Do you live in a "highly photographic" area?

agnosticnikon · Aug 7, 2013

It seems there is some confusion about the OP's question. Are there other people doing film photography where you live? I don't think he's asking whether you find your location photogenic. I, like some others from the south, find that the lack of people doing film photography sucks. (thus a vacuum) There are lots of things and places close by to photograph, around my property, or in another town. I don't need other people to feel complete in my photography, but obviously we are on a social site right now talking about photography so we must feel some need to talk with others about our hobby. I miss the discussions I used to have with friends about photo related stuff, and of course I miss the discourse found in camera shops. There simply seems to be no one near to do this with now. So it's mostly online socializing that fills my needs in this way. We're all just trying to enjoy what we do the best we can. No?

Darkroom317 · Aug 7, 2013

I wasn't talking about how photographic the area is. I was talking about a lack of true interest in photography in my area. I enjoy meeting other people with a deep interest in photography. I have trouble finding any.

Ken Nadvornick · Aug 7, 2013

DWThomas said:
I think sometimes our vision no longer actually registers the stuff we see on a daily basis; maybe it's necessary to pretend we just dropped in from another planet occasionally!

Or see again with the eyes of a child...

How often have you seen a child simply staring in wonderment at something completely mundane. At least to you. But for that child the scene is full of new and amazing colors and textures and forms. To you it might be just another tree. But to the child it's a TREE!

I think it's at least partially a case of preconceptions. Have you taken a walk with a camera, only to return with little or nothing to show for it? Perhaps that is because you subconsciously already "knew" what picture you thought you wanted to make. And you already "knew" how the things you observed on your walk would look when photographed. If you didn't see a match in advance, you skipped it and kept walking. Or tried to force a square peg into a round hole.

Children see everything around them with a deeply-felt original astonishment. Sometimes I think the adults need to try to regress back to that a little bit, instead of drifting further away from it as the years roll by. It might make a difference in your photography. It would definitely make a difference in your life.

Ken

agnosticnikon · Aug 7, 2013

Darkroom317 said:
I wasn't talking about photographic the area is. I was talking about a lack of true interest in photography in my area. I enjoy meeting other people with a deep interest in photography. I have trouble finding any.

YES EXACTLY!

summicron1 · Aug 7, 2013

i live in Ogden, utah. There are many good locals shooting away, scenic and commercial, there are several shooting in ULF like robert hall and michael slade, who I believe are also on apug. Many talented locals shooting in medium format in salt lake and ogden as well. The annual statewide competition at the Eccles Community Art Center in Ogden attracts an amazing collection of amateur and professional photographers in all media....

Film? I just took two rolls of Holga-shot color film to the local store that recently set up a lab and was told it would be a week, they're seriously backlogged with film work.

there's also a lot of digital shooters, of course. Every Tom Dick and Marcia with a DSLR has set up as a "professional" shooting weddings and so forth. There are brick walls around town that sometimes have couples lined up to get shot in front of them. The local store where i took my film today actually makes most of its money servicing those shooters -- renting lighting equipment, supplying tech support and image production.

MartinCrabtree · Aug 7, 2013

I live in the hills that turn into mountainous western Maryland. I was riding my motorcycle thinking there's nothing to shoot around here. At that very moment a Coopers Hawk flew across the road at maybe 10-15 feet high with a very large rodent in his claws. Well I guess I was told to open my eyes and see what's going on around me.

Nathan Riehl · Aug 7, 2013

I wasn't sure what the OP meant. That's why I left my answer as a feasible response to either possibility.

DWThomas · Aug 7, 2013

Ya, the earlier question seemed a bit ambiguous, and I probably interpreted it as more related to subject material; probably because I tend to view my photography as a personal solo effort and don't much think about 'partners' or 'help'. At any rate, some geographic areas are extremely low in population density -- think mile square wheat fields for example. So unless they have some famous tourist attractions, one might not expect to see any amount of activity. That said, in towns or villages I'd think there could still be some little clubs, art leagues or similar organizations, as well as camera shops that might lead to finding some active shooters if one is inclined that way. (Facebook, he says with a wince?!!)

Nathan Riehl · Aug 8, 2013

That's what I was thinking myself. I haven't really made a group effort of shooting until just recently. As for analog photography, it seems like only a few people around here are really into it. maderik (a member here, who referred me to APUG in the first place), and myself come to mind. An employee of a camera store around here was given a Voigtlander SLR in pristine condition and he seemed pretty psyched to shoot with that, so maybe him. Other than that, I know a few collectors. That's it.

MurrayMinchin · Aug 8, 2013

I live on the north coast of British Columbia, Canada. In almost 30 years of photographing I've never met another large format photographer while photographing. Then again, I hardly ever meet anybody at all while hiking in this sparsely populated area. Lucky me!

There's one other LF guy in town, but he's as fiercely individualistic as I am.

AgX · Aug 8, 2013

Even with lots of photographers around and a lot photo academies around within 1h driving I still am rarely engaged in disussions with other photographers.
And I don't see me to blame.

