days after the day theywant to do it on.
So it's a three-day window.
They have their first day andthen two backup days.
(15:08):
Now, if these are criticalimages, they need to look a
certain way and feel a certainway.
And we can't do them on the dayof for whatever reason.
Then we have two other days tomake it happen.
Now, this has to be worked on inconjunction with your subject
and what the people that arehiring you to produce the shoot,
but make sure that you talk tothem about this.
Make sure you put a plan intoplace.
Around, what's going to happenon that day.
If the weather's not ideal.
(15:30):
On this planning note, also makesure that you have a plan for
emergency communications.
So if someone gets hurt, how areyou going to get them out?
If you need to call in ahelicopter, how are you going to
do that?
Do you have a satellitecommunications device?
Are you the only one who knowshow to use that device to
someone else have to get trainedup on it?
Just ensure that there aremultiple backups in place.
You know how to get people outsafely and then make sure that
you have a good well-stocked medkit with you.
(15:51):
And we're not just talkingband-aids and some mole skin.
Talking like, you know how tobrace things like a broken leg.
And you know how to put somebodytogether and be able to carry
them out safely, if you need todo that.
And thankfully, I've never hadto do anything like that.
But my med kit is prepared forus to have to stay out over
night somewhere if that's anecessity, because things like
(16:12):
this happened in the mountains,we don't want them to.
But we want to be able tosurvive it.
If it does happen.
So take that into account aswell with your planning, what
type of medical needs are yougoing to meet out there?
What is the risk of injury andwhat type of injuries are you
actually more likely toencounter while you're doing
this activity?
All right.
Now it's time to build it.
One of the most critical piecesof your production, which is
your shot list.
So your shortlist is critical sothat you're not forgetting
(16:34):
anything on the day of theshoot.
So in the excitement ofshooting, things can kind of
just go over your head andhaving something that you can
turn back to and make sure youare getting what you need.
Can really help calm and centerthe day.
So this is the list of imagesyou have to produce during the
shoot for it to be successful.
Now that can be prior to you bythe client.
But it's something you shouldalso be looking at and deciding
on as a creative as well.
(16:56):
And then giving it and showingit off to the person who was
hired.
You.
Because they've hired you foryour creative input, they've
hired you because you know whatyou're doing.
And so providing them withinsights into that is, is an
important part of doing your jobproperly.
Now there are a large number ofways to build shot lists.
I like to have my built in aparticular way, find out what
works for you.
But the way I like to build mineis based on times of where we
(17:17):
are during the production.
So what I mean by that is.
Let's take hiking for anexample, if I'm doing some
hiking photos for a couple, wedon't want to just think about
them at the top of thatviewpoint, that big critical end
point.
Of course we want photos there.
But that's not part of the wholejourney and part of the whole
story that we're going ontogether.
Maybe we want to get photos ofthem sitting together while
they're getting their hikingboots on.
(17:37):
Maybe we want them sitting inthe car and having coffee, or
maybe sitting on the trunk andhaving coffee.
What are those other images?
That we need to get to tell thefull story of that hike.
Maybe there's the getting readyimages and there's the hiking on
the trail images and there'sviewpoint one viewpoint two.
And then the top of the hike.
What are those kinds of pointsto put those down in your shot
list ahead.
And then what happens when weget out onto that hike and we're
(17:57):
headed up and we're heading toviewpoint one.
So, what are we shooting in thatfirst?
Say kilometer two kilometers.
However you want to divvy outthe timeline for those hikes.
And then when you are on thosemoments of the trail, you're
heading towards viewpoint one,or you're heading towards
kilometer two kilometer three,however, you've divvied it out.
What shots are you looking forin those locations?
This is where your Prescalecomes in handy, where you can be
(18:18):
walking down.
You know that at kilometer twoon the trail, there's this
viewpoint and you want themstanding there in a specific
pose because the mountainframes, a perfect triangle above
their heads.
Or, you know that at this pointon the trail, it's a perfectly
straight shot with a littlebounce into the background.
And you just want to photo themwalking ahead of you on the
trail.
You'll know that because you'vedone your pre-school and then
(18:39):
you'll know that you want to dothat because you've worked it
into your shot list.
And as you stop at eachviewpoint, You can stop and
review and be like, yeah, we gotthat yet.
We got that yet.
We're telling the story that weneed to tell, to be able to
build towards the climacticviewpoint at the end.
Now what this really does is itsaves you basically playing
around in the field and notbeing sure what will work and
what won't work.
And.
Kind of feeling some things flowthrough you now it gives you a
(19:01):
really solid foundation forcreating images.
Of course leave some room forcreativity and being able to
produce something spontaneously,but it's important for you to
have these critical shots inmind.
Because this is also going tostop you from repeating images.
Let's say that there's threeviewpoints on this hike and at
each viewpoint you do the samefive poses because those are the
ones that are in your head andyou're exhausted from hiking.
You don't really know what elseto do.
And all of a sudden you get backand you're looking in front of
(19:22):
your computer and you realizeyou've only given them five
images.
Yes.
The background is different.
But really the photos aren'tthat different cause you post
them in the exact same way, justwith a different background.
So this should help prevent thatfrom happening because you are
setting up specific shots ineach location.
So you should at least have somegood things to give to this
couple.
Now, the other thing this isgonna do is it's gonna help you
(19:43):
stay on time and on track, whichis critical.
During these moments, you'llfind, you know, shooting on a
lake shore shooting somewherewhere you're really close to
your critical viewpoint.
It's not really too bad.
If you spend a little bit ofextra time in one spot, taking
some photos.
But on a hike.
