0:00

How's it going everybody. Welcome

0:02

back. I'm Robert Massey. This is the

0:04

travel image, photography school podcast. Thank you

0:07

so much for taking some of your time today to

0:09

listen and to be here with me. All

0:11

right before we get into this episode, I need

0:13

to say a massive, huge, thank

0:15

you to everybody who has listened to this podcast because

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That is just amazing. So,

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thank you. Thank you to everybody. All

0:57

right, let's get into this episode. So

1:00

I am on my way back from an adventure in lake

1:02

Louise today, I did a little bit of Nordic skiing,

1:04

did a little bit of hiking, a little bit of skating.

1:07

It's a great, beautiful blue sky day.

1:09

And I was thinking about a couple of questions. People

1:11

have sent me in the last little while, but

1:13

getting ready for your first outdoor adventure

1:15

portrait session. Now at a few

1:18

people reach out saying that they were working with couples and with

1:20

families to go out and document them while they were skiing

1:22

or biking or snowshoeing or whatever the activity

1:24

was that they were up to that they were doing an outdoor

1:26

adventure session. And they just had

1:28

a lot of questions about how to prepare and what to look

1:30

out for and things to do. And

1:32

I thought if they were having these questions, maybe

1:35

a lot of other people were. And so I wanted

1:37

to today's episode on how to get ready for your

1:39

first adventure session outdoors, especially

1:42

when you're working with people that aren't necessarily high

1:44

end athletes. You're working with families

1:46

and maybe weekend warriors and people who like

1:48

to do these things, or maybe don't even like, do these things.

1:51

And it just looking for an outdoor adventure. But

1:53

aren't necessarily a pro athlete because honestly,

1:56

working with athletes is a lot easier

1:58

to prepare. You don't have to worry so much about

2:00

making sure that they have all the right equipment, that they know how to

2:02

do things that you're on trails that are safe for them,

2:04

all those kind of pieces. Because if you're working with pro

2:06

athletes, They know that for themselves,

2:08

they know what gear to come with. They know where they can

2:10

and can't do. They know everything

2:13

that they need to. So it's much easier to work doing an outdoor

2:15

adventure session with a high end athlete than with those

2:17

weekend words and those families who don't necessarily

2:20

know, or sometimes over estimate their skill levels.

2:23

So in this case, we're talking about how to get yourself

2:25

ready for those family

2:27

sessions. So some things will apply to working with those high

2:29

end athletes, but this will focus on those

2:31

other sessions and those outdoor adventure engagements,

2:33

portraits, and all those sorts of fun. Beautiful

2:35

pieces where you're not working with high end athletes. All

2:38

right. So someone has reached out to you. They've

2:41

said they're interested in outdoor adventure session.

2:43

What do you do? The first step is to

2:45

get a hold of that person who contact you and find out

2:47

a little bit more about the session that they're interested in. Where

2:50

their skill level is at Y what activity they

2:52

want to do. If they have any skills in that activity

2:54

where they want to go. All those sorts of

2:56

questions. Now you need to figure out all of your basics

2:58

first. And then you need to judge

3:00

from there. If you can go with them and

3:02

do this activity. I've had a few

3:05

people ask if I could do a certain venture with them. And I had

3:07

to say no, because I wasn't capable of doing

3:09

the thing that they were looking to do. For example,

3:11

I am not a multi-pitch rock climber. I

3:13

will never be a multi-pitch

3:15

rock climber, and we needed to be out

3:17

on multi-pitch and I had to tell them, Hey,

3:19

that's not me, but I sent

3:21

them the names of a few local photographers who are multi-pitch

3:24

rock climbers, and who could do this kind of work

3:26

for them. So the first thing is to understand

3:28

if you can actually achieve what they're looking for

3:30

and if you can participate in the sport.

3:33

Or if you can't. But you need

3:35

to be honest. 'cause you can't

3:38

just say, oh, I've Rockland once, or I've done whatever,

3:40

once it should be fine. In many

3:42

cases you need to be just as good or

3:44

better than that athlete. You're working with. Because

3:46

you need to get there as well, but you

3:48

won't necessarily be on route. In some cases,

3:51

you're going to be off on another route. You're going to be running

3:53

around ahead of them and doing all sorts of other

3:55

things. You will be probably moving

3:57

almost as much or more than your athlete.

