Io amo Roma! (I love Rome!)

Nikon D810, Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8 @ 14mm, 1/320sec @ f/2.8, ISO 64

It all started with a simple plan. We both wanted to go to Rome.

We had been last year on a short city break and fell in love with the ice cream, the culture, the monuments, the free water fountains, the ice cream, the way you could walk everywhere, and the glorious food (did I mention the ice cream?)

Nikon D810, Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8 @ 22mm, 1/20sec @ f/2.8, ISO 200, Remotely fired flash

Nikon D810, Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8 @ 22mm, 1/60sec @ f/2.8, ISO 200, Remotely fired flash

If ever there was a city aimed at photographers, Rome must be it. Stunning architecture and beautiful parks, all just walking distance apart and with spectacular food along the way. Better still, if you move away from the tourist hotspots, (fairly easy to do) you could quite happily still wander around for days without feeling like you’ve had enough… and wandering around generally tends to get you to the best eateries too.

Nikon D810, Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 VC @ 135mm, 1/320sec @ f/5, ISO 64

But this time, I wanted to do it differently. Let’s have some fun with it, I thought; let’s tie it in with some photography! After a (very easy) moment to convince Dasha, it was agreed.

And that was when logistics got involved and my sub-conscious ran a mile.

Planning any shoot can take work. Planning a shoot abroad can be a logistical nightmare.

Nikon D810, Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 VC @ 185mm, 1/640sec @ f/2.8, ISO 64, Gold reflector used to bounce sunlight

Even the simple things get complicated;

Do you hire models or pick up strangers? Do you recruit locally and with a bit of luck, someone that knows the area.  Or do you go with familiar, a model you’ve worked with before and know their looks and styles?

Outfits – what story are you trying to tell? In our case, wedding dresses were easy enough, but I don’t want to spend a week with just bridal photography… even I might get bored.

Yet for every additional look, you are adding extra clothing, make-up and accessories too… Simple enough when you are working locally, but for destination shoots you are usually limited by the capacity of a commercial airline, how many suitcases you can take, and the number of arms available to carry said cases. And when you pay per kilo and have a restricted amount of packing space, every single earring counts!

And all this before you’ve even started to think about the photography equipment you will need to take with you.

Nikon D810, Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 VC @ 200mm, 1/200sec @ f/2.8, ISO 64, Gold reflector used to bounce sunlight

Consider drawing up a shooting diary and allow enough free time for both yourself and the models to rest and recover, as well. Yet you want to make sure you make enough of the time you have, so those breaks need to be short and productive.

And be sure to check out permissions and licence requirements beforehand. Certain places do not allow any photography at all, others restrict commercial use – knowing these things beforehand can help avoid problems on the day.

Over the next few days we will be sharing a few photos and thoughts from the week we spent in Rome with the gorgeous Roisin (www.facebook.com/roisinmm) and Chrissie (www.facebook.com/chrissiewrightmodel).

Start here, and enjoy!:

http://www.danishapple.com/2016/01/wedding-and-fashion-photography-abroad-equipment/