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5 location ideas to inspire your next outdoor portrait shoot

Feb 15, 2023 by Alex Baker Leave a Comment

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If you’ve been shooting for a while, sometimes it’s easy to get a little bit bored with your local surroundings, especially if you’re stuck in an urban area. You’ve shot in the big park countless times, you’ve used the fountains in the square, the old railway station…yep, you’re out of new ideas, and worse, your images are all beginning to look the same.

But don’t worry. In a bustling city, there are countless locations that can serve as great backdrops for portraits. In this video, Justin Laurens gives you a few ideas that perhaps you haven’t already thought of.

First up is, well, parks and botanical gardens. That doesn’t take a big leap of the imagination. However, Justin does have some decent tips for using different lighting and incorporating the dappled shade to create some nice effects. He also mentions revisiting the same places at different times of the year. Autumn will always look radically different from spring, for example.

The next type of location is creating edgy backdrops to your images with urban gritty locations. Tunnels, underpasses, bridges…these can all add an interesting mood to your photographs.

If you’re lucky enough to be in Europe, then simply heading to the old historical districts will land you with narrow cobbled streets to shoot in. You really can’t possibly go wrong!

Other ideas include museums and landmarks, rooftops and elevated views, and tourist sights. Really, there are lots of options. It’s well worth watching the video to get more ideas if you’re feeling uninspired.

What are your favorite locations for shooting urban portraits?

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Looking for a good place to shoot? Try these 9 photography location ideas How to shoot portraits on location with outdoor flash Get amazing outdoor location portraits by mixing ambient light with your flash Here are four ways to find perfect location for your next shoot

Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: location scouting, outdoor portraits, portrait photography

About Alex Baker

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

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Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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