Problems on location & solutions

  In this post, I listed some of the possible problems that may can occur on the day of location shoot. After, you can find some tips/solutions that I came up with. Hopefully those can help you to dealing with the incurred/happened situations/problems.

Problems on location:

1. Poor weather conditions - rain,snow,wind
2. Changing light conditions - too bright, too dull
3. Uncooperative/unwilling clients, children (crying/shy children), parents, partner 
4. Unmet client expectations
5. Limited resources
6. Faulty equipments
7. Wrong time of the day/ Time management
8. Busy places/ People in the way or shot/ Interrupted by the public
9. Restricted public areas (shopping centers, swimming pools, colleges, etc.)
10. Not getting the right: view, angle, unpredictable moment, back lighting, suitable background

Solutions would be:

The key words here are:
*Research *Planing *Time management *Right/Spare Equipments *Communication

1. Check the weather forecast on the day of shoot. Have a back up plan for an other location, because the weather conditions may can change over or find a shelter. If your clients are willing to work in the changed circumstances than just improvise and work with the weather. Use brollies.
2. Use available light. Back lit subject, side lit subject. Use a 5 in 1 reflector. 
3. Create rapport between you and your models. In shy or crying children case, bring in treats and toys or an extra family member to distract the children attention away from the camera and make them feel more comfortable and relaxed. Let them come and go as they please. But this last bit can cause more problems to you. Like they start running away or facing the sun. Ask a family member to help you out. 
4. To avoid uncooperative clients, make a booking beforehand, meet with your clients, ask them about their ideas, so you can ensure that you're clear on your clients' expectations. Discuss what they are aiming for and then planning your shoot. Be aware of communicating with them in a polite way. Also, give them your 'Terms and conditions agreement' to read and sign it. So if any problem occurs during the shooting you can referring back to your agreement.
5. Obviously use what you have got and if you have the money then buy new things. 
6. Check all the equipments and ensure all of them working right and ready to use, as well as appropriate for the shooting you're doing. It's always best to be prepared and have a second camera, spare equipments (buttery,lenses,filters,etc.),so if a failure will happen you can just easily swap the wrong object to the right one.
7. Research/plan ahead, if you know you're going to shoot on a public place, try to find out what is the best time of the day when the roads/parks are less busy. Also, time yourself.
8. If you're shooting on a busy place, then it's obvious you will get people passing by and walking in the shot. Just try to be patient and wait for the right moments. 
9. Again research/plan ahead, if you want to shoot on a restricted public area because in that case you will need to ask for permission.
10. Visit the place beforehand and look for angles,compositions,backgrounds. Just get to know the place, so when the day's coming you will already know where to stand your model and what formations you're going to use. What equipments can might be useful there. Make the things easy and continuous to yourself.