Morning Sun, Afternoon Shade
Try to set up your shelter so you will get the morning sun shining on your camp. This will give you the best light, help dry the dew and give you a little extra warmth in the spring, fall and winter. Afternoon shade from a tree line or a large tent set up next to you will keep the camp cooler in the summer.
Don’t set up under the drip line of a tree. If it rains, water will drip from the tree for hours after the rain quits. If it storms, limbs may make an unexpected visit. On sunny days birds will add character to your tent and furnishings in the form of slimey blobs. You can recognize my awning from the recycled mulberry stains deposited by the friendly birds in my backyard after packing out wet and setting up the wet canvas to finish drying at home…
Try to set up so that the front of the camp is pointed towards the east. Most of the afternoon sun will be from the southwest, putting the gathering area in the shade from the camp. Also, this arrangement has the afternoon sun shining on the back quarter of the tent instead of the side. It will keep the tent a little cooler in the afternoon.
Partially pulling a stake and proping a stick or chunk of firewood under the back wall of the tent to let in a little air to circulate also helps to keep the shelter a little cooler.
Smoke follows you
Everywhere you move, the smoke from the fire comes to you? Build a reflector upwind of the fire. The smoke wants to go to the largest protected area that it can find.
I have found that the reflector works best if it is about the diameter of the fire away on the upwind side. No wind? There will be. (It works on windstill days also.)
I usually just stand some of the special (wet and green) rendezvous firewood behind the removed sod from making the fire pit. Lay a couple chunks of firewood on the ground behind the uprights for stability. This method also helps dry the wood so it can be burnt later.
Smoke in Camp
If the prevailing wind blows straight into or away from the camp, set the fire pit on the side instead of directly in front.of the tent.
Most places that don’t have a constant wind have morning / evening currents that change direction. Currents usually go one way in the morning, opposite in the afternoon.
Location, location, location!
Planning on doing a little blanket trading? Set up between the main camp and the port-a-potties or water source. Most everyone will wander by a couple times a day. Usually some enterprizing kid sets up a firewood delivery service, so that destination doesn't get near the traffic the path to the little blue house out back does.
(You might want to check the wind direction before setting up camp, though. See the above hint for another hint.)