Finding Locations
Well, finding new locations to shoot at is exciting— Its like a kid discovering a new playground and also getting an ice cream cone after. I’ll be driving around in my car and see a spot, light up with immense excitement, and start running all photoshoot ideas through my head immediately. I will remember the closest intersection to the location and write it down as soon as I can. PS— I have a few of those spots in mind but I am waiting for you to book your shoot 😉
Of course when I moved here I had no idea where to shoot. But as a model and photographer working with other fantastic creatives all across the GTA, I learned about some of the classic locations. In summer 2020, I spent a lot of time in downtown Toronto. I would walk the streets and see buildings or landmarks where I was automatically thinking “This would be an awesome place to shoot”.
There are different ways you can go about finding a spot to shoot. You can pick some spot that has an appeal to it (like a specific landmark/building) and walk around within proximity to it and shoot wherever you feel inspired. Or you can also follow other models and photographers and ask about the locations they shoot their images at. That’s a great way to find locations to shoot and build your network.
I believe the creative community should be welcoming and helpful to each other, allowing each other to share locations. We can all shoot in the same location, but all have different creative concepts to execute. Sadly though, not everyone enjoys you using locations that they show you. One time when I was first beginning, I modelled for a photographer at a beach. Later I had this amazing idea to execute and knew that specific beach would be the perfect location. In the end, the photographer was very upset with me when I did not tag them in my post giving them credit for the location. (I promise if you want to know a location I shoot at, I will let you know—no rivalry here).
Sometimes I just want to jump in my car and drives streets of Toronto (and all the GTA) to scout new and unique locations—I land I plan to do it over the next month 😍