Terry Christian · Aug 8, 2013

I'm in Memphis, Tennessee, a mid-Southern city in the US with a population of about 750,000 and an area population of a million. Most of the affluent have moved to the suburbs, and the economic downturn has not been particularly kind to the working class in the city who have tried to make homes for themselves.
At first I had trouble finding things in my area that I thought photogenic, apart from downtown buildings and touristy areas, but lately I've been inspired to document the decline here and the abandoned, foreclosed homes.
There is a website devoted to local photographers, but most of them are suburban and shoot with DSLRs. A few dabble in film occasionally, using it as an artistic backup to their digital images, and I seem to be just about the only one using film as a primary means of photography. I'd really love to meet others in the area who use film, especially large format.

tron_ · Aug 8, 2013

Great replies so far in this thread, never disappointed with the quality of discussion on APUG. Thanks everyone for who posted in this thread.

Just to clear things up a little more, originally I was wondering moreso if you are in a city that has a high concentration of photographers. I know the title might be a little misleading, sorry for that haha.

One post that really stuck out to me (forgive me, I forgot the posters name) was the one about how they assumed I was asking about if they live in a "photogenic" city because they feel photography is more of a solo endeavor. That makes sense and I am beginning to think that is why I haven't met many photographers shooting.

A part of it might have to do with me being on the younger side (24). I've only been shooting film seriously for about 2.5 years now. I think part of being a young photographer is wanting to be around people who feel similarly and use a similar artistic medium as you. Mostly because (in my opinion) this interaction helps you learn and develop a personal style.

I am going to go assume that as you get older as a photographer, you get closer to achieving that personal style and interaction with other photographers isn't so important?

Perhaps I feel like this because I also did not go to art school so I never had the chance to meet peers with similar interests.

Again, thanks for all the replies!

Steve Smith · Aug 8, 2013

The area I live in is quite picturesque - but it's an island only twenty six miles wide so you have to be inventive to get a new look at places you have been to many times.

And on the subject of music, this little island probably has more live music going on (adjusted for population) than most of the rest of England.

tron_ said:
One post that really stuck out to me (forgive me, I forgot the posters name) was the one about how they assumed I was asking about if they live in a "photogenic" city

That's what I thought you meant too.

Steve.

Klainmeister · Aug 8, 2013

As far as I can tell, you're not allowed to visit or live in Santa Fe without a camera.

mrred · Aug 8, 2013

The grass is always greener on the other side. If you keep moving because you lost your muse, you are gonna be broke fast.... Find a photo buddy that will take you places you normally would not go, or shoot with a style you have never tried.

PKM-25 · Aug 9, 2013

I live in a highly photographic area for sure, but even when I did not, I still always found interesting things or people to photograph. But I am also very protective of what I shoot and have often had to fake a composition as a matter of distracting amateur camera owners who can't seem to think for them selves and don't give a second thought as to copying my shots.....this happens more and more lately with the digi-snapper age.

As for the clubs and such, I only seek those out for my one and only hobby of astronomy, photography is my living, life and who I am, I don't need a club or a gathering for that unless I am teaching a workshop.

JimCee · Aug 9, 2013

Klainmeister said:
As far as I can tell, you're not allowed to visit or live in Santa Fe without a camera.

I live in Tucson, and I think the same rule applies here, especially if you frequent the major tourist sites like the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum!

Jim

dpurdy · Aug 9, 2013

Speaking for Portland Oregon, it might just be the circles I run in having been a photographer for my whole life but it seems to me to be very over crowded with photographers here. It seems like if you threw a rock in a crowd you would likely hit a photographer on the head. There are some photographic institutions here developed from the thick population of photographers. To me Portland Oregon is picturesque in a pretty sort of way but not often very inspirational. Unless pretty pictures inspire you. Of course my photography is personal and mostly still life and always devoid of people. The beach is close and the mountains are close and you will always run into photographers in those places.

StoneNYC · Aug 9, 2013

PKM-25 said:
I live in a highly photographic area for sure, but even when I did not, I still always found interesting things or people to photograph. But I am also very protective of what I shoot and have often had to fake a composition as a matter of distracting amateur camera owners who can't seem to think for them selves and don't give a second thought as to copying my shots.....this happens more and more lately with the digi-snapper age.

As for the clubs and such, I only seek those out for my one and only hobby of astronomy, photography is my living, life and who I am, I don't need a club or a gathering for that unless I am teaching a workshop.

So when are you going to post some ASTRAL photography??

Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

ambaker · Aug 16, 2013

Darkroom317 said:
Our general area really needs some sort of photography gathering. You really aren't that far from where I am.

Not that really terribly far at all.

We go to Tulsa, even further, several times a year to visit.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Bill Burk · Aug 17, 2013

I have the good fortune to live in a very good "climate" for photographic creativity. Beautiful, but not exceedingly dramatic.

So there are not hordes of photographers. But there is an active artistic community here. I'm acquainted with a few local photographers. These acquaintances occasionally come up in stories I tell on APUG, and I love the fact they each approach photography "differently" than I do.

My wife and I have a pact that we will either live in the mountains or at the coast. She grew up in Carmel, we met in Camp Nelson and now we live on the coast a little south of San Francisco...

clayne · Aug 17, 2013

Bill Burk said:
My wife and I have a pact that we will either live in the mountains or at the coast. She grew up in Carmel, we met in Camp Nelson and now we live on the coast a little south of San Francisco...

Hey Bill. HMB? Montara? Pacifica?

Bill Burk · Aug 17, 2013

clayne said:
Hey Bill. HMB? Montara? Pacifica?

Pacifica, on San Pedro creek near Linda Mar beach.

clayne · Aug 17, 2013

Bill Burk said:
Pacifica, on San Pedro creek near Linda Mar beach.

Cool I used to live in Pacific manor area myself.

Do you live in a "highly photographic" area?

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