To Make Landscapists jealous

[colrehogan]

(sigh)... Stuck here in the flyover. Silk purses from Sow's ears is the name of the game.

Me too! Oh well.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Well, Crete is a place that has almost everything a landscapist would crave for, save for lakes and wild rivers,

And the birthplace of Zeus himself.

 

[tommy5c]

Hmmmmm. trying to think. are there any scenic landscapes to be had in Wyoming. Nope can't think of a single one. So there is no reason anyone needs to come here to take pictures, nope not one reason at all.

 

[Dave Wooten]

Don tcha even be thinkin about it!

Hmmmmm. trying to think. are there any scenic landscapes to be had in Wyoming. Nope can't think of a single one. So there is no reason anyone needs to come here to take pictures, nope not one reason at all.

I hear you Tommy, and I do feel your pain, I d like also to warn all souls that Las Vegas is also an over grown and ever growing out of control mess, and the rest of the 90 plus percent of Nevada that is government owned wilderness is desolate, dangerous, next to uninhabitable, and overly infested with Green Mohaves, Diamond Backs, scorpions, and all manner of pestilences yet to be discovered....its best folks stay home where they belong...

 

[Jon Shiu]

I like to photograph within 10 miles of home, but am envious of all these great places mentioned.

Jon

 

[Jim Jones]

Hmmm... trying to think of stuff around here in Utah...

What? I've been in most of the 50 states, and Utah remains my favorite for photography. Like Kerry says, Moab would be a good starting place. There are months, perhaps years, of intensive photography within a day's drive of there. However, as others have implied, fine photographs are where you look for them. Many Weston masterpieces were shot in or just outside his home.

 

[MVNelson]

hmmmm and to think....I recently have begun believing my backyard was the place to be...my best images seem to have come from there, the North Florida wilderness....I wonder if everyone really took a long hard look at it, would the majority of their most insightful images come from at or near their home?...just wondering...


Miles

 

[jbj]

Yes, Utah has so many beautiful places. I love it here. From arid sand dunes, to marshes, canyons, mountains, lakes and rivers, etc. You could spend several lifetimes and never put your tripod in the same spot or get bored with the subject matter (assuming you like "natural beauty").

But there is also the notion, mentioned in a previous post, about doing photography near home and never lacking in subject matter. I can't remember the words he used, but Minor White said something to the effect that "If you are truly aware and in the moment you could spend a lifetime in a single block of a street and never lack for subject matter." This was of course a more philosophical statement than about photography but it is relevant still. I think he meant it towards both life and photography.

 

[John McCallum]

Hyeah. Big sows ear around here too. I keep pointing the camera at it, ever hopeful.

Thank heavens good photos are made in the heart first.

 

[Jim_in_Kyiv]

Can you help with Vancouver, British Columbia, though? We'll be in unglamorous Colorado for 10 days next summer after visiting the Large Unphotogenic Ditch in Arizona for a couple of days, partly because we're visiting my parents, partly because we're tired of searching looking along the Dalmatian coast for something as attractive as your EPA Superfund sites at the Fort Vancouver Plywood Plant and the SPS Railway. After that, though, we'll be in Vancouver (BC) on our way home.

Lovely trolls in your neck of the woods, though. No doubt there.

 

[Thanasis]

I'm not jealous at all.

I live in western Norway.

Lucky devil. How far away from Geiranger are you?

 

[Ole]

Lucky devil. How far away from Geiranger are you?

That's about a 5-hour drive, I believe. 3 1/2 hour to Stryn, another hour to Geiranger seems about right.

But I'd probably get no further than Dead Link Removed near Stryn...

 

[Steve Smith]

As a resident of middle England, which as you all know is the very centre of the known world, and quite possibly the Universe; all the places so far mentioned are equally remote.

Actually, it's about one hundred and fifty miles north of the centre.


Steve.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Actually, it's about one hundred and fifty miles north of the centre.


Steve.

And about 100 miles east.

 

[dferrie]

Within 100 miles of Vancouver Washington: The short list.

Columbia River
Columbia Gorge
Mt. Hood
Mt. Saint Helens
Mt. Adams
North Cascades
South Cascades
Glacier Mounds
Ape Cave


All are welcome, "Take nothing but Photographs, Leave nothing but Footprints"!

That all sounds wonderful, we all often overlook what is on our own doorstep. But one of the advantages to going away is coming home to rediscover what you have locally.