If you've set aside about sixhours on a hike that, you know,
should normally only take four,that gives you two hours for
(20:03):
stopping and taking photos,getting food and water, all
those other break pieces thatyou need.
You don't want to suddenlyrealize that you got to
viewpoint one and you've beenthere for an hour.
And that was because you weretrying all these different poses
and you're seeing how all thesethings feel and all these
different pieces kind of moldtogether.
And all of a sudden you've beenthere an hour and.
You weren't ready to move on.
Now, if you have your shortlistfigured out for that location,
(20:24):
you should know.
I can move through these shots.
It's going to take me 20 minutesto move through these.
We're going to feel around.
They can slick five, 10 minutebuffer window to just kind of
screw around and have a littlefun and creativity.
Now we're done.
I guess you want to takeadvantage of those critical
viewpoints, but.
Let's say you're hiking upsomewhere and you've spent that
hour at that first viewpoint.
And all of a sudden you'relooking up in the lake was
beautiful.
And then it's like, oh no, sinceit's happening.
(20:46):
And you're an hour away from thecritical viewpoint for your hour
away from the top.
And it was because you weren'tprepared enough and you didn't
have your shot list in mind.
And you weren't keeping that ontrack as you were going.
So prep your shot list,especially if you're working
with a couple or if you'reworking with a family.
They really need to be kept ontrack as you're doing this,
they're relying on you to guidethem through this experience.
So.
Keeps them on track.
(21:06):
Keep that Charlotte's going andmake sure you get to that top
critical viewpoint.
And you aren't suddenly gettingoff track with all of these
other beautiful, spectacularspots.
All right.
Now, the last thing that youreally want to work out with
your models is.
To have one last conversationwith their subjects and make
sure that they are on board witheverything they have, their
words are figured out.
They've got good examples forthe poses and they're happy with
(21:26):
them.
They've got examples of the typeof shots and the mood board is
on track.
Everything is just feeling rightand ready, and they're good to
go for the adventure.
Now this should be done a fewdays before just in case stuff
really has to change.
But make sure to reconnect withthem and make sure everything is
on track.
And then you also want toconfirm your timeline.
I know we haven't talked aboutthis just yet, but make sure
that everybody agrees on whattime you're meeting up in the
(21:47):
parking lot, what time thesunset is and what time you need
photos up there and make sureeverybody is in total agreement
of the timeline for things,especially if you're doing
something like on a lope mintimage, they might have idea of,
they need to read.
Vows to each other at the top orsomething that you didn't take
into account because you werejust going to photos the whole
time.
And all of a sudden there's anextra 45 minutes that has to be
(22:08):
taken to account to the topperor something like that.
So get that timeline figured outand make sure that everybody's
in agreement on it.
And remember when you'rebuilding out this timeline,
there needs to be some extralittle buffer time.
So I've come to realize on a lotof the productions that I do
that we almost always needanother 15 to 20 minutes longer
at each location than Ioriginally think we will.
(22:28):
And that's partly so we canchange wardrobe when we can mess
around and people can have alittle bit of a breather.
And so we can have a little bitmore creativity worked in.
So if I think something's goingto take an hour to produce, then
I'll typically give us an hourand 20 minutes in that location.
And there's nothing wrong withgiving yourself a little extra
time.
Yes, it means you're probablygoing to be out on the trail a
little longer.
Yes.
It means that they're going tobe out on the trail a little
longer with you.
(22:48):
But what that also means is thatyou can move a little slower.
You aren't rushing throughposes.
You have a chance to inspiresome creativity.
People can actually stop to takein the views and have some water
and have some food breaks.
And if you happen to get to thatclimactic final viewpoint an
hour before sunset or an hourbefore sunrise or whatever your
timeline is, that's fine.
There's nothing wrong with beingthere early.
(23:09):
The problem comes when you getthere late.
So when you're building out yourtimeline, give yourself some
extra buffer zones and make surethat you're going to hit that
critical moment.
When it actually happens.
All right.
I'm not going to talk much aboutgear in here primarily because
that's going to changedramatically based on your
style, what you're doing, theactivity you're doing.
Everything, but I will say thataround the gear, make sure that
(23:29):
you have everything charged up,make sure everything is cleaned
and ready to go before you geton the trail.
And that goes for your adventureequipment as well.
So, if you're going to be goingon a biking trip with your
subjects, make sure your bike istuned to make sure your chain is
cleaned and ready to go.
Make sure your brakes andeverything else are working.
Make sure that you're notrunning around the morning of
trying to find your helmet andyour bike later.
Any of those other things.
(23:50):
Because it's critical to notjust have a working camera,
obviously that's critical, butit's also critical that you can
actually be a part of theactivity.
And you're not the weak chain inthis kind of sense where it's
your bike.
That's falling apart where it's,you, that's having an issue
because you don't want to impedeon their adventure while you're
out there doing it because youare an athlete in this
situation, you are doing thesethings.
(24:10):
See if you're going rockclimbing with them.
You also need to have all ofyour rock climbing gear and all
of your camera gear.
And honestly, All of your stuffas a producer.
So that make it maybe some extrafood, a little bit of extra
water.
These are all the pieces that gointo this as well.
So you're not just wearing onehat when you're doing this as a
photographer, you're wearingtwo, sometimes three, because
you're the photographer, you'rean athlete and you're helping
produce these images.
(24:32):
So you need to make sure thatyou are really prepared.
Now I have a terrible memory.
And I need to have everythinglaid out directly in front of me
so I can see it all before I putit into a backpack.
