Things To Keep In Mind

It may seem obvious, but this is a job that requires good weather.

 

 If we assume the client wants a flattering product, it would seem logical that nice weather is needed to achieve this. Photos just don’t look as good on a dark, dreary or rainy day, so we are at the mercy of mother nature at all times.

 

Because of this, Unless a client wishes otherwise, I will try to schedule a shoot across a range of days and watch the weather conditions as the date approaches. I find the weather to be most accurate at no more than three days prior to a target date, so as the date approaches, I will confer with the client to solidify the actual shoot day.

 

This process can be frustrating at times since we all have schedules to keep, but the nature of weather deems it is unavoidable if we want a good end product. 

 

I will be as flexible as I possibly can to best serve my clients, but I cannot control mother nature and I want the client to love the end product. 

In most cases, things are fairly straight forward and jobs can be scheduled and done with very little hassle, but some jobs require extra preliminary legwork to be done ahead of time, such as applying for waivers or temporary airspace authorizations. This can lengthen lead times considerably, as the FAA can take up to 90 days to approve waivers, so it’s important to remember that ALL jobs require a preliminary assessment to determine this.

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Usually, I can do this preliminary assessment the same day and schedule the shoot with nothing more than an address and a few details, but sometimes preliminary airspace research will suggest that more details are needed in order to determine whether extra considerations are required, perhaps even visiting the site in person before the shoot to assess possible hazards.

For example, does the property butt up against national park land, or perhaps it is close to an airport and airspace authorization is needed, are there powerlines nearby or overhead or tall buildings surrounding it, is it under construction or in restricted airspace, etc., so communication is key here.

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I will ask pertinent questions to try to avoid any mis-communication and save us both time, but we are all human and sometimes mistakes are made.

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 Like I said, in most cases, things go very smoothly, but every case needs a preliminary assessment.