The past few months I have been running photographic tours of Ireland and one of the best things about leading the tours is viewing Ireland through the eyes of people from overseas and rediscovering the beauty and history that abounds here. If I was to try a list of "within 300 miles" it could encompass the whole island of Ireland!"

The grass may not always be greener on the other side of the fence, but in Ireland it often is!

Fully agree with "Take nothing but Photographs, Leave nothing but Footprints"

David

 

[Steve Smith]

Within twenty miles of my house are 99% of my photographic subjects. Any further and you have to get in a boat or get wet!


Steve.

 

[Ole]

Fully agree with "Take nothing but Photographs, Leave nothing but Footprints"

Not around here. There are large areas where leaving footpints is discouraged, yet you can take lots of different thing out. Norway is rather open to "harvesting nature", but footprints in the wrong place is not a good idea at all!

 

[Roger Hicks]

Within twenty miles of my house are 99% of my photographic subjects. Any further and you have to get in a boat or get wet!


Steve.

Dear Steve,

I have the advantage of you there. The furthest I can drive without using a ferry is probably to the Bering Straits, though I've never driven further than the Ukrainian border. Next time I hope to cross it...

Cheers,

R.

 

[Anton Lukoszevieze]

place

Place is an interesting subject. In my experience the challenge (and joy) can be whatever is in your own backyard (sorry, garden), direct intimate environment or wherever one may find oneself.

 

[SuzanneR]

hmmmm and to think....I recently have begun believing my backyard was the place to be...my best images seem to have come from there, the North Florida wilderness....I wonder if everyone really took a long hard look at it, would the majority of their most insightful images come from at or near their home?...just wondering...


Miles

Mine, too! Of course, I'm not a landscape photographer, but my best photos include the wooded landscape of our little weed patch behind the house!!

 

[Roger Hicks]

hmmmm and to think....I recently have begun believing my backyard was the place to be...my best images seem to have come from there, the North Florida wilderness....I wonder if everyone really took a long hard look at it, would the majority of their most insightful images come from at or near their home?...just wondering...


Miles

I don't think so. But then, I don't want to think so: I like travelling too much, even though I live in an extremely beautiful part of the world.

Sources of my best pictures: probably Malta in particular and Southern Europe in general, followed by India (and especially Tibetan refugee settlements) and most mountains: French Alps, Spanish Pyrenees...

My own suspicion is that for each person who genuinely does find their best pictures in their own back yard, there are at least two others who want to believe that because the constraints of their lives preclude travelling.

This is not to deny for an instant that there are people who genuinely do find their best pictures near home; just to suggest that it's far from an invariable rule, and that there are plenty who merely want to believe it.

 

[Soeren]

Macro

 

[dferrie]

Not around here. There are large areas where leaving footpints is discouraged, yet you can take lots of different thing out. Norway is rather open to "harvesting nature", but footprints in the wrong place is not a good idea at all!

Good point, it's the sentiment of leaving things as you find them that I like. Naturally different countries will have different philosophies to harvesting nature. In Ireland we frequently have a clash between wanting to exploit a resource such as oil/gas, which is found offshore but at the same time there are those who don't want to have the necessary processing plants on land. Guess it comes down to not being able to suit all of the people all of the time.

For me I'll try stick to leaving things as I find them and will be very careful where I leave footprints

David

 

[jd callow]

I don't think so. But then, I don't want to think so: I like travelling too much, even though I live in an extremely beautiful part of the world.

Sources of my best pictures: probably Malta in particular and Southern Europe in general, followed by India (and especially Tibetan refugee settlements) and most mountains: French Alps, Spanish Pyrenees...

My own suspicion is that for each person who genuinely does find their best pictures in their own back yard, there are at least two others who want to believe that because the constraints of their lives preclude travelling.

This is not to deny for an instant that there are people who genuinely do find their best pictures near home; just to suggest that it's far from an invariable rule, and that there are plenty who merely want to believe it.

I have found that those things you know best are often easy to successfully render and at the same time those things that you've just discovered recommend or suggest in the discovery how to best approach them. The common denominator is found within and location is simply an opportunity or not.

 

[Ole]

The difficulty with "close to home" is that it can be difficult to see the photographic potential in something you see every day. Travelling to some far-off place makes it easier to see the potential - but that doesn't necessarily lead to better pictures.