Yesterday I had a request for an “emergency” shoot that needed to be done right away, before the client got on a plane to NY. We all like to have our ducks in a row with plenty of time to set up locations and get your wits wrapped around the shoot. But there just wasn’t time for that and with my spirit of adventure always winning out, “I said ok, meet me at _______.” Well, that location turned out to actually be unavailable, so with the light fading rapidly, we got in my Land Rover (with client’s wardrobe slung in) and headed off where I thought we’d have good late afternoon light and an interesting backdrop.
As I came around the corner, there was the best display of fall colors that we could have asked for (at least in this part of California). I pulled over and we found amazing contrasts of leaves: yellow-orange-red, but what was really interesting was the raised railroad track, with trains flashing by.
The client had said something about liking motion, and that triggered me to figure out how to get him up on the embankment with the zoooom-blur of the train behind him. This worked. What also worked were the clouds behind him with the sun setting. Dang, I couldn’t have planned it better—but that’s what really made this work—it wasn’t planned, and it had to work.
So folks, sometimes it great to have a deadline, impossible conditions with the light fading, and trains as your backdrop.
Plan to unplan and surprise yourself.