One of my favorite parts of being a photographer is photographing families in amazing locations. This spot at Georgetown Lake is so incredible. My parents have a cabin on the lake so drive up annually to spend time there. The first time we were there a family friend took me on a “moose hunt” to go spot a moose in the forest. We came upon this remote section of road with the most incredible view and I KNEW I had to take photos there.

3 years later and I did! I’m going to go over the steps I took to get there.

Identify locations you dream of photographing

Making a list of dream locations is the first step to being an adventure photographer. It’s easy to have a vague notion in your mind, but in order to make it happen you need specifics. This may be somewhere you vacation with your family or just something you’ve seen online. Make a goal! Side note: don’t make it something that you see lots of other people using. Step out. Get creative.

Go there

Ok friends this may be obvious, but you need to actually go there before you start charging money to photograph people there. Now, there is exceptions to this rule. I have flown to clients in other states and location scouted the day of and it’s turned out fine, but I don’t recommend this approach. Most places like this take several years of networking so be patient.

Portfolio Build

Part of going somewhere to use it for a location is to try and find people to photograph so you have photos to advertise with. This is so important. You need photos to advertise with. They need to be your photos. I know it’s tempting to slap a photo up and say “inspiration only” or “not my photo” but I think you can do better.

How to find clients for portfolio building sessions

Ok this is the important step. Not only are you going to find an amazing family that fits your vision for a session but you are going to use them to advertise for you. work smarter friend. I tell you exactly how to do this in my online Portfolio Building class.

Marketing

Once I have images to advertise with I start to market it! First, by tagging and hash-taging the location on Instagram. I then use local facebook groups if possible. This spot has a facebook group that I was able to get some interest for sessions in. I also keep in mind where people are vacationing from and market there as well.