This photo shoot planning form was a project that I was working on for the students of my photography workshops. Seems like it’s a good time to make it available to everyone. While we might not be able to travel, we can still dream. This form will help with that. When I made this, I was asked what I do to plan a photo shoot on location. This planning form was my answer.

I decided to make it into a form because usually I’m pretty informal. When I decide to visit a new location, I research a few sunrise and sunset locations. Then I just go and explore and wing it, mostly. But, I’ve found that if I want to be productive having a plan ahead of time works well. The one limitation is that if you follow the plan completely, you’ll often miss exploring areas that might not be popular but are still really awesome to visit. I often find that those areas become my favorites instead of the iconic areas that everyone shoots.

How to use the photo shoot planning form

To use the photo shoot planning form, you start with the Research section and do internet research. I suggest finding 10 different areas to shoot and then calculate the drive times from your campsite to each location. That way you can plan for what time you need to wake up and whether or not you’ll need to get food for sunset before you get back to camp.

Then research the location for permitting and such. I like to add up all my costs. Sometimes those costs will prove to be so high that I’ll skip that location and go somewhere else. After that decide what kind of equipment to haul. I’ve made some suggestions on the form based on what I like to bring and use.

Then the hard work starts. Come up with a daily planner using the locations that you found in your internet research. The next step is to do more research on each location: examine maps, times, what other photographers do there and more. You’ll see what you should research on the photo shoot planning form. Don’t underestimate Google Earth when planning. The 3D view can help you visualize what the area will look like. Also, don’t forget to check the sunrise and sunset times and directions at The Photographer’s Ephemeris. On my phone, I use Photo Pills.

Without further ado, here’s the planning form:

Like many people, I’m taking a beating in income during this pandemic. If you have the means, I hope you consider helping me out by buying a print or two. You could buy a gift certificate from my store and gift it to me, or if you have PayPal, you can send something to bryan@bryanhansel.com or PayPal.me/bryanhansel. Thank you!