And I've created littlechecklists just to make sure
that I know depending on thetype of shoot that I'm going on,
that I have everything that Ineed.
All right.
And the last thing that I'mgoing to talk about quickly here
is just that when you were thereon the day of the shoot and
(24:53):
you're getting ready, make sureyou arrive early.
You want to be in that parkinglot?
But for your subject.
So, if you know that it's goingto take you 40 minutes to get to
that Trailhead, to give yourself60 minutes to get there.
And if you're waiting around for10 minutes, that's totally fine.
Go over your shot list to makesure your gear is all good and
ready to go and make sureeverything's packed.
(25:13):
I honestly like to have about a20 minute window because it
means that I have all my gearready to go when my subject
arrives.
I don't have to worry abouttrying to find things or how
things down or make sureeverything's good to go.
Well, I am also trying to talkto them about how they're doing
and what's going on and maybegetting some photos while
they're trying to tie on theirshoes or getting their coffee or
doing anything else.
And it also means that I'm notdelaying the production because
(25:35):
I'm ready when they get there.
So I'm ready to start work assoon as they show up.
And that typically means anextra 20 to 30 minutes before
they get there.
All right.
And that's it.
That's all the advice I have foryou for preparing for your first
adventure shoot.
Like this.
I get that.
This can be super intimidating.
It's super terrifying,especially depending on the
activity that you'reparticipating in and what it is
(25:56):
that you're up to and all thosekinds of things.
This can be really, reallyintimidating.
But these kind of shoots don'thave to be.
If you're a good photographerand you're good at the sport
you're doing, then you know whatyou're doing?
Just take a deep breath, relaxand enjoy it because somebody is
paying you to do a sport thatyou love to be out doing
something in somethingbeautiful.
(26:17):
And you get to be there withyour camera.
So because they've hired you andobviously they want you to be
there.
Obviously they love the workthat you're doing and they want
you to have some fun with it.
So enjoy the moment, enjoy theadventure while you're on it.
And just do your best.
That's all anyone can ever askfor in these situations.
Oh, and make sure that you keepsafety, paramount front and
center in front of everything.
(26:39):
All right.
Thank you so much.
If you have any questions orthoughts.
Or other pieces that you'd liketo add to this list?
Let me know.
I would love to hear what otherpeople do when they start these
kinds of intersections as well.
I know this advice is supergeneric, but it's really hard to
nail down really specific adviceunless you know, the exact
situation that you're workingin, and this is going to be much
more comfortable as you go alongand you do more of these
productions.
So.
The first one's going to bereally, really scary.
(27:01):
The second one's going to bereally scary.
The surgeon's going to be.
Fairly scary.
And it's just going to keepgetting better and easier.
The more you do it.
So put yourself out there.
Participate go have fun.
And yeah.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
If you do have any feedback forme, find me on Instagram or a
massive photography.
Find me online at Ron Masseyphotography dossier.
And thank you so much for beinghere and for taking some of your
(27:21):
valuable time to listen.
Bye for now.
How's it going everybody.
Welcome back.
I'm Robert Massey.
This is the travel image,photography school podcast.
Thank you so much for takingsome of your time today to
listen and to be here with me.
All right before we get intothis episode, I need to say a
massive, huge, thank you toeverybody who has listened to
this podcast because we'verecently hit 50,000 downloads.
(00:22):
Which is just mind blowing.
I can't even begin to fathomthat many downloads happening
and it makes me so stoked and soexcited and so grateful to every
single person who has downloadedan episode and listened to an
episode of being a part of oneand being interviewed and giving
me questions.
Just everything.
You're spectacular human beings.
And thank you so much for doingthis with me and for being a
(00:43):
part of this journey with me, Ireally appreciate it.
It's been an absolutelybeautiful and wonderful journey
and yeah.
50,000 downloads.
That is just amazing.
So, thank you.
Thank you to everybody.
All right, let's get into thisepisode.
So I am on my way back from anadventure in lake Louise today,
I did a little bit of Nordicskiing, did a little bit of
(01:04):
hiking, a little bit of skating.
It's a great, beautiful blue skyday.
And I was thinking about acouple of questions.
People have sent me in the lastlittle while, but getting ready
for your first outdoor adventureportrait session.
Now at a few people reach outsaying that they were working
with couples and with familiesto go out and document them
while they were skiing or bikingor snowshoeing or whatever the
activity was that they were upto that they were doing an
(01:26):
outdoor adventure session.
And they just had a lot ofquestions about how to prepare
and what to look out for andthings to do.
And I thought if they werehaving these questions, maybe a
lot of other people were.
And so I wanted to today'sepisode on how to get ready for
your first adventure sessionoutdoors, especially when you're
working with people that aren'tnecessarily high end athletes.
You're working with families andmaybe weekend warriors and
(01:48):
people who like to do thesethings, or maybe don't even
like, do these things.
And it just looking for anoutdoor adventure.
But aren't necessarily a proathlete because honestly,
working with athletes is a loteasier to prepare.
You don't have to worry so muchabout making sure that they have
all the right equipment, thatthey know how to do things that
you're on trails that are safefor them, all those kind of
pieces.
Because if you're working withpro athletes, They know that for
(02:08):
themselves, they know what gearto come with.
They know where they can andcan't do.
They know everything that theyneed to.
So it's much easier to workdoing an outdoor adventure
session with a high end athletethan with those weekend words
and those families who don'tnecessarily know, or sometimes
over estimate their skilllevels.
So in this case, we're talkingabout how to get yourself ready
for those family sessions.
So some things will apply toworking with those high end
(02:29):
athletes, but this will focus onthose other sessions and those
outdoor adventure engagements,portraits, and all those sorts
of fun.
