If you were in my shoes/Fairbanks Alaska

Yes, between the 1st of May and the 1st of September the destination of hordes(!) of tourists. For me,it's my hometown and birthplace, so my perspective on the scenery,people etc. is different then the visitor.
For those of you that live in those exotic locations (for me ) are you sometimes faced with trying to get a photo of something that would be unique to you - but then you find the same shot in a travel magazine or visitors brochure at a later date?
For myself ,as I am developing in this hobby, I try to keep to the personal & local,( i.e. family & clubs that I am a member of.) As a local, I also find that doors are opened for me to some events that are known to attract national & international attention. I guess I need some pearls of wisdom from those of you that live in Hawaii, London, Paris, Miami Beach...........:confused:

First one must decide why one photographs. This can develop slowly and even change over time.

You have a unique perspective -- you are photographing your backyard, while others are photographing the exotic and the not-very-well-understood (to them). You have the opportunity to make images that speak of the place -- not just pretty pictures. The "grand view" is important...but that is just an overview of a place...that is the type of image that "everyone" makes and that one sees on the postcards and in the magazines.

I believe that it is important to make images that speak to oneself first. It doesn't matter if the same image was taken by someone else or published somewhere. If you saw it, if it spoke to you, then it is your photograph.

I recent was given a copy of John Sexton's book of trees. Lo and behold, I found an image towards the back of the book that is of the same trees and rock that I have photographed and printed. Mine is slightly framed differently, but we must have photographed in very similar light. It is one of my favorite images that I have made in the last 5 years. While I am glad I photographed there before I saw Sexton's image, my image is my image. And unsurprisingly, I have a couple more favorite images from Yosemite that old AA got to first. No big deal.

I live in the redwoods and that is where I do most of my photography (as well as occasional trips to Yosemite). Photographing under the redwoods is tough. The light is tricky, the landscape complex and chaotic. But it is my "backyard". I know its moods, its seasons, its light. Under the redwoods there is a creek I have walked along, and many times in, for the past 30 years. I was there on Sunday with two 8x10 holders (my last 4 sheets of film)...made one image and it is drying right now...a successful trip.

You have the opportunity to know really get to know where you live, both personally and photographically. Share your images with others. Share your favorite places with others...they can never "steal" your images. If I have the time, I am more than happy to show people my favorite places under the redwoods....I don't have "secret" photographic methods and materials, nor secret places. I suspect those that have 'trade" secrets may be a bit insecure about their own abilities.

And of course, have fun!

Vaughn

Steve,

I completely agree with Vaughan that it is important to make images that speak to you first and foremost. Many of the tourists will be making images for memories of their trips, some will be trying to capture a special image of something they may never get to photograph again.

I run photographic tours of Ireland and bring photographers to what we consider to be special places in Ireland, some times these are also popular tourist attractions. The key differences between our tours and a general tourist visit are (A) We have a personal knowledge of the place we are visiting and can bring people places that are not immediately apparent to others and (B) We allow as much time as it takes, we frequently will see a tour bus arrive and the people on the bus are given anything from 20 minutes to at most 1 hour to explore, whereas we could spend 2-3 hours in the same location.

While I have visited these locations numerous times and could find good shooting locations blind folded, it is still very interesting for me to watch members of our tour groups shoot. Sometimes they find something that has been in front of me but I have overlooked. I find it very interesting to talk to the visiting photographers about their choice of shot/framing etc as it gives me a new perspective on the familiar.

I'd strongly recommend that you do a bit of a barter with visiting photographers, when you see them shooting somewhere you have not considered shooting, ask them why and in exchange (as Vaughan suggested) you could give them a tip from your local knowledge of a good shot. That way you both get something from the meeting.

Just a thought,

David

Not that I can see any reason to visit, but living near Washington DC we see all the usual tourist snapshots of DC. Travel magazine are filled with the same themes of the city.

So the key for me is to see the city in a way that speaks to me, not a surface image the way it is presented in a magazine or postcard.

It takes more time, and more soul searching, but the reward is worth it.

Look below the surface. Ask yourself why a scene is important to you. This way you'll see your home town for its important places, people and moments that a tourist will never see.

A good exercise is to look at a postcard, and then take the same scene and make it your own. Put yourself into the scene. By doing so, you'll get an image that a tourist can't make because when the tourist is there, you are not.

You may wish to buy a dozen postcard, study them, visit those site, and then put your stamp on the scene.

Steve,

I live in Hawaii, in fact, I can see Waikiki Beach from my office. I see the ocean every day and I see the hordes of tourists, year round.

I find it tough to make a good image at times, not because they have already been done, but because it is difficult to make images that stand out from the mass market - most tourist areas are already saturated with these type of images, that even the finest images are quite often overlooked. Frankly, most of the local images I see are poor quality, even those taken by some of the "big" name local photographers. Most images taken by and for the tourist market are of a different caliber than what we, as photographic artists, try to produce. So, I don't worry about what others have done.

FWIW, I don't have a single image of Diamond Head anywhere in my personal collection.

roteague said:

Steve,


FWIW, I don't have a single image of Diamond Head anywhere in my personal collection.

Click to expand...

FWIW, I'd love to see your interpretation of Diamond Head.

JBrunner said:

FWIW, I'd love to see your interpretation of Diamond Head.

Click to expand...

Thanks Jason. I keep hoping for something, but right now, there is a lot of construction going on at the one spot along Waikiki that interests me. When that is complete....

Living in NYC - perhaps one of the most photographed places on the planet - I find it important to "make a project" that brings out the "interesting" to me.

For instance, one day I loaded a roll of HP5+ into my Bessa R2S and set about walking. It was a bright sunny day in late Fall. Suddenly, the shadows cast by a group of delivery bicycles chained to a wrought iron fence caught my eye.

After shooting that, I "made a project" of wandering around the nabe shooting "street bicycles". I'm sure someone has done something like this before - but it was "unique" to me and at least I wasn't taking the five hundred billionth shot of the Empire State Building!

I live 50 miles from the South gate to Yosemite National Park and an easy drive to Big Sur and the Central California coast. which makes me either a perpetual tourist or a para-local (I'm not sure which!) I try to avoid these areas during the tourist season, but there is so much to photograph that isn't on the typical tourist menu that it really isn't all that difficult. If anything, it helps me learn more about my surroundings which, being a local (local tourist?) is really quite interesting finding obscure historic sites and natural phenomenon as well as revisiting some areas of my younger days, trying to capture...capture what? I don't know, but it is fun.
Let the tourists take home memories to cherish of thier once in a lifetime trip. As long as you know what you're after I don't see a problem.

Close to home

I used to yearn to travel to all those exotic places until I finally realized that I had endless subject material and challenge in my own small corner of the world. I live in the Seattle Wash area, am within 2hrs of Rainier park for nature work from rain forest to majestic mountians. My own backyard (within 1 mile) provides endless subject material. I can drive 4hrs east to the rolling hills of eastern washington where the wheat country provides excellent panoramic possibilities. Downtown Seattle has some very interesting architecture.
So like most of life: its all what you make of it. If you just have to have an image of a Buddhist monk in front of a Tibetan monastery then you will have to travel there.

One of my tourist photo in Alaska.

So there is hope for you!

Steve

My view, FWIW, is that tourists (myself included) tend to think big. Especially where there is beautiful scenery. So I would suggest you think small and focus on the small elements that tell the story but are often overlooked.