4:00

I don't remember. I think it was about a decade ago, 15

4:02

years ago now, probably that to skier

4:04

skied off of Everest and they want Nat Geo's at ventures

4:06

of the year award. Now their story was

4:09

all documented by the amazing Jimmy chin.

4:11

And he didn't actually get recognized as part

4:13

of that group because he wasn't technically part of the expedition.

4:16

But the two skiers who did win the adventures

4:18

of the year. We're like, Hey, Jimmy

4:20

skied twice as much as we did, he was

4:22

up and down and all over the place around us.

4:25

And that's really telling moment of

4:28

yeah. There's these two athletes who took on

4:30

the challenge, but the person documenting that challenge

4:32

was right there with them and doing it as well. And in some cases

4:35

doing more. So first

4:37

things first look internally, look, to make sure

4:39

that you can do this yourself. Then

4:42

ask yourself if the people that you're working with can

4:44

do this as well. Based on the experience that

4:46

they've offered you. Thankfully, I've

4:48

never had this happen, but I have had friends out here

4:50

who people have contacted them. They're coming to the area.

4:53

They've never hiked before. This is the first

4:55

time they've been in the Rocky mountains. They're just coming here

4:57

and they like to hike wherever they're from. And

4:59

they're like, yeah, let's do Mount temple. Mount

5:02

temple is a big, long, arduous day.

5:04

There's a bit of glacier travel. There's some really good exposure.

5:07

You need some good scrambling technique. It's

5:09

not an entry-level. I've never seen a mountain

5:11

before kind of hike. It's stunning, but

5:14

it's not that kind of hike. So you need to gauge

5:16

if your subject can participate in this activity.

5:19

So ask your potential subjects

5:21

questions. Like how long if you'd done this for and

5:23

what other activities like this, have you done before?

5:25

Where else have you participated in these kinds of activities?

5:28

Just learn more about their skillset and

5:31

then you get to learn more about them as well, which will make

5:33

taking their photos easier. But

5:35

you can also help them gauge doing

5:37

the right activity. That's not going to put anybody at risk.

5:39

That's going to make everyone happy and feel good

5:41

and have a great time. Now, if you

5:43

feel like they can do the adventure, they want to go on with

5:46

you. That's great. If you don't,

5:48

it's up to you to tell them that and offer other

5:50

suggestions, expecially. If they're coming outside

5:52

into your area and don't have a lot of expertise

5:55

with where you are. You're the expert

5:57

in that area, you should be offering them better

5:59

suggestions. And being honest,

6:01

if the thing that they want to do is comfortable with

6:03

their skillset. Now when the best things that you can do

6:05

is if they have picked a trail out and you

6:07

know that trail and they're capable of

6:09

it, but honestly it's a dull and boring trail.

6:12

And even the viewpoint at the top is kind of doll,

6:14

unless they have an emotional connection to that hike. Give

6:17

them different options that have better viewpoints

6:19

and look better. For where they want

6:21

to go. Because things

6:23

are just going to look better. If you do this,

6:25

their images are going to turn out better. They're going to be more stoked.

6:28

If it's a boring trail, it's honestly not that great

6:30

of a hike. They're not going to enjoy it as much. The photos aren't gonna

6:32

look as good. So give them better options

6:34

and there'll be happier with it. And this is one of the other

6:36

big differences between working with a family or a weekend

6:38

warrior versus working with a professional athlete.

6:41

Typically that pro-athlete has picked that line

6:44

area, ski run, whatever it is for

6:46

a reason, they're looking to be the first person to do something

6:48

or to challenge something that somebody else has done and do it faster.

6:51

There's typically a reason that athlete is looking

6:53

for that specific spot. But

6:55

if you're doing adventure porch with someone they're looking for

6:57

cooler venture, but also pretty photos. See

7:00

what offer them some better suggestions and ones that will turn out

7:02

photogenic. Better for you and

7:04

for them, and everyone will just be much happier

7:06

about it. Now you've gotten a hold

7:08

of them. You've talked to them about their adventure. You've understood

7:10

what they want to do. You've kind of taken

7:13

all these steps to be aware of. Everyone's signed

7:15

up that's critical. Step one. Get

7:17

that locked in because you need to know if you can

7:19

do the work for these people and

7:21

honestly, the adventure you're going on and the work you have to put

7:24

into it and prepare. All those pieces

7:26

will also work into your price. So

7:28

figure out these details before you start

7:31

quoting a price to somebody. You should obviously

7:33

have a starting price for adventures that are somebody

7:35

who wants to go on an easy adventure where you hike

7:37

around the lake shore or do have an easy to go longer. Hypo

7:40

hike. A couple mountain or something like that. The really

7:42

easy, basic things you should have the app be your

7:44

baseline price. And then from

7:46

there, you need to decide how much more effort

7:48

you were putting into the shoot and then change your price

7:51

accordingly to what amount of effort you were putting in.