Beautiful pieces where you'renot working with high end
athletes.
All right.
So someone has reached out toyou.
They've said they're interestedin outdoor adventure session.
What do you do?
The first step is to get a holdof that person who contact you
and find out a little bit moreabout the session that they're
interested in.
(02:49):
Where their skill level is at Ywhat activity they want to do.
If they have any skills in thatactivity where they want to go.
All those sorts of questions.
Now you need to figure out allof your basics first.
And then you need to judge fromthere.
If you can go with them and dothis activity.
I've had a few people ask if Icould do a certain venture with
them.
And I had to say no, because Iwasn't capable of doing the
thing that they were looking todo.
(03:10):
For example, I am not amulti-pitch rock climber.
I will never be a multi-pitchrock climber, and we needed to
be out on multi-pitch and I hadto tell them, Hey, that's not
me, but I sent them the names ofa few local photographers who
are multi-pitch rock climbers,and who could do this kind of
work for them.
So the first thing is tounderstand if you can actually
achieve what they're looking forand if you can participate in
(03:32):
the sport.
Or if you can't.
But you need to be honest.
'cause you can't just say, oh,I've Rockland once, or I've done
whatever, once it should befine.
In many cases you need to bejust as good or better than that
athlete.
You're working with.
Because you need to get there aswell, but you won't necessarily
be on route.
In some cases, you're going tobe off on another route.
(03:52):
You're going to be runningaround ahead of them and doing
all sorts of other things.
You will be probably movingalmost as much or more than your
athlete.
I don't remember.
I think it was about a decadeago, 15 years ago now, probably
that to skier skied off ofEverest and they want Nat Geo's
at ventures of the year award.
Now their story was alldocumented by the amazing Jimmy
chin.
And he didn't actually getrecognized as part of that group
(04:14):
because he wasn't technicallypart of the expedition.
But the two skiers who did winthe adventures of the year.
We're like, Hey, Jimmy skiedtwice as much as we did, he was
up and down and all over theplace around us.
And that's really telling momentof yeah.
There's these two athletes whotook on the challenge, but the
person documenting thatchallenge was right there with
them and doing it as well.
(04:34):
And in some cases doing more.
So first things first lookinternally, look, to make sure
that you can do this yourself.
Then ask yourself if the peoplethat you're working with can do
this as well.
Based on the experience thatthey've offered you.
Thankfully, I've never had thishappen, but I have had friends
out here who people havecontacted them.
They're coming to the area.
They've never hiked before.
This is the first time they'vebeen in the Rocky mountains.
(04:56):
They're just coming here andthey like to hike wherever
they're from.
And they're like, yeah, let's doMount temple.
Mount temple is a big, long,arduous day.
There's a bit of glacier travel.
There's some really goodexposure.
You need some good scramblingtechnique.
It's not an entry-level.
I've never seen a mountainbefore kind of hike.
It's stunning, but it's not thatkind of hike.
So you need to gauge if yoursubject can participate in this
(05:17):
activity.
So ask your potential subjectsquestions.
Like how long if you'd done thisfor and what other activities
like this, have you done before?
Where else have you participatedin these kinds of activities?
Just learn more about theirskillset and then you get to
learn more about them as well,which will make taking their
photos easier.
But you can also help them gaugedoing the right activity.
(05:38):
That's not going to put anybodyat risk.
That's going to make everyonehappy and feel good and have a
great time.
Now, if you feel like they cando the adventure, they want to
go on with you.
That's great.
If you don't, it's up to you totell them that and offer other
suggestions, expecially.
If they're coming outside intoyour area and don't have a lot
of expertise with where you are.
You're the expert in that area,you should be offering them
(05:59):
better suggestions.
And being honest, if the thingthat they want to do is
comfortable with their skillset.
Now when the best things thatyou can do is if they have
picked a trail out and you knowthat trail and they're capable
of it, but honestly it's a dulland boring trail.
And even the viewpoint at thetop is kind of doll, unless they
have an emotional connection tothat hike.
Give them different options thathave better viewpoints and look
(06:20):
better.
For where they want to go.
Because things are just going tolook better.
If you do this, their images aregoing to turn out better.
They're going to be more stoked.
If it's a boring trail, it'shonestly not that great of a
hike.
They're not going to enjoy it asmuch.
The photos aren't gonna look asgood.
So give them better options andthere'll be happier with it.
And this is one of the other bigdifferences between working with
a family or a weekend warriorversus working with a
(06:40):
professional athlete.
Typically that pro-athlete haspicked that line area, ski run,
whatever it is for a reason,they're looking to be the first
person to do something or tochallenge something that
somebody else has done and do itfaster.
There's typically a reason thatathlete is looking for that
specific spot.
But if you're doing adventureporch with someone they're
looking for cooler venture, butalso pretty photos.
See what offer them some bettersuggestions and ones that will
(07:02):
turn out photogenic.
Better for you and for them, andeveryone will just be much
happier about it.
Now you've gotten a hold ofthem.
You've talked to them abouttheir adventure.
You've understood what they wantto do.
You've kind of taken all thesesteps to be aware of.
Everyone's signed up that'scritical.
Step one.
Get that locked in because youneed to know if you can do the
work for these people andhonestly, the adventure you're
(07:22):
going on and the work you haveto put into it and prepare.
All those pieces will also workinto your price.
So figure out these detailsbefore you start quoting a price
to somebody.
You should obviously have astarting price for adventures
that are somebody who wants togo on an easy adventure where
you hike around the lake shoreor do have an easy to go longer.
