Let's set the scene real quick. I was hired by a local San Diego fisherman to document what goes on during a lobstering trip in the bay. I have worked with this guy before and we came up with some awesome stuff. This go around was going to be a bit different though.

We were going to get another boat involved. This would allow me to get photographs from outside of his boat. We had several meetings to develop our plan.

First, I had to find out if there was a specific image my client had in mind. What did he want in the background? Did he want motion blur as he drove by in the boat? He had made upgrades to his boat since the first time I had worked with him, did he want me to highlight those differences? We also pulled up photos from his first session and talked about what he liked and what he thought could be done better.

On the MUST get list:

1. - A photo of the boat with the San Diego skyline in the distance

2. - Documentary style photographs of him and his homies pulling in lobster pots. At night. From outside the boat.

We built a timeline based on time to travel from spot to spot and how much time I would need in each location. We saved the last bit of daylight for prepping bait for the lobstering and night time portion. To accomplish all this one thing was clear:

We needed that second boat...

We didn't get a second boat.

Everything hinged on it. When that plan fell through (day of right after launch time), I saw the immediate "we're eff'd" thought cross my client's mind. I told him not to sweat it. We'll adjust, there's always another option.

I found a vantage point on shore and he took the boat out. It was time to get some San Diego skyline in the background. He had to get pretty far out and I had to be able to guide him to a spot where the photo would look good. Thank god for cell phones. Keeping him on speaker, I was able to direct him to a location that worked.

When I got on board, I showed him what we were able to do so far. Hope for the day started coming back. We spent the rest of the allocated daytime session looking for spots where I could get off and see what sort of photos we could get.

Most importantly here, we had to make sure it was legal for me to use any kind of dock we stopped at. Public access and no signs signaling limited access was a must.

After the day time portion of the session was finished, we headed to the bait barge. Chop the bait, prep the pots, do some fishing. As that was going on, I was again looking for spots where I could get off the boat. We had an inflatable paddle board as a last resort. As low as it would put me in the dark and with no lights on me, it was a less than ideal situation. Especially with camera gear.

We found a different spot where I could get off and get the angles my client was looking for. He pulled up, I jumped off, and we started.

We ended up getting some photos we wouldn't otherwise have gotten. On our way back to the boat launch we were talking it over. We agreed that the night was still a success, even though we didn't have the flexibility of a second boat. The biggest reason for the success:

1. - Clearly defined client expectations

2. - Cushion built into the planned timeline

3. - A little flexibility

My client was stoked when he saw the final photographs. I think expectations may have been low with such a big issue to overcome. We were able to rework the plan to meet the original goal though. When it was all said and done, we even ended up getting some photos we otherwise wouldn't have.

Stuff like this isn't what most people think of when they hire a photographer. They think of family portraits, weddings, or posed portraits. I love when clients want photos like this though. My favorite photo sessions are the ones where people are doing something they love. A hobby. A business. A passion. Those sessions make for the best photos.