7:53

So if it's a multi-day backpacking expedition,

7:56

you're working basically 24 hours a day. You're

7:58

shooting while they hike you're shooting. While they're putting camp

8:00

together, you're shooting night photos

8:02

of their camp sitting under the stars. Your.

8:05

Up before them in the morning. So you have photos of

8:07

them as they're making breakfast, you're doing

8:09

a lot. And you've still got

8:11

to make your own food. Get your own tent

8:13

set up. Make sure you still get enough sleep. Get

8:16

everything else done. So if you're in a multi-day

8:18

shoot, Our multi-day expedition.

8:20

You're going to be doing a ton

8:22

of extra work than if it's just a couple of hours around the lake

8:24

shore. Now, even if you're out for 12

8:26

hours in the mountains and you're doing something that's dangerous,

8:29

you still got to prep a little bit more gear. It's

8:31

still be a little bit more prepared. That's still

8:33

a lot more work than two hours around the lake

8:35

shore. Go and get that worked

8:37

into your pricing as well. Now

8:40

talk price, lock that in figure out a comfortable

8:42

spot for everybody. And if you still wanna move forward.

8:45

Happy you've got your first adventure, a couple

8:47

of workout. And now we can get into the fun

8:49

part because let's be honest. That

8:51

other bits, not the fun part. It's super important

8:53

to get all those dates and the logistics stuck aside.

8:56

But now we can get into the better pieces.

8:59

And it's time to start working on your mood board

9:01

or a style board, but I prefer to call them mood boards

9:03

because I don't see them as just the styling for the shoot.

9:05

I see them as how you want the shoot to feel.

9:07

So obviously you're going to have your photographic style that

9:09

you like to work with, whether it's moody, light,

9:12

airy, vibrant, whatever, you're going to have a style

9:14

that works for you and the people that are hiring

9:16

you because they like that style. So keep

9:18

that style there for sure. But you

9:20

need to build this mood board out for the chute to understand

9:23

how they want to look and feel

9:25

during your photo shoot. So

9:27

mood boards should include some example, poses,

9:29

some outfits and some ideas for what they should wear

9:32

and what they should bring with them. Potential expressions and feelings

9:34

you want to express. Because your

9:36

style while it should still be there, it should also be

9:38

able to be expressed across an emotional

9:40

spectrum. So whether somebody

9:42

is happy or sad or exuberant or

9:45

non-committal or anything. Your style

9:47

should work, but it should be able to be expressed

9:49

across an emotional realm. Nope.

9:52

Start by building your mood board based off of your

9:54

previous conversations with your subjects. But

9:56

once you have something built out, send it off to them, talk

9:58

with them about it and make sure that they are happy

10:00

with the direction this is going in. This is your

10:02

collaboration space. This is making sure

10:05

that what you envisioned for their shoot is

10:07

what they envisioned for their shoot. And you are connected

10:09

before you ever even get on the trail.

10:12

So when you're doing portraits with somebody typically,

10:15

it's great. Like, they want to look good in

10:17

their portraits and they might have. Slightly

10:19

different changes in expression and things, but really the

10:21

ideas make you look really, really good.

10:23

But when you're working with an athlete, they might want something

10:26

very specific and a little different. They might

10:28

not want to look incredibly pretty during the shoot or

10:30

incredibly handsome or whatever they might want to look

10:32

like they're working hard and there's chalk on their face. And.