Hypo hike.
A couple mountain or somethinglike that.
The really easy, basic thingsyou should have the app be your
(07:44):
baseline price.
And then from there, you need todecide how much more effort you
were putting into the shoot andthen change your price
accordingly to what amount ofeffort you were putting in.
So if it's a multi-daybackpacking expedition, you're
working basically 24 hours aday.
You're shooting while they hikeyou're shooting.
While they're putting camptogether, you're shooting night
photos of their camp sittingunder the stars.
(08:04):
Your.
Up before them in the morning.
So you have photos of them asthey're making breakfast, you're
doing a lot.
And you've still got to makeyour own food.
Get your own tent set up.
Make sure you still get enoughsleep.
Get everything else done.
So if you're in a multi-dayshoot, Our multi-day expedition.
You're going to be doing a tonof extra work than if it's just
a couple of hours around thelake shore.
(08:25):
Now, even if you're out for 12hours in the mountains and
you're doing something that'sdangerous, you still got to prep
a little bit more gear.
It's still be a little bit moreprepared.
That's still a lot more workthan two hours around the lake
shore.
Go and get that worked into yourpricing as well.
Now talk price, lock that infigure out a comfortable spot
for everybody.
And if you still wanna moveforward.
Happy you've got your firstadventure, a couple of workout.
(08:48):
And now we can get into the funpart because let's be honest.
That other bits, not the funpart.
It's super important to get allthose dates and the logistics
stuck aside.
But now we can get into thebetter pieces.
And it's time to start workingon your mood board or a style
board, but I prefer to call themmood boards because I don't see
them as just the styling for theshoot.
I see them as how you want theshoot to feel.
So obviously you're going tohave your photographic style
(09:09):
that you like to work with,whether it's moody, light, airy,
vibrant, whatever, you're goingto have a style that works for
you and the people that arehiring you because they like
that style.
So keep that style there forsure.
But you need to build this moodboard out for the chute to
understand how they want to lookand feel during your photo
shoot.
So mood boards should includesome example, poses, some
(09:29):
outfits and some ideas for whatthey should wear and what they
should bring with them.
Potential expressions andfeelings you want to express.
Because your style while itshould still be there, it should
also be able to be expressedacross an emotional spectrum.
So whether somebody is happy orsad or exuberant or
non-committal or anything.
Your style should work, but itshould be able to be expressed
across an emotional realm.
(09:52):
Nope.
Start by building your moodboard based off of your previous
conversations with yoursubjects.
But once you have somethingbuilt out, send it off to them,
talk with them about it and makesure that they are happy with
the direction this is going in.
This is your collaborationspace.
This is making sure that whatyou envisioned for their shoot
is what they envisioned fortheir shoot.
And you are connected before youever even get on the trail.
(10:12):
So when you're doing portraitswith somebody typically, it's
great.
Like, they want to look good intheir portraits and they might
have.
Slightly different changes inexpression and things, but
really the ideas make you lookreally, really good.
But when you're working with anathlete, they might want
something very specific and alittle different.
They might not want to lookincredibly pretty during the
shoot or incredibly handsome orwhatever they might want to look
like they're working hard andthere's chalk on their face.
(10:34):
And.
All those sorts of things orconversely, they want to look
amazing and perfect.
Well, they're out rock climbingand they don't want any of that
chalk on their face.
Who knows?
So you need to talk to yoursubject.
Figure it out and put your moodboard together based on that.
Now I've had a couple of mood,board programs, specific ones
that are made for mood boards.
But if you don't have anythinglike that and you don't want to
(10:55):
pay for anything like that,Pinterest works incredibly well
for building a mood boards.
It's a great resource.
You can pin basically anythingonto those boards and it's free
and pretty much anyone canaccess it.
So.
If you're just starting out, youjust starting to build a mood
boards and figured out I'dsuggest just starting out with
Pinterest.
You can also build out a Googledoc with screenshots and
formatting and all those otherthings.
But I find Pinterest just to besimpler and cleaner, to
(11:16):
organize.
All right.
That's your mood board.
And you're going to keeprefining the mood board as you
go along.
So once you build it once.
It's not done.
I want you to keep thinkingabout it and building it and
processing little pieces andadding little things.
You find new poses and thinkabout stuff.
So keep building upon it.
This isn't just set and overwith.
So, but your mood board it'sbuilt, it's going to move on to
the next phase.
(11:37):
Location scouting and thinkingabout location scouting.
So location scouting isprecisely what it sounds like
it's going out and it'sscouting.
your location so that, you know,the shape that it's in, the
condition that it's in, in theviewpoints that are out there
for you to work with.
So I know a lot of the trails inthis area, especially a lot of
the classic trails, but Icouldn't tell you off the top of
my head exactly where I want tostop for each type of photo and
(11:58):
where certain pieces will lookgood.
And where I want subjects towalk into images and stand.
And it could depend on what typeof images I'm going to take.
So I like to go back and rescout a location.
With my new photo-shoot in mindwith how I am thinking about
this new photo shoot.
Because it really does depend onwhat activity that they're
doing, what activity we're doingtogether.
(12:19):
So, and then while I'm out doingthis location scouting, I will
go off and mark off pointseither on a map or on Google
maps or anywhere they might haveaccess to it while we're
actually out in the field.
So I am not constantly guessingabout where I need to stop for
my next shoot.
So this takes a lot of thatextra brain power out of going
like, Ooh, I think it's up here.
Oh, I think it's up here.
Ooh.
It's around that next corner.
It takes that guessing outaround what's coming next.
(12:40):
And if you take that extra workout of your head, you'll have a
lot more room for creativity.
