Finding Images in Local Landscapes

Landscape Photography  •  Photography Tips

Many of us landscape photographers love to go to faraway places in search of mountains, vistas and woodlands to photograph. This obsession sometimes makes us forget about the gems that we often have right at our doorsteps. It could be just a matter of paying more attention to those landscapes or changing the perspective to try and get the image that we want. After all, not having to travel super often or far away saves us a lot in terms of time and other resources. In this context, landscape photographer Nigel Danson talks about a big photography mistake that he made. He also shares some woodland photography tips in the process:

We often are tempted to visit distant places just because we’re influenced by the photographs we come across in places like Instagram. And while we’re ready to invest our time in traveling to those places, we don’t bother to explore the places that are close by. However, if you invest the same time discovering the local landscape, you’ll be surprised with what you can get. You just need to pay attention to a few of the things.

Being a local can give you the impression that you know the place pretty well. But, since it’s photography that we’re talking about, make sure that you look for your landscape location from a photography perspective. For this, you’ll need to scout the location more rigorously. For instance, visit the location during different times of the day. This will help you understand how the place looks under different lighting. Also, from a long-term perspective, you can even try visiting the place in different seasons. This will give you a broader understanding of the place and the vegetation there.

One very interesting tip that Danson shares is about how you should keep an eye out for different positions of the sun. As he demonstrates in the video, you’ll get many compositions as the lighting pattern changes due to the sun’s movement. The sun will light the element differently and you’ll also get to shoot for longer.

If there’s an area around your home you’ve been wanting to explore, we suggest that you go through the complete video. You’ll definitely learn a lot from Danson’s ideas.