10:35

All those sorts of things or conversely, they want to

10:37

look amazing and perfect. Well,

10:39

they're out rock climbing and they don't want

10:41

any of that chalk on their face. Who knows? So

10:43

you need to talk to your subject. Figure

10:46

it out and put your mood board together based on

10:48

that. Now I've had a couple of

10:50

mood, board programs, specific ones that are

10:52

made for mood boards. But if you don't have anything

10:54

like that and you don't want to pay for anything like that,

10:56

Pinterest works incredibly well for building a

10:58

mood boards. It's a great resource. You can pin basically

11:00

anything onto those boards and it's free and pretty

11:02

much anyone can access it. So. If

11:05

you're just starting out, you just starting to build a mood boards

11:07

and figured out I'd suggest just starting out with

11:09

Pinterest. You can also build out a Google doc with

11:11

screenshots and formatting and

11:13

all those other things. But I find Pinterest just to be simpler

11:15

and cleaner, to organize. All

11:17

right. That's your mood board. And you're going to keep

11:19

refining the mood board as you go along. So once you

11:22

build it once. It's not done. I want you to keep thinking

11:24

about it and building it and processing little

11:26

pieces and adding little things. You find new poses

11:28

and think about stuff. So keep building upon

11:30

it. This isn't just set and over with. So,

11:33

but your mood board it's built, it's going to

11:36

move on to the next phase. Location scouting and

11:38

thinking about location scouting. So

11:40

location scouting is precisely what it sounds like

11:42

it's going out and it's scouting. your location

11:44

so that, you know, the shape that it's in, the

11:46

condition that it's in, in the viewpoints that are out there for you to

11:49

work with. So I know a

11:51

lot of the trails in this area, especially

11:53

a lot of the classic trails, but I couldn't

11:55

tell you off the top of my head exactly where I want

11:57

to stop for each type of photo and where certain

11:59

pieces will look good. And where I want subjects to walk into

12:01

images and stand. And it could depend

12:03

on what type of images I'm going to take. So I

12:05

like to go back and re scout

12:07

a location. With my

12:10

new photo-shoot in mind with how I am thinking

12:12

about this new photo shoot. Because

12:14

it really does depend on what activity that they're

12:16

doing, what activity we're doing together. So,

12:19

and then while I'm out doing this location scouting, I will

12:21

go off and mark off points either on a map or

12:23

on Google maps or anywhere they

12:25

might have access to it while we're actually out in the field.

12:28

So I am not constantly guessing

12:30

about where I need to stop for my next shoot. So

12:33

this takes a lot of that extra brain power out of going like, Ooh,

12:35

I think it's up here. Oh, I think it's up here. Ooh. It's

12:37

around that next corner. It takes that guessing out around

12:39

what's coming next. And if you take that extra work

12:41

out of your head, you'll have a lot more room for creativity. So

12:44

go on a Prisco walk the area, make

12:46

sure it's in good shape. Because location's

12:48

coding. Isn't just critical for looking for viewpoints. Like

12:50

we just talked about. But you can also

12:53

find things about potential hazards and dangers.

12:56

So if a tree has fallen on the trail and you're working with someone

12:58

who might not be able to get up and over that tree type

13:00

trail may not work for you. If you don't encounter

13:02

that until the day of, and you do

13:05

beforehand, you can ruin your subject's

13:07

day. And all of a sudden you have to do another photo shoot and

13:09

you have to figure out where you're going. So go

13:11

out, look for these potential hazards as well. Now

13:15

if you have the time scout, a second

13:17

or third location as well, if you don't have the time

13:19

for that, at least look around for a second

13:21

or third location. Because it's

13:23

great to have a backup plan. Because

13:26

who knows, you might show up at the trail head and there's been

13:28

a bear sighting, so you can't go on it or

13:30

it's unsafe for another reason, or it gets closed

13:32

because part of the trail washed out or the parking lot's full,

13:35

who knows there are any number of reasons that you might not

13:37

be able to get onto whatever trail you were looking at working

13:39

on that day. And you need to be able

13:41

to right away tell that person

13:43

that you're working with. Hey, this didn't work.

13:45

This is why we can't be here, but there's a

13:47

trail five minutes down the road. It's very similar to scuff

13:49

use like this. Let's do this one to sit, or we can

13:51

do this one or this one, and you can offer them a plethora

13:54

of other options. Right away. So the

13:56

day doesn't start going downhill really quickly.

