Local Photography – Explore The Landscapes Of Your Own Backyard
Tips for making capturing the magic of your local landscape
This post is all about local photography – finding and photographing locations that don’t involve a plane trip to the other side of the world.
As someone who loves landscape photography, I’m sure you have many distant locations on your list that you would like to visit. I know I certainly do! But don’t discount local photography closer to home.
By closer to home, I’m meaning your suburb, town, city or even state.
Did you know …
You will actually most likely take your best images close to home. This is because you get to know it well and when to photograph it in the best conditions.
Too often I think local spots can be overlooked. We tend to want to travel to stunning locations all over the world but this is not always possible.
We don’t all live close to ‘Iconic Locations’, but there are plenty of opportunities scattered around our local area. Sometimes we just need to look for them and appreciate them a bit more.
Bonus – local photography locations are easy to get to and keep revisiting until you nail it!
“There is nothing quite so delightfully mysterious as a secret in your own backyard.”
~ Patrick Rothfull (American Author)
This post will explore how to find locations and appreciate a local photography outing. All photos in this article were taken within an hour or so of where I live.
Let’s start with finding these local photography gems.
Finding Those Hidden Local Photography Spots Near You
Finding local photography worthy locations is a great place to get started.
I do go on about it a lot, but planning is where it all starts. This is where researching and having a list of places near you to take photos comes in.
There really are some great resources designed to help you find these spots, and here are some ways you can get started –
Local or state-specific websites and blogs
Think tourist guides, national parks, trip advisor – you really can go down a rabbit warren here but you’ll come up with heaps of ideas
It’s most likely that there are websites that are dedicated solely to your local area, or those near you.
Google a few of these and you’ll be surprised to where this leads you. I’m sure it will lead you to several new local photography spots.
ShotHotspot
This is a fabulous website where you can find so many local photography spots. Just enter your location and you will find a map of spots in the area.
You can then click on each ‘tag’ for more information, along with ratings and examples of images that were taken there.
Flickr
Flickr is a great photo sharing website that you can use to find places to photograph anywhere in the world.
You can either search a location such as state, region, or city. Most photos will have the location in the name or description of the photo.
You can also search by photographer if you know any local photographers whose work you like.
Google Earth
A different application to Google Maps, Google Earth can be another tool to scout local photography spots. The 3D mode gives great detail including elevation. The street view gives you the perspective as if you’re standing right there.
It also has a time slider you can use to see how the sunlight changes the landscape at different times of the day. This can be useful if you want to know where the shadows will fall when you plan to visit.
Instagram can be an incredibly useful tool for finding places to photograph in your area.
This is best done by searching using hashtags. Using the search feature, type in a suburb or location, then select hashtags. You can then search by either the most popular or the most recent.
The most recent is particularly useful if you’re searching seasonal locations in particular such as autumn. Just be aware that while most users upload their photos soon after taking them, this is not always the case.
Reach out to photographers in the area you want to visit
With photography being so popular, I’m sure there are other landscape and nature photographers in your area.
You will likely come across other photographers while you are out yourself. So, start a conversation – you never know what you might learn. You also might be able to point them to some spots they didn’t know about!
You can also find other local photographers online with google or even facebook groups.
Another way to find local photographers in your area is by joining a local camera club or attending workshops.
Jump in your car and start exploring
As obvious as this sounds, you don’t know what you don’t know!
The easiest way to start with this is to head to a location you’ve found from your research above. Simply try to be observant on the way there and back. Allow plenty of time, and pull over when you see something/anything interesting.
We can be such creatures of habit, so try taking a different route than you usually would. This could be from work, a friend’s place, the gym – anywhere you go regularly.
Just going a different way can lead you to finding locations you may never have noticed before.
I would definitely recommend you to create a list and/or map for your own local area. This way you have a handy resource to help you get out more. Don’t be stuck without ideas giving you an excuse to stay home.
Related Post – Planning Photoshoot
Benefits Of Photographing Your Local Area
Shooting locally can improve your game not only in the areas you’re used to seeing, but may reveal new possibilities that maybe weren’t even considered.
Read on for the many benefits of photographing your local area
Local photography is so easy to access
The number one benefit of photographing your local area is that it’s easy and inexpensive to explore. You can simply get in your car and go!
Depending on your work and family situation, it’s also possible (and more likely)that you will get out more. Getting away for an extended dedicated photography trip can be a lot more difficult than getting away for even half a day.