So go on a Prisco walk the area,make sure it's in good shape.
Because location's coding.
Isn't just critical for lookingfor viewpoints.
Like we just talked about.
But you can also find thingsabout potential hazards and
dangers.
So if a tree has fallen on thetrail and you're working with
someone who might not be able toget up and over that tree type
trail may not work for you.
(13:02):
If you don't encounter thatuntil the day of, and you do
beforehand, you can ruin yoursubject's day.
And all of a sudden you have todo another photo shoot and you
have to figure out where you'regoing.
So go out, look for thesepotential hazards as well.
Now if you have the time scout,a second or third location as
well, if you don't have the timefor that, at least look around
for a second or third location.
(13:22):
Because it's great to have abackup plan.
Because who knows, you mightshow up at the trail head and
there's been a bear sighting, soyou can't go on it or it's
unsafe for another reason, or itgets closed because part of the
trail washed out or the parkinglot's full, who knows there are
any number of reasons that youmight not be able to get onto
whatever trail you were lookingat working on that day.
And you need to be able to rightaway tell that person that
(13:43):
you're working with.
Hey, this didn't work.
This is why we can't be here,but there's a trail five minutes
down the road.
It's very similar to scuff uselike this.
Let's do this one to sit, or wecan do this one or this one, and
you can offer them a plethora ofother options.
Right away.
So the day doesn't start goingdownhill really quickly.
All right now you want to buildin your backup plans.
So think about, can this shootand will the shoot happen
(14:05):
regardless of the weather,unless there's severe
thunderstorms, massive blizzard,whatever, whatever extreme
weather might hit you.
Is this happening, even if it'sraining and snowing.
Is there anything that's odd ordoes it have to be crystal blue
skies for what you're lookingfor?
What will that mood entail andwhat will you still go out and
achieve in that activity?
If the weather isn't ideal.
I know I've done shoots wherewe've had to go back and
(14:26):
reproduce images because we shotthem on a gray day.
And they just don't work.
So we were looking for fun,sunny biking.
And it was gray.
It was slightly rainy earlier.
So the ground's a little wet andthey didn't feel like fun in the
same kind of images.
So we needed to go back andreshoot them.
So what's your backup plan andwhat does that backup plan look
like?
What's your cutoff time fordeciding on if the shoot goes
ahead, what's your deciding timeto turn around when the weather
(14:46):
turns bad.
All those sorts of factors thatcome into deciding if the shoot
is actually going to happen.
And then what do you do if thechute doesn't happen?
Do you have weather windows?
Are you able to reschedule?
Do you have indoor locationsfigured out.
If I'm shooting an adventuremoment, I like to have a window
of two days after the day theywant to do it on.
So it's a three-day window.
They have their first day andthen two backup days.
(15:08):
Now, if these are criticalimages, they need to look a
certain way and feel a certainway.
And we can't do them on the dayof for whatever reason.
Then we have two other days tomake it happen.
Now, this has to be worked on inconjunction with your subject
and what the people that arehiring you to produce the shoot,
but make sure that you talk tothem about this.
Make sure you put a plan intoplace.
Around, what's going to happenon that day.
If the weather's not ideal.
(15:30):
On this planning note, also makesure that you have a plan for
emergency communications.
So if someone gets hurt, how areyou going to get them out?
If you need to call in ahelicopter, how are you going to
do that?
Do you have a satellitecommunications device?
Are you the only one who knowshow to use that device to
someone else have to get trainedup on it?
Just ensure that there aremultiple backups in place.
You know how to get people outsafely and then make sure that
you have a good well-stocked medkit with you.
(15:51):
And we're not just talkingband-aids and some mole skin.
Talking like, you know how tobrace things like a broken leg.
And you know how to put somebodytogether and be able to carry
them out safely, if you need todo that.
And thankfully, I've never hadto do anything like that.
But my med kit is prepared forus to have to stay out over
night somewhere if that's anecessity, because things like
(16:12):
this happened in the mountains,we don't want them to.
But we want to be able tosurvive it.
If it does happen.
So take that into account aswell with your planning, what
type of medical needs are yougoing to meet out there?
What is the risk of injury andwhat type of injuries are you
actually more likely toencounter while you're doing
this activity?
All right.
Now it's time to build it.
One of the most critical piecesof your production, which is
your shot list.
So your shortlist is critical sothat you're not forgetting
(16:34):
anything on the day of theshoot.
So in the excitement ofshooting, things can kind of
just go over your head andhaving something that you can
turn back to and make sure youare getting what you need.
Can really help calm and centerthe day.
So this is the list of imagesyou have to produce during the
shoot for it to be successful.
Now that can be prior to you bythe client.
But it's something you shouldalso be looking at and deciding
on as a creative as well.
(16:56):
And then giving it and showingit off to the person who was
hired.
You.
Because they've hired you foryour creative input, they've
hired you because you know whatyou're doing.
And so providing them withinsights into that is, is an
important part of doing your jobproperly.
Now there are a large number ofways to build shot lists.
I like to have my built in aparticular way, find out what
works for you.
But the way I like to build mineis based on times of where we
(17:17):
are during the production.
So what I mean by that is.
Let's take hiking for anexample, if I'm doing some
hiking photos for a couple, wedon't want to just think about
them at the top of thatviewpoint, that big critical end
point.
Of course we want photos there.
But that's not part of the wholejourney and part of the whole
story that we're going ontogether.
Maybe we want to get photos ofthem sitting together while
they're getting their hikingboots on.
(17:37):
Maybe we want them sitting inthe car and having coffee, or
maybe sitting on the trunk andhaving coffee.
