Scouting locations, for me, doesn’t always look like intentionally going somewhere, walking around, and deciding, “This is where I want to shoot.”
Most of the time, it happens during everyday life.
I could be riding my bike, walking with my kids, out running errands, or even photographing another session when something catches my eye. I’ve gotten into the habit of documenting those moments with my phone or my Meta glasses because I’m always looking—even when I’m already creating.
Sometimes it’s the light.
Sometimes it’s a wall, a walkway, a patch of greenery, a staircase, or an entire environment that makes me stop and think, I could create something here. There usually isn’t a client attached to the idea yet. There isn’t necessarily a session planned. I just see the possibility before anything has actually happened.So I take the picture.
And that location becomes almost like a visual memory that I can return to later.
What I find interesting is that eventually a story begins to develop around it. Once I’m working with a client and learning what they want their session to feel like or what they want their photographs to say, pieces start coming together. Then I remember that place. Hmm… I think I know a spot.
That’s when my original vision, the location, and the client’s own personality and ideas begin to meet somewhere in the middle. It becomes collaborative. The place I noticed weeks or even months earlier suddenly makes sense for someone. Because of that, scouting has become less of something I schedule and more of something I’ve incorporated into the way I move through everyday life. I’m documenting more. Taking more photographs. Capturing more video. Paying closer attention to my surroundings and being intentional about remembering what inspires me.
Photography has made me look at ordinary places differently. A location doesn’t have to be obvious or traditionally beautiful for me to see something in it. Sometimes I’m scouting without even realizing I’m scouting.
I’m simply paying attention. And somewhere between seeing the location, remembering it, meeting the right person, and developing the vision, a photograph that didn’t exist before begins to take shape. For me, scouting isn’t just about finding a place to take pictures.
It’s about seeing the possibility before the story even begins. 💜🌺📸