More Flexibility
You will have greater flexibility since you can access local photography spots more easily.
Usually bigger trips need to be planned in advance, whereas local photo outings can take place much more spontaneously.
You can simply check your list of locations you’ve researched above, keep an eye on the weather conditions, and head out when things all line up.
Waterfalls are my absolute favourite subject to photograph, so I watch for the right conditions after rain and easily head out when I can.
Capture Original/More Unique Images
With local photography you can capture the beauty of your area that most people have never seen before.
I’m definitely not discouraging you from shooting those iconic locations, but creating something unique can be difficult.
After all, with so many photographers out there, finding truly unique images from famous locations can be really difficult.
Creating something unique is so much easier when you photograph somewhere that is less well-known.
Improve Your Photography Skills
Photographing your local area will help you to improve your photography skills in various ways.
Seeing as you don’t need to spend a lot of time travelling, you should be able to get out more. Practice and experience will teach you new skills and is really the best way to improve.
Visiting a location multiple times usually results in better landscape photos. You can review your photos from the last visit and see where you can try and improve them. It’s much easier to go back for this when it’s somewhere local.
Revisiting can also give you opportunities to try different compositions as well as techniques you may not have time for with just one visit.
Increase Appreciation Of Where You Live
Learning more about where you live can be lots of fun.
It’s easy to get caught up in the search to travel the world chasing spectacular locations and think that your local area doesn’t have anything great to photograph.
But, there really is beauty everywhere and I’m sure you can find some stunning photos in your local area.
Really exploring your local area will uncover some gems and it can be a good challenge to create beautiful work without the help of iconic locations.
There’s also something particularly rewarding about finding scenes you haven’t seen before. If you’re looking to increase your profile, then producing more unique images can only help this.
It can also produce a newfound love of your area, and that’s a wonderful thing.
Local Photography Tips To Get You Started
Revisit same location at different times
No location, yes even landscapes are the same throughout the year.
As months, weather, lighting and plant growth change, the landscape also changes throughout the seasons.
Autumn and winter are probably the most common examples of this, but don’t discount all the new plant growth and life that starts in spring.
It can be a great project to take the same shots of a location across the year in the different seasons to really showcase this.
Every visit will be different in some or many ways, and every shoot will show you something new and different.
With seascapes, the tide can have a dramatic effect on your photos. If you’ve only gone to a location at high tide, go back at low tide to see what I mean here. Quite often you will only see certain rock formations, or even changing patterns in the sand when the tide is low.
This is also true of the position of the sun. Knowing the position of where the sun will rise and set in relation to your location really changes your sunrise and sunset images.
Many photographers plan their shoots out months in advance on the position of the sun. While they can’t control the actual conditions of the day, where the sun will rise and set can be planned. The Photographer’s Ephemeris is a great tool to help with this.
I will mention astrophotography here even though it’s really not something I do. The position of the milky way also changes throughout the year which totally transforms the night skies.
Try to visit locations across all seasons of the year and at different times during the day.
Also visit during different weather conditions and try to experiment with different lenses and compositions. You really never know what you may come home with.
Photographing in different seasons and weather will not only improve your photography. You will also benefit by getting to know the places you photograph as mentioned above.
Related Post – Benefits Of Revisiting Same Photography Location
Try Different Types Of Photography
There may be some great local photography spots that you are overlooking simply because you are viewing them from a narrow perspective.
You can also find new locations and expand your options by experimenting with different types of photography.
You might, for example, usually shoot landscapes but live in the city. Why not look into architecture photography? This could lead you to see things with new eyes and find all sorts of great new locations. And who knows, it could be a whole new genre for you.
Now don’t get me wrong. I love to travel, but we can’t all be travelling all the time.
Focussing on local photography when not travelling really shouldn’t be overlooked.
It has brought a whole new appreciation of where I live, and gets me out and about.
Have you found any gems in your local area?
I hope this post encourages you to become a tourist in your own area. Please let me know in the comments below.
I truly hope you’ve enjoyed this post.
That’s it for now – Keep clicking and stay caffeinated
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Other Posts You Might Like:
- Benefits Of Revisiting Same Location
- Inspiring Photography Ideas To Try
- Planning Your Next Photography Shoot
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Note – This post does not contain any sponsored or affiliated links. All suggestions and opinions are mine. Unless otherwise stated, all photos are mine and remain my copyright images – Sam Wilson Photography.