What are those other images?
That we need to get to tell thefull story of that hike.
Maybe there's the getting readyimages and there's the hiking on
the trail images and there'sviewpoint one viewpoint two.
And then the top of the hike.
What are those kinds of pointsto put those down in your shot
list ahead.
And then what happens when weget out onto that hike and we're
(17:57):
headed up and we're heading toviewpoint one.
So, what are we shooting in thatfirst?
Say kilometer two kilometers.
However you want to divvy outthe timeline for those hikes.
And then when you are on thosemoments of the trail, you're
heading towards viewpoint one,or you're heading towards
kilometer two kilometer three,however, you've divvied it out.
What shots are you looking forin those locations?
This is where your Prescalecomes in handy, where you can be
(18:18):
walking down.
You know that at kilometer twoon the trail, there's this
viewpoint and you want themstanding there in a specific
pose because the mountainframes, a perfect triangle above
their heads.
Or, you know that at this pointon the trail, it's a perfectly
straight shot with a littlebounce into the background.
And you just want to photo themwalking ahead of you on the
trail.
You'll know that because you'vedone your pre-school and then
(18:39):
you'll know that you want to dothat because you've worked it
into your shot list.
And as you stop at eachviewpoint, You can stop and
review and be like, yeah, we gotthat yet.
We got that yet.
We're telling the story that weneed to tell, to be able to
build towards the climacticviewpoint at the end.
Now what this really does is itsaves you basically playing
around in the field and notbeing sure what will work and
what won't work.
And.
Kind of feeling some things flowthrough you now it gives you a
(19:01):
really solid foundation forcreating images.
Of course leave some room forcreativity and being able to
produce something spontaneously,but it's important for you to
have these critical shots inmind.
Because this is also going tostop you from repeating images.
Let's say that there's threeviewpoints on this hike and at
each viewpoint you do the samefive poses because those are the
ones that are in your head andyou're exhausted from hiking.
You don't really know what elseto do.
And all of a sudden you get backand you're looking in front of
(19:22):
your computer and you realizeyou've only given them five
images.
Yes.
The background is different.
But really the photos aren'tthat different cause you post
them in the exact same way, justwith a different background.
So this should help prevent thatfrom happening because you are
setting up specific shots ineach location.
So you should at least have somegood things to give to this
couple.
Now, the other thing this isgonna do is it's gonna help you
(19:43):
stay on time and on track, whichis critical.
During these moments, you'llfind, you know, shooting on a
lake shore shooting somewherewhere you're really close to
your critical viewpoint.
It's not really too bad.
If you spend a little bit ofextra time in one spot, taking
some photos.
But on a hike.
If you've set aside about sixhours on a hike that, you know,
should normally only take four,that gives you two hours for
(20:03):
stopping and taking photos,getting food and water, all
those other break pieces thatyou need.
You don't want to suddenlyrealize that you got to
viewpoint one and you've beenthere for an hour.
And that was because you weretrying all these different poses
and you're seeing how all thesethings feel and all these
different pieces kind of moldtogether.
And all of a sudden you've beenthere an hour and.
You weren't ready to move on.
Now, if you have your shortlistfigured out for that location,
(20:24):
you should know.
I can move through these shots.
It's going to take me 20 minutesto move through these.
We're going to feel around.
They can slick five, 10 minutebuffer window to just kind of
screw around and have a littlefun and creativity.
Now we're done.
I guess you want to takeadvantage of those critical
viewpoints, but.
Let's say you're hiking upsomewhere and you've spent that
hour at that first viewpoint.
And all of a sudden you'relooking up in the lake was
beautiful.
And then it's like, oh no, sinceit's happening.
(20:46):
And you're an hour away from thecritical viewpoint for your hour
away from the top.
And it was because you weren'tprepared enough and you didn't
have your shot list in mind.
And you weren't keeping that ontrack as you were going.
So prep your shot list,especially if you're working
with a couple or if you'reworking with a family.
They really need to be kept ontrack as you're doing this,
they're relying on you to guidethem through this experience.
So.
Keeps them on track.
(21:06):
Keep that Charlotte's going andmake sure you get to that top
critical viewpoint.
And you aren't suddenly gettingoff track with all of these
other beautiful, spectacularspots.
All right.
Now, the last thing that youreally want to work out with
your models is.
To have one last conversationwith their subjects and make
sure that they are on board witheverything they have, their
words are figured out.
They've got good examples forthe poses and they're happy with
(21:26):
them.
They've got examples of the typeof shots and the mood board is
on track.
Everything is just feeling rightand ready, and they're good to
go for the adventure.
Now this should be done a fewdays before just in case stuff
really has to change.
But make sure to reconnect withthem and make sure everything is
on track.
And then you also want toconfirm your timeline.
I know we haven't talked aboutthis just yet, but make sure
that everybody agrees on whattime you're meeting up in the
(21:47):
parking lot, what time thesunset is and what time you need
photos up there and make sureeverybody is in total agreement
of the timeline for things,especially if you're doing
something like on a lope mintimage, they might have idea of,
they need to read.
Vows to each other at the top orsomething that you didn't take
into account because you werejust going to photos the whole
time.
And all of a sudden there's anextra 45 minutes that has to be
(22:08):
taken to account to the topperor something like that.
So get that timeline figured outand make sure that everybody's
in agreement on it.
And remember when you'rebuilding out this timeline,
there needs to be some extralittle buffer time.
So I've come to realize on a lotof the productions that I do
that we almost always needanother 15 to 20 minutes longer
at each location than Ioriginally think we will.