13:58

All right now you want to build in your

14:00

backup plans. So think

14:03

about, can this shoot and will the shoot happen

14:05

regardless of the weather, unless there's severe

14:07

thunderstorms, massive blizzard, whatever, whatever

14:09

extreme weather might hit you. Is this

14:11

happening, even if it's raining and snowing. Is

14:14

there anything that's odd or does it have to be crystal

14:16

blue skies for what you're looking for? What will that

14:18

mood entail and what will you still go out and achieve

14:20

in that activity? If the weather isn't

14:23

ideal. I know I've done shoots where

14:25

we've had to go back and reproduce images because we shot

14:27

them on a gray day. And they just don't

14:29

work. So we were looking for fun, sunny

14:31

biking. And it was gray. It was slightly rainy

14:33

earlier. So the ground's a little wet and they didn't feel like fun

14:35

in the same kind of images. So we needed

14:38

to go back and reshoot them. So

14:40

what's your backup plan and what does that backup plan look

14:42

like? What's your cutoff time for deciding on if the shoot goes

14:44

ahead, what's your deciding time to turn around

14:46

when the weather turns bad. All those sorts of factors

14:48

that come into deciding if the shoot is actually going to happen.

14:51

And then what do you do if the chute doesn't happen?

14:54

Do you have weather windows? Are you able

14:56

to reschedule? Do you have indoor

14:58

locations figured out. If I'm

15:00

shooting an adventure moment, I like to have a window of two

15:02

days after the day they want to do it on.

15:05

So it's a three-day window. They have their first day and then

15:07

two backup days. Now, if

15:09

these are critical images, they need to look a certain

15:11

way and feel a certain way. And we can't do

15:13

them on the day of for whatever reason.

15:15

Then we have two other days to make it happen. Now,

15:18

this has to be worked on in conjunction with your subject

15:20

and what the people that are hiring you to produce the shoot, but make

15:22

sure that you talk to them about this. Make sure

15:24

you put a plan into place. Around, what's

15:26

going to happen on that day. If the weather's not

15:29

ideal. On this planning note, also

15:31

make sure that you have a plan for emergency communications.

15:34

So if someone gets hurt, how are you going to get them out?

15:36

If you need to call in a helicopter, how are you going to do

15:38

that? Do you have a satellite communications device? Are you the

15:40

only one who knows how to use that device to someone else

15:43

have to get trained up on it? Just ensure that there are

15:45

multiple backups in place. You know how to get people

15:47

out safely and then make sure that you

15:49

have a good well-stocked med kit with you. And

15:51

we're not just talking band-aids and some mole skin.

15:54

Talking like, you know how to brace things like a broken

15:56

leg. And you know how to

15:59

put somebody together and be able to carry them out safely,

16:01

if you need to do that. And thankfully, I've

16:03

never had to do anything like that.

16:06

But my med kit is prepared

16:08

for us to have to stay out over night somewhere if that's

16:10

a necessity, because things like this

16:12

happened in the mountains, we don't want them to. But

16:14

we want to be able to survive it. If it does happen. So

16:17

take that into account as well with your planning, what type

16:19

of medical needs are you going to meet out there? What is the

16:21

risk of injury and what type of injuries are you actually more

16:23

likely to encounter while you're doing this activity?

16:26

All right. Now it's time to build

16:28

it. One of the most critical pieces of your production, which

16:30

is your shot list. So your shortlist is

16:33

critical so that you're not forgetting anything on

16:35

the day of the shoot. So in

16:37

the excitement of shooting, things can kind of just go over

16:39

your head and having something that you can turn back

16:41

to and make sure you are getting what you need. Can

16:43

really help calm and center the day.

16:46

So this is the list of images you have to produce during

16:48

the shoot for it to be successful. Now that can be prior

16:50

to you by the client. But it's something

16:53

you should also be looking at and deciding on as a creative

16:55

as well. And then giving it and showing

16:57

it off to the person who was hired. You. Because

17:00

they've hired you for your creative input, they've hired you

17:02

because you know what you're doing. And so providing

17:04

them with insights into that is, is

17:06

an important part of doing your job properly. Now

17:09

there are a large number of ways to build shot lists.

17:11

I like to have my built in a particular way, find

17:13

out what works for you. But the way I like to build

17:15

mine is based on times of where we are during the production.

17:18

So what I mean by that is. Let's take hiking

17:20

for an example, if I'm doing some hiking photos for

17:22

a couple, we don't want to just

17:24

think about them at the top of that viewpoint, that big

17:26

critical end point. Of course we want photos there.

