How To Work a Scene

Many of us have heard the term ‘working the scene’, but what actually is it, and how do we go about doing it?

Working the scene simply means putting in some extra effort to walk away with a collection of different images of the same scene or subject. How often do we get somewhere, take the default or first shot we see, then walk away? I must confess, I do it way more than I should, and I pay the price by potentially leaving a better shot on the table.

Try using different compositions, different perspectives, or perhaps a different focal length if that’s possible. Look for reflections or some sort of diffusion. Try shooting through something, blocking off part of the frame, or even introducing motion blur.

There is no right or wrong here. Experiment and see what you can get. You can go a step further and plan ahead to see if there are better viewpoints or locations nearby. The main skills here are patience and experimentation.

There is no definitive guide to working the scene because every scene is different. However, as a rule of thumb, I would try the following:

• Normal shot

• Low down

• High up

• Reflection

• Shoot through something else

• Close up

• Far away

• Wide / medium / tight shots

• Motion blur

• Different lighting / time of day

• Abstract

Let’s use St Paul’s Cathedral in London as an example. There are countless photos of this building, but we can go a step further and find more interesting perspectives.

The first step is to do some research beforehand and see where we can find the best viewpoints. Then it’s simply a case of experimenting and trying different things. As you can see in the examples below, these shots are more interesting compared to just taking the standard photo you’ve probably seen countless times online.

Let’s start with a standard establishing shot

Now for the same shot but on a moody day at blue hour

You can then visit Tate Modern to get this higher up perspective

Or walk towards Southbank and get a reflection shot

You can come closer and use random objects to block off part of the scene

Then come really close and focus on the detail

Then head to One New Change to get this reflection

Then pop downstairs to get these leading lines and a hint of St Paul’s

Or get this silhouette of the building

After that go upstairs to get a rooftop view

You can also use a slow shutter speed on the lifts going up and down

Then walk back a bit and find a new perspective

Or go much further afield to get this

Don’t forget to pop in and show the inside

Finally go upstairs and see the view from St Paul’s

Between all these shots, you’ve covered this one subject in great detail. Of course, you don’t need all of them, but even if you only have a set of three, having different images will help tell the story better.

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