(22:28):
And that's partly so we canchange wardrobe when we can mess
around and people can have alittle bit of a breather.
And so we can have a little bitmore creativity worked in.
So if I think something's goingto take an hour to produce, then
I'll typically give us an hourand 20 minutes in that location.
And there's nothing wrong withgiving yourself a little extra
time.
Yes, it means you're probablygoing to be out on the trail a
little longer.
Yes.
It means that they're going tobe out on the trail a little
longer with you.
(22:48):
But what that also means is thatyou can move a little slower.
You aren't rushing throughposes.
You have a chance to inspiresome creativity.
People can actually stop to takein the views and have some water
and have some food breaks.
And if you happen to get to thatclimactic final viewpoint an
hour before sunset or an hourbefore sunrise or whatever your
timeline is, that's fine.
There's nothing wrong with beingthere early.
(23:09):
The problem comes when you getthere late.
So when you're building out yourtimeline, give yourself some
extra buffer zones and make surethat you're going to hit that
critical moment.
When it actually happens.
All right.
I'm not going to talk much aboutgear in here primarily because
that's going to changedramatically based on your
style, what you're doing, theactivity you're doing.
Everything, but I will say thataround the gear, make sure that
(23:29):
you have everything charged up,make sure everything is cleaned
and ready to go before you geton the trail.
And that goes for your adventureequipment as well.
So, if you're going to be goingon a biking trip with your
subjects, make sure your bike istuned to make sure your chain is
cleaned and ready to go.
Make sure your brakes andeverything else are working.
Make sure that you're notrunning around the morning of
trying to find your helmet andyour bike later.
Any of those other things.
(23:50):
Because it's critical to notjust have a working camera,
obviously that's critical, butit's also critical that you can
actually be a part of theactivity.
And you're not the weak chain inthis kind of sense where it's
your bike.
That's falling apart where it's,you, that's having an issue
because you don't want to impedeon their adventure while you're
out there doing it because youare an athlete in this
situation, you are doing thesethings.
(24:10):
See if you're going rockclimbing with them.
You also need to have all ofyour rock climbing gear and all
of your camera gear.
And honestly, All of your stuffas a producer.
So that make it maybe some extrafood, a little bit of extra
water.
These are all the pieces that gointo this as well.
So you're not just wearing onehat when you're doing this as a
photographer, you're wearingtwo, sometimes three, because
you're the photographer, you'rean athlete and you're helping
produce these images.
(24:32):
So you need to make sure thatyou are really prepared.
Now I have a terrible memory.
And I need to have everythinglaid out directly in front of me
so I can see it all before I putit into a backpack.
And I've created littlechecklists just to make sure
that I know depending on thetype of shoot that I'm going on,
that I have everything that Ineed.
All right.
And the last thing that I'mgoing to talk about quickly here
is just that when you were thereon the day of the shoot and
(24:53):
you're getting ready, make sureyou arrive early.
You want to be in that parkinglot?
But for your subject.
So, if you know that it's goingto take you 40 minutes to get to
that Trailhead, to give yourself60 minutes to get there.
And if you're waiting around for10 minutes, that's totally fine.
Go over your shot list to makesure your gear is all good and
ready to go and make sureeverything's packed.
(25:13):
I honestly like to have about a20 minute window because it
means that I have all my gearready to go when my subject
arrives.
I don't have to worry abouttrying to find things or how
things down or make sureeverything's good to go.
Well, I am also trying to talkto them about how they're doing
and what's going on and maybegetting some photos while
they're trying to tie on theirshoes or getting their coffee or
doing anything else.
And it also means that I'm notdelaying the production because
(25:35):
I'm ready when they get there.
So I'm ready to start work assoon as they show up.
And that typically means anextra 20 to 30 minutes before
they get there.
All right.
And that's it.
That's all the advice I have foryou for preparing for your first
adventure shoot.
Like this.
I get that.
This can be super intimidating.
It's super terrifying,especially depending on the
activity that you'reparticipating in and what it is
(25:56):
that you're up to and all thosekinds of things.
This can be really, reallyintimidating.
But these kind of shoots don'thave to be.
If you're a good photographerand you're good at the sport
you're doing, then you know whatyou're doing?
Just take a deep breath, relaxand enjoy it because somebody is
paying you to do a sport thatyou love to be out doing
something in somethingbeautiful.
(26:17):
And you get to be there withyour camera.
So because they've hired you andobviously they want you to be
there.
Obviously they love the workthat you're doing and they want
you to have some fun with it.
So enjoy the moment, enjoy theadventure while you're on it.
And just do your best.
That's all anyone can ever askfor in these situations.
Oh, and make sure that you keepsafety, paramount front and
center in front of everything.
(26:39):
All right.
Thank you so much.
If you have any questions orthoughts.
Or other pieces that you'd liketo add to this list?
Let me know.
I would love to hear what otherpeople do when they start these
kinds of intersections as well.
I know this advice is supergeneric, but it's really hard to
nail down really specific adviceunless you know, the exact
situation that you're workingin, and this is going to be much
more comfortable as you go alongand you do more of these
productions.
So.
The first one's going to bereally, really scary.
(27:01):
The second one's going to bereally scary.
The surgeon's going to be.
Fairly scary.
And it's just going to keepgetting better and easier.
The more you do it.
So put yourself out there.
Participate go have fun.
And yeah.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
If you do have any feedback forme, find me on Instagram or a
massive photography.
Find me online at Ron Masseyphotography dossier.
And thank you so much for beinghere and for taking some of your
(27:21):
valuable time to listen.
Bye for now.
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