17:29

But that's not part of the whole journey and part of the whole story

17:31

that we're going on together. Maybe

17:33

we want to get photos of them sitting

17:35

together while they're getting their hiking boots on. Maybe we want them

17:38

sitting in the car and having coffee, or maybe sitting on the trunk

17:40

and having coffee. What are those

17:42

other images? That we need to get

17:44

to tell the full story of that hike. Maybe there's

17:46

the getting ready images and there's the

17:48

hiking on the trail images and there's viewpoint one viewpoint

17:50

two. And then the top of the hike. What are

17:52

those kinds of points to put those down in your shot list

17:55

ahead. And then what happens when we get out onto that

17:57

hike and we're headed up and we're heading to viewpoint

17:59

one. So, what are we shooting

18:01

in that first? Say kilometer two kilometers. However

18:04

you want to divvy out the timeline for those hikes. And

18:07

then when you are on those moments of the trail,

18:09

you're heading towards viewpoint one, or you're heading towards

18:11

kilometer two kilometer three, however, you've divvied it out. What

18:13

shots are you looking for in those locations? This

18:15

is where your Prescale comes in handy, where

18:17

you can be walking down. You know that at

18:20

kilometer two on the trail, there's this

18:22

viewpoint and you want them standing there in a specific

18:24

pose because the mountain frames, a perfect

18:26

triangle above their heads. Or,

18:28

you know that at this point on the trail,

18:31

it's a perfectly straight shot with a little bounce

18:33

into the background. And you just want to photo them walking

18:35

ahead of you on the trail. You'll know

18:37

that because you've done your pre-school and then you'll know

18:39

that you want to do that because you've worked it into your shot list.

18:41

And as you stop at each viewpoint, You can stop

18:43

and review and be like, yeah, we got that yet. We got that

18:46

yet. We're telling the story that we need to tell, to be able

18:48

to build towards the climactic viewpoint

18:50

at the end. Now what this

18:52

really does is it saves you basically playing

18:55

around in the field and not being sure what will work

18:57

and what won't work. And. Kind of feeling

18:59

some things flow through you now it gives you a really

19:01

solid foundation for creating images.

19:03

Of course leave some room for creativity and being able to produce

19:05

something spontaneously, but it's important for you to have

19:08

these critical shots in mind. Because

19:10

this is also going to stop you from repeating images.

19:13

Let's say that there's three viewpoints on this hike and at each viewpoint

19:15

you do the same five poses because those are the ones

19:17

that are in your head and you're exhausted from hiking. You don't really

19:19

know what else to do. And all of a sudden you get

19:21

back and you're looking in front of your computer and you realize

19:24

you've only given them five images. Yes. The background

19:26

is different. But really the

19:28

photos aren't that different cause you post them in the exact

19:30

same way, just with a different background. So

19:33

this should help prevent that from happening because

19:35

you are setting up specific shots in each location.

19:38

So you should at least have some good things

19:40

to give to this couple. Now, the other

19:42

thing this is gonna do is it's gonna help you stay on time and

19:44

on track, which is critical. During

19:46

these moments, you'll find, you know, shooting

19:48

on a lake shore shooting somewhere where you're really close

19:50

to your critical viewpoint. It's not really

19:53

too bad. If you spend a little bit of extra time

19:55

in one spot, taking some photos. But

19:58

on a hike. If you've set aside about

20:00

six hours on a hike that, you know, should normally only

20:02

take four, that gives you two hours for stopping and taking photos,

20:04

getting food and water, all those other break pieces

20:07

that you need. You don't want to suddenly realize

20:09

that you got to viewpoint one and you've been there for an hour.

20:11

And that was because you were trying all these different poses and

20:13

you're seeing how all these things feel and all these different

20:16

pieces kind of mold together. And

20:18

all of a sudden you've been there an hour and. You

20:21

weren't ready to move on. Now, if you have your shortlist

20:23

figured out for that location, you should know.

20:25

I can move through these shots. It's going to take me 20 minutes

20:27

to move through these. We're going to feel around. They can slick five,

20:30

10 minute buffer window to just kind of screw around and have a little

20:32

fun and creativity. Now we're done. I

20:34

guess you want to take advantage of those critical

20:36

viewpoints, but. Let's say you're hiking

20:38

up somewhere and you've spent that hour at that first viewpoint.

20:41

And all of a sudden you're looking up in the lake was beautiful.

