Dream Locations
It’s time to start making your vision come to life by researching logistics and locations to find out what’s possible (an experienced photographer, travel guide/agent, or planner can help immensely with this). This will allow you to start nailing down the details:
Your goal with this research is to make your dream photo shoot vision a reality in the best way possible.
Indoor locations
If you love making pancakes or pizza together, snuggling your pups on the couch, eating breakfast in bed, watching The Office for the 17th time on Netflix in your sweats — maybe an in-home session is right for you? There’s nothing better than being in comfy clothes and cuddling together. If you’re thinking, “but my home isn’t photo friendly”, we can rent a rad Airbnb that fits your style, and I’ll help you to find one that’s best for photos. Below I’ve linked a list of some of my favorite Airbnbs in Austin, take a look and see if anything stands out!
Make it a staycation
Sometimes hotels can be a whole VIBE. If the Airbnb idea doesn’t fit your style, a hotel can be a super romantic solution, and Texas has some really great ones! Some hotels have awful lighting and decorations, however, there are some modern boutique hotels that are tastfully decorated and have proper lighting. Some of my favorite hotels in the Texas are:
Pro Tips
White or light colored walls and lots of windows for natural light helps a ton for great photos!
Lighting is so important when it comes to photography. It can really make the difference between a good photo and a GREAT photo! If it’s too dark inside, your images could turn out grainy, or even on the blurry side due to the lack of light. That being said we also want to avoid ambient or florescent indoor lighting so your skin tones don’t end up looking too yellow or orange — natural light is key here! If the walls are painted, that color could also reflect off your skin and your skin tones will be that color in the photos. These small things tend to be overlooked but I’m here to help! If you’re still unsure if your home is the right space, feel free to send me some photos, or we can even jump on a Facetime call for a tour!
Outdoor locations
If you love exploring, going on hikes, spending your weekends at Zilker, or maybe you’ve been talking about going to a location that you’ve never been before. Let’s take your photos in the forest, go hike at a state park, take a dip in the lake and sink your toes in the sand. Love the smell of campfire, the fresh air, and muddy boots? We can set up camp, build a fire and make s’mores, or hike up to a cliff to watch the sunset. Think about a location that you two feel most excited about!
Travel bug
Do you both love the feeling of hopping on a plane and going on new adventures? Well hot dang, let’s do it! We can look into other states depending on the scenery you’re interested, national parks, or state parks as well. We can go anywhere you’ve been dying to explore! We can travel within the states or overseas too. I’ve been to several different states and countries abroad that I would love to help with all the nitty gritty details when it comes to traveling.
Create your own adventure
Have a general idea of what you want your session to feel like but not exactly sure where to take photos? Let’s create a mood board over on Pinterest. You can create a private board and add me to it (@lightasgold). Use this space to gradually add photos you’ve stumbled upon that inspire you! Even if you saw a photo on Instagram, while searching the web, or from a movie or show you can add photos from other platforms to your Pinterest board. Now this doesn’t mean pin tons of photos from other photographers/photo shoots in hopes of copying them, but instead I’d encourage you to add things that truly inspire you and means something to you.
I’ve also created a rather extensive Texas Locations list with a TON of awesome location recs! Some of these places I’ve shot at before, and some I have yet to, but either way, I’d love to explore with you guys, and find something that really suits you and ultimately your vision!
Custom Mood Boards
If you’re envisioning a laid back time with your babe somewhere in the desert, I’d search: “desert aesthetic”, “desert vibes”, activities you can do in West Texas, “sunsets in the desert”. Look for things like elements, weather, colors, outfits, etc… Once you have a decent amount of collected photos I’ll take a look at what you have and will email you some locations that I think you’d love and vibe with! To help get you started I’ve created some mood boards based off of different aesthetics:
COASTAL MOOD BOARD
DESERT MOOD BOARD
MOUNTAIN MOOD BOARD
FOREST MOOD BOARD
COUNTRY MOOD BOARD
CITY MOOD BOARD
Pro Tip
A good trick to see how touristy or busy a place might be is to search the location on Instagram — if you find thousands of photos tagged at that spot, you’ll want to think about finding somewhere more secluded (or go at a very non-peak time of day/year). You want to avoid crowded areas so our shoot would feel secluded and intimate. Plus lots of photo bombers would definitely get in the way in busy areas.