Location Shoot: What should I take?

Hello and Happy Monday! Today I’m going to be talking about things to take with you on a location shoot. I’ll talk about a lot of things that I think might be useful and you can decide if they’d be useful to you or not. I’ll be honest, most of the time I forget to bring a lot of the things I mention here when I'm packing my bag so hopefully posting this will make me get my act together a bit for future location shoots and to be a bit more prepared. Or maybe it won't.

Anyway, most of these suggestions would be useful for both models and photographers to have with them on a location shoot, but there are a few that are specific to each. For photographers, it might be worth thinking about keeping some of the model specific items to have with you just incase! Where relevant, I’ve added some amazon affiliate links to some of the products to make it easier for you to find what I'm talking about. Just click anything that’s underlined to go straight to the Amazon page for it.

Models

I'm going to start with what I think is the most important thing any model should have with them on a shoot. This applies to any model but specifically female models as part of being female unfortunately involves having to be on guard constantly and take extra measures to keep ourselves safe. So, a tracker is the first thing I would take on a location shoot with me. I strongly advise all models to have some sort of tracking tile or air tag type device on them and to ensure a close friend or family member has access to it’s location at all times. It will hopefully never be necessary, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Some people swear by the apple air tag, but I find some of the more universal tiles to be much better, like the Life 360 tiles that also have a function to send an SOS alert when clicked rapidly and some versions also have crash detection too. And they're reasonably priced too, which is a bonus.

This next one is more something to consider than something to pack, but it's important to consider what you wear to a shoot. You will want to turn up to a location shoot in sensible footwear and easy to throw on/off clothing. You don’t want to be walking around a location with uneven ground in heels, and you don’t want to be trying to change out of an outfit with loads of straps or fastenings or whatever. And if you're shooting nude, you want to be able to cover up quickly.

I try to have a ‘location kit’ that I keep in a little bag inside my modelling bag. In there are things like a small fold up mirror for quick make up fixes and hair adjustments, a hair brush or comb, and a little box of kirby grips and hair bands (you can get a box of hair grips and remove half of them and replace with some hair bands so they don't get lost in your bag!)

I find that changing on location is so much easier with a pair of sliders or flip flops (bonus points if they come with their own bag to protect your other clothes from getting grubby when you put them away) and a small mat (a door mat size thing is perfect). If you have somewhere clean and dry to put your bag down and stand on while you change, it’s a lot more comfortable. Slip on shoes like flip flops or sliders make it more comfortable when you want to walk from wherever you’re stashing your bag to wherever you’re shooting. It's quicker to get them on/off than trainers and it'll help protect your feet from rocks/thorns/mud etc.

If you’re shooting lots of outfit changes on location, it can be useful to carry a spare tote bag with you to keep the outfits you’ve already shot separate. This will reduce the chances of missing something you wanted to shoot in.

Photographers

My list of essentials for a photographer is a lot shorter because photographers don’t have as many things to think about that are unique to a location shoot. Obviously a spare charged battery and a spare empty SD card should always be in your bag. You never know what might happen or when something might spontaneously decide to give up. I've been on a lot of shoots where a spare battery has had to be used.

An inflatable studio light is something that’s a great addition to any camera bag. Even if you’re expecting light conditions to be favourable, having a lighting option can be useful. These type of lights are great because they are very lightweight and don’t take up much space when they’re deflated. Despite this, they’re quite powerful and would be useful in an emergency as well as for lighting a model and they're not crazy expensive.

For models and photographers

And now on to things that everyone can consider having in their bag for a location shoot:

• A foldable waterproof poncho or something similar:

  These fold up really small and they’re great to have so you can keep yourself and your bag/camera dry if it rains. They're also useful for models to get changed under if you're somewhere busy. And they come in all sorts of colours, which is just fun. I bought the black one obviously.

  
  

• A power bank and a spare phone charger:

  This is especially useful if you’re shooting somewhere more remote where signal might be patchy as it drains your battery a lot quicker when your phone is always searching for service. I notice this happens a lot when I'm on trains. Just make sure that you check the power bank regularly to keep it charged.

  
  

• Bin bags:

  You never know when you might get muddy or wet on a location shoot, so having something to put wet clothes/shoes in or to protect the seats of your car on the journey home is a really good idea. You can get some really big ones that are useful to stand on to get changed if the ground is wet too.

  
  

• Emergency blankets:

  These things are great to have for their intended purpose, but also they’re a quick and fun prop to pull out if you just want to shoot something different for a few minutes. They also are highly reflective so can be used as a reflector too if you don’t have one to hand (which is something else that would be a good idea to stash in your camera bag as well!)

  
  

• Baby wipes, anti-bac hand wipes, and tissues:

  I feel like these should be carried by everyone at all times anyway because they always come in useful. You can get small packets of both that fit in your pocket or a small side pocket of your bag.

In the car

If you’re driving as a model or a photographer, here are some things I would suggest keeping in your car. They're all pretty useful generally, but they will often come in useful on shoots too.

• First aid kit:

  Make sure to check it regularly to make sure the items in there are still in date. Maybe add in some paracetamol/ibuprofen and some antihistamines too as they might come in useful too.

  
  

• Multi connector charger:

  Keeping a variety of chargers in your car could be really useful on a shoot, especially if you’re working with someone who has had to travel by train. The charger I have linked above is one that has several different connectors in one, or you could just keep one of each type in your car. I think this is important because it means that you can make sure that your model has enough charge on her phone to get home safely. 

  
  

• Umbrella and suncream:

  You never know what the weather might do, especially here in the UK, so it's useful to keep these somewhere in your car. You can get small travel sized sun cream pretty easily.

• Towel:

  Having a towel to hand means you can shoot in water if you come across some, but it's also useful if it rains unexpectedly. I fully recommend a towel like the one I've linked to: they're microfiber so they are lightweight (they don't take up much space), dry super quickly and come in a little case so they're perfect for travelling or keeping in your car.

  
  

• Rechargeable torch (or an inflatable studio light!):

  Having a torch should be part of anyone’s standard car safety kit anyway, but in terms of shoots it could come in useful when working somewhere unfamiliar. There might be a cool place to shoot that’s just slightly too dark and you’d regret not being able to take advantage of the opportunity.

  
  

• Bottled water and a few long life snacks:

  Obviously make sure that you don’t just leave them in the car all the time (especially in the heat) and make sure they’re in date or whatever. It's always useful to have water and food, especially if you end up shooting for longer or if there was some sort of emergency, or traffic etc.

Bonus

And as a bonus considering all the stupidly hot weather we’ve been having recently, I'd like to recommend something that Dave Edkins turned me on to years ago: an ice towel. These things are magic: you literally just pour water over it, ring it out, shake it off and it’s a cold towel you can use for a few hours. Honestly it’s been a life saver on the worst days of this heatwave and another thing to be grateful to Dave for... As well as being the wonderful photographer behind the images used in this post, of course <3

Anyway, that’s all from me for today. I hope this post has given you some ideas of what to bring with you on a location shoot. Drop a comment below if you think of anything else that should be added to this list, or if there’s something you always pack in your bag for a location shoot that people might not have thought about!

Until next Monday,

Misuzu x