20:43

And then it's like, oh no, since it's happening.

20:46

And you're an hour away from the critical viewpoint

20:48

for your hour away from the top. And it was because

20:50

you weren't prepared enough and you didn't have your shot list

20:52

in mind. And you weren't keeping that on track

20:54

as you were going. So prep your shot

20:56

list, especially if you're working with a couple or if you're working

20:58

with a family. They really need

21:00

to be kept on track as you're doing this, they're relying

21:02

on you to guide them through this experience. So.

21:05

Keeps them on track. Keep that Charlotte's going and make

21:07

sure you get to that top critical viewpoint. And

21:09

you aren't suddenly getting off track with all of these other

21:12

beautiful, spectacular spots. All

21:14

right. Now, the last thing that you really

21:16

want to work out with your models is. To

21:19

have one last conversation with their subjects

21:21

and make sure that they are on board with everything they have, their words

21:23

are figured out. They've got good examples

21:25

for the poses and they're happy with them. They've

21:27

got examples of the type of shots and the mood board is on track.

21:29

Everything is just feeling right and ready, and

21:31

they're good to go for the adventure. Now this should

21:33

be done a few days before just in case stuff really

21:36

has to change. But make sure

21:38

to reconnect with them and make sure everything is on track.

21:40

And then you also want to confirm your timeline.

21:43

I know we haven't talked about this just yet, but make

21:45

sure that everybody agrees on what time you're meeting

21:47

up in the parking lot, what time the

21:49

sunset is and what time you need photos up there and make

21:52

sure everybody is in total agreement of the

21:54

timeline for things, especially if you're doing something

21:56

like on a lope mint image,

21:58

they might have idea of, they need to read.

22:01

Vows to each other at the top or something that you didn't

22:03

take into account because you were just going to photos the whole time.

22:05

And all of a sudden there's an extra 45 minutes that has to

22:07

be taken to account to the topper or something

22:10

like that. So get that timeline figured out

22:12

and make sure that everybody's in agreement on it. And

22:15

remember when you're building out this timeline, there

22:17

needs to be some extra little buffer time. So

22:19

I've come to realize on a lot of the productions that I do that

22:22

we almost always need another 15

22:24

to 20 minutes longer at each location than I originally

22:26

think we will. And that's partly so we can

22:29

change wardrobe when we can mess around and people can have a

22:31

little bit of a breather. And so we can have a little

22:33

bit more creativity worked in. So if

22:35

I think something's going to take an hour to produce, then

22:37

I'll typically give us an hour and 20 minutes in

22:39

that location. And there's nothing wrong with giving

22:41

yourself a little extra time. Yes, it means

22:43

you're probably going to be out on the trail a little longer. Yes.

22:46

It means that they're going to be out on the trail a little longer with you.

22:48

But what that also means is that you can move a little slower.

22:51

You aren't rushing through poses. You have a chance to inspire

22:53

some creativity. People can actually stop

22:55

to take in the views and have some

22:57

water and have some food breaks. And

23:00

if you happen to get to that climactic final viewpoint

23:02

an hour before sunset or an hour before sunrise

23:04

or whatever your timeline is, that's

23:06

fine. There's nothing wrong with being

23:08

there early. The problem comes

23:10

when you get there late. So

23:12

when you're building out your timeline, give yourself some extra buffer

23:14

zones and make sure that you're going to hit that

23:16

critical moment. When it actually

23:19

happens. All right. I'm not going to talk

23:21

much about gear in here primarily because that's going to

23:23

change dramatically based on your style, what you're doing,

23:25

the activity you're doing. Everything, but

23:27

I will say that around the gear, make

23:29

sure that you have everything charged

23:31

up, make sure everything is cleaned and ready to go

23:33

before you get on the trail. And

23:36

that goes for your adventure equipment as well. So,

23:38

if you're going to be going on a biking trip with your subjects,

23:41

make sure your bike is tuned to make sure your chain is cleaned

23:43

and ready to go. Make sure your brakes and everything else are working.

23:46

Make sure that you're not running around the morning of trying to find your helmet

23:48

and your bike later. Any of those other things. Because

23:50

it's critical to not just have a working camera, obviously

23:52

that's critical, but it's also critical that you can actually be a

23:54

part of the activity. And you're not the

23:57

weak chain in this kind of sense where

23:59

it's your bike. That's falling apart where it's,

24:01

you, that's having an issue because you don't want

24:03

to impede on their adventure while you're out there doing it

24:05

because you are an athlete in this situation,

24:08

you are doing these things. See

24:10

if you're going rock climbing with them. You also need to have all

24:12

of your rock climbing gear and all of your camera gear. And

24:15

honestly, All of your stuff as a producer.

