There are multiple elements that have to fall into place for a successful shoot: the model/s, hair, makeup, wardrobe, concept development, lighting, assistants, preshoot coordination between all these elements, and (what’s the number one rule of real estate?) LOCATION!
Scouting places to shoot is half the battle but so much fun. This location we used for Revival Magazine’s spread “White Hot”. We needed a space thats was dark, dirty, and offered an industrial character to contrast with our wardrobe crew’s clean, white ensembles. We found the perfect place right on campus- Iowa State University’s coal fired power plant. Never before had a photo shoot taken place in this space and we were excited to be the ground breakers. Keeping in mind we were shooting in a fully operational industrial building responsible for supplying campus with all its power and heat through steam tunnels, we organized a careful schedule that would make our presence as little obtrusive as possible. Oh, did I mention it was about 102 degrees in there thanks to the massive energy generating furnaces (White HOT, indeed).
Moral of the story – get creative and find one of a kind spots to make photos (and hope your team is adventurous too).