Fisherman's Cove: The Importance of Location Scouting

So I heard that for Canada day there are multiple events happening and I saw that there’s one happening at Fisherman’s cove.

If you’ve been following me a while over on my instagram you know that I photograph on a daily basis, it’s a need and an addiction at the same time. I love ordinary life, and I believe there’s so much that is happening all the time that is taken for granted. Or that people feel just isn’t special enough to photograph.

Anyway, I wanted to do something a little bit different to get out of my comfort zone, I really enjoy challenging myself and going out to shoot things that I normally wouldn’t or might not naturally gravitate to.

After retreating a bit during the pandemic, I am trying to get myself a little bit more into crowded spaces. In preparation for this type of event, I wanted to go out there first and know what it actually looks like.

We had actually gone to Fisherman’s cove during our first couple of months in Halifax. Honestly it was not a memorable experience. It was full on pandemic and it was quite cold. (We needed to find a restroom asap and had to drive back to a Tim’s…)

This time however, trust me, the light was gorgeous. Just what I love, that light right before golden hour or right at golden hour. Everything looked really cool, and we found a guy working on a boat and couple of others fishing and seeing ‘regular people’ taking their walks. Overall it was a great experience.

Not only was it a great evening just to do what I do and snap some real life stuff but I also feel like I will now have an advantage. Going to shoot there again during a crowded event, I will already have established some of the best angles and have seen how light works there.

Location scouting is a part of photography that I really enjoy. I really derive a lot of pleasure going to the same places at different times of day or at different places just to see what works in a specific light or environments. In this case it also helps me prepare for a type of shoot that I may not be completely confident in.

An other bonus is that when it comes to, for example, pitching an idea to a client, you are the master of a location and know exactly what you are talking about and proposing.