24:18

So that make it maybe some extra food,

24:20

a little bit of extra water. These are all the pieces that go into

24:22

this as well. So you're not just wearing one hat

24:24

when you're doing this as a photographer, you're wearing two,

24:26

sometimes three, because you're the photographer, you're

24:28

an athlete and you're helping produce these

24:31

images. So you need to

24:33

make sure that you are really prepared. Now

24:35

I have a terrible memory. And I need to have

24:37

everything laid out directly in front of me

24:39

so I can see it all before I put it into a backpack.

24:42

And I've created little checklists just to make

24:44

sure that I know depending on the type of shoot that I'm going

24:46

on, that I have everything that I need. All

24:48

right. And the last thing that I'm going to talk about quickly here is

24:50

just that when you were there on the day of the

24:52

shoot and you're getting ready, make sure you arrive

24:55

early. You want to be in that

24:57

parking lot? But for your

24:59

subject. So, if you know that

25:01

it's going to take you 40 minutes to get to that Trailhead, to give

25:03

yourself 60 minutes to get there. And

25:06

if you're waiting around for 10 minutes, that's

25:08

totally fine. Go over your shot

25:10

list to make sure your gear is all good and ready to go and

25:12

make sure everything's packed. I honestly like to have

25:15

about a 20 minute window because it means that I have

25:17

all my gear ready to go when my subject

25:19

arrives. I don't have to worry about trying to find

25:21

things or how things down or make sure everything's good to go.

25:24

Well, I am also trying to talk to them

25:26

about how they're doing and what's going on and maybe

25:28

getting some photos while they're trying to tie on their shoes

25:30

or getting their coffee or doing anything

25:33

else. And it also means that I'm not delaying the production

25:35

because I'm ready when they get there.

25:37

So I'm ready to start work as soon as they show up.

25:40

And that typically means an extra 20 to 30

25:42

minutes before they get there. All

25:44

right. And that's it. That's all the advice I

25:47

have for you for preparing for your first adventure

25:49

shoot. Like this. I get that. This

25:51

can be super intimidating. It's super terrifying,

25:53

especially depending on the activity that you're participating

25:56

in and what it is that you're up to and all those

25:58

kinds of things. This can be really, really intimidating.

26:01

But these kind of shoots don't have to be.

26:03

If you're a good photographer and you're good at the sport

26:05

you're doing, then you know what

26:08

you're doing? Just take a deep breath, relax

26:11

and enjoy it because somebody is paying you to

26:13

do a sport that you love to be out

26:15

doing something in something beautiful. And

26:18

you get to be there with your camera. So

26:20

because they've hired you and obviously

26:23

they want you to be there. Obviously they love

26:25

the work that you're doing and they want you to have some fun with it.

26:27

So enjoy the moment, enjoy the adventure while you're on

26:29

it. And just do your best.

26:31

That's all anyone can ever ask for in these situations.

26:34

Oh, and make sure that you keep safety, paramount

26:37

front and center in front of everything. All

26:39

right. Thank you so much. If you have any questions

26:41

or thoughts. Or other pieces that you'd like to add

26:43

to this list? Let me know. I would love to hear

26:45

what other people do when they start these kinds of intersections

26:48

as well. I know this advice is super generic,

26:50

but it's really hard to nail down really specific advice

26:52

unless you know, the exact situation that you're working in,

26:55

and this is going to be much more comfortable as you go

26:57

along and you do more of these productions. So. The

26:59

first one's going to be really, really scary. The second one's

27:01

going to be really scary. The surgeon's going to be. Fairly

27:03

scary. And it's just going to keep getting better and easier.

27:06

The more you do it. So put yourself out there.

27:08

Participate go have fun. And

27:11

yeah. Thank you so much for being here. If you

27:13

do have any feedback for me, find me on Instagram or a

27:15

massive photography. Find me online at Ron Massey photography

27:17

dossier. And thank you so much for

27:19

being here and for taking some of your valuable time to listen.

27:22

Bye for now.