How To Plan A Photoshoot Whilst Travelling

Whenever I travel to a new spot, I’m always eager to do a photoshoot. I’m in a new, beautiful location, feeling inspired and I always want to capture it and take it home! However planning a shoot in a place where you don’t know anyone can be really tricky… and I’ll admit that it’s stopped me from shooting in many places, just because I felt too shy or scared to try!

I’m getting better though, and as I type this, I’m in Ibiza, with a photoshoot planned for tomorrow evening. There are little butterflies in my tummy, because I don’t feel as settled here as I normally do. I don’t know my model, and although I’ve been coming to this island my whole life, the locations still feel a bit unfamiliar. All the same, I’ve done it! I’ve got a model, I’ve got some clothes borrowed from a local shop, and I’ve got a location sorted.

So how can you plan a shoot when you’re travelling? Let’s break it down.

Do Your Research Up Front:

About two weeks before I left for Ibiza, I began to research what I wanted to do. I put a moodboard together, began to contact some models, and a few make up artists. The more you get done in advance, the easier it will be for you once you arrive.

Get Clever:

How Can You Use This To Your Advantage: Knowing I was going to be in Ibiza, I contacted a brand that I’d been building a relationship with, and asked them if they wanted me to take any pieces from their new collection out with me to shoot. They said yes! This is a great opportunity for me to show a brand that I’d love to work with what I can do for them. If you’d like to learn how to pitch to brands and do something similar, enrolment for my“Pitching With Confidence” course (http://oliviabossertphotography.teachable.com/p/pitching-with-confidence) closes next Saturday!

Find A Model:

Finding a model in a new location has never been easier, thanks to the wonder that is Instagram! When I was heading over here, I began to search through various hashtags like #ibizamodel and look through the profiles of the girls who modelled here. Some are agency signed, some are just girls who do it for fun. In this instance, I’ve chosen someone who just does it for fun, and I can’t wait to see what we create!

If you wanted to, you could absolutely contact any local model agencies, and I would have done that if I hadn’t found a girl through Instagram so quickly.

Don’t discount Facebook groups either, as there are groups for models all around the world these days.

Do you need Hair And Make Up?

When I travel, at the moment I’ve only shot without a make up artist and hair stylist, purely because I’ve been on holiday each time, and with my family, so I’ve kept my shoots very minimal. However, there are always make up artist and hair stylists wherever you go, so I recommend looking on Instagram, Facebook or a quick Google search for them.

Find A Location:

Location scouting tends to be something I do at the last minute, but it doesn’t have to be! If you know you won’t have a lot of time somewhere, you can find incredible locations via Instagram location searches, or Google searches too.

I’d definitely recommend going to a location before your shoot though. Never leave it to chance or base an entire shoot off of just a photo you’ve seen online. You don’t know for sure that it looks like that, or it may have changed since a photo was taken! Head to your location, take a look at it and see what it’s like so that when you get to shooting, you know what you need to do, and what to expect.

Shoot!

After all of that planning, just enjoy yourself! Get creative and have loads of fun :)