As an especially lazy particular person, my favourite shoot location is my kitchen. Clients journey to me, and all I’ve to do is transfer from my mattress to the eating desk, the place there’s most pure mild. But I reside out in London’s Zone 3, and generally my purchasers are equally lazy (or simply have hectic lives) and wish to keep in Zone 1. So, as a compromise, I shoot in a espresso store in Central London – a big and busy department of LEON within the Brunswick Centre, Russell Square.
It may be most photographers’ thought of hell. It’s noisy, with the espresso machines grinding and whirring, and clients and workers shouting over the din. It has a ton of individuals strolling round within the background. I haven’t got permission to shoot there. I’ve by no means requested for it, as a result of why ask when the reply may be a no?
Then once more, how many individuals do you see asking for permission once they use the best camera phones to take photos?
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The coffee shop is a refuge away from the wind and rain, which there is a lot of in the UK, especially in the autumn and winter months. It has great natural light from two whole sides of large windows. Conveniently, it also has a toilet where my clients can change their outfits, so all the photos from their shoot won’t look the same.
When they arrive, I always buy them a drink so they can chill out before I start snapping away. As they sip their hot beverage of choice, I ask what they’re hoping to achieve from the shoot – what vibe do they want? What will they use the photos for?
I also ask about their work and we have a good chat about nothing and everything. If they feel comfortable with me, they’ll look more natural in the pics.
When I begin to direct my client into poses, the noise and busyness of the coffee shop actually works in our favour, because there are so many people that nobody’s paying attention to them. And if the staff have ever spotted me taking pictures, they can’t care much, as they’ve never stopped me. Perhaps it would be different if I’d just snuck in and started shooting without buying anything, but I’m a paying customer.
Sure, there are random people in the background of my shots, but I use an aperture of around f/1.8 – f/2.4, so they blur into insignificance – and I can always remove them in Photoshop using the AI Remove tool. I have been asked to remove the LEON sign before, which is fair enough; not everyone wants to advertise a coffee shop in their LinkedIn profile picture!
I’m profoundly grateful to LEON for turning a blind eye to my trade. It’s my new favorite coffee shop, and that fact has nothing to do with the drinks, and everything with not having to pay to hire a studio. Plus, it’s a more natural and less sterile environment – so what’s not to love?