Out of cusiousity, what ratio of images in your portfolio (as in the ones you consider the "cream of the crop") were made in your home or neighboring states (or the state you lived in when you made them) vs. ones captured while traveling?
For me, with maybe 1-2 exceptions, practically all are close to home.
I think mine follow a similar pattern, though in my case "home" is where I'm at. I spend 5 months a year travelling the West, and just under half of my images come from that region, with most of the remainder taken within a few miles of my legal residence.
It's an interesting question Guy, because most photographers report the difficulty of shooting close to home. If you want to see how much you are missing, vist take a visting photographer to your familiar haunts. They'll shoot things you have been overlooking.
Hank, this is why I asked. I love to explore around my area and keep discovering new things. Every now and then I'll bring someone along who had not been there before and they usually come back with very different interpretations.
Another point I'm curious about is people's experience with getting a "keeper" in a new or seldom visited place. I personally have a hard time getting anything good without going back several times.
Actually let me clarify that - anyone can hit Oxbow Bend or Delicate Arch for the first time and get a great image. I'm wondering about unique and not previously known situations.
Posted by Scott Bacon on July 12, 2006 at 12:10 PM
I seem to be on the other end of the spectrum. Many of my favorite images have been made along my travels. This may be due to the fact that I'm an explorer at heart. The extra inspiration of "discovering" a new place, even if it is only new to me, fuels my creativity. So I seem to do my best work with fresh eyes on a scene. I have also been very fortunate to have some really good luck.
Well, I haven't traveled that much, far away that is. Most of my photography has been done in NC or nearby. I feel I have quite a few keepers from those trips, but interestingly enough, the 2 editors pick awards in ESS that I have gotten were both taken at the little lake in the development where I live, within walking distance of my house.
Good question Guy. For me, at this stage in life, even traveling to a neighboring state is a long journey (try being cooped up in the car with three kids for six hours!). I find that many of my keepers come from a new 'locale'. I think it depends on the subject. Often I will take flora shots that do not work out the first try, and I shoot them again and I am much happier with what I get the second (or third) time.
Other areas though I feel like I get good shots the first time I go there (my 'keeper' standards are a bit on the low side though...)
All are from my local area. Still too much to photograph in the state. I like to have an intimate relationship with an area.
Posted by Scott Buckel on July 12, 2006 at 2:54 PM
Guy - for me it is mostly other places. I think that is I focus (no pun intended) more when i am away from home. It seems to me my day-to-day life effects what I see and do more close to home.
Thank you for this topic as it is something very close to my heart.
Virtually all of mine are from my home state. I believe that an intimate knowledge and relationship with a place is a much more fulfilling experience than simply photographing far off exotic places. Returning time after time, in different weather and seasons is very enriching and something I place a lot of value in. There is ALWAYS something changing and available to photograph. Even in locations that most of you westerners would probably scoff at . I am currently working on a portfolio of images from a local state park about 1.5 hours from where I live. The location is a very quiet place, a small woodland park with a river and a couple of creeks. The low key essence of the place has been very helpful in developing my "eye" for small moments. My goal is 60 excellent images (ranging from all seasons), and to produce a self published book. We'll see where I end up with the project. When I'm not working on this current project, I'm usually photographing other Minnesota locations. I feel that I must tell the story of the places that are close and in many senses are part of me, if I do not, who will?
Hmm... Proportional to the time I spend in the place, they're probably about the same for me. My close to home shots tend to be more personal and expressive, but I have quite a few I really love from the road. The thing that frustrates me about the road shots though is that I like having clumps of photos that all sort of speak in the same voice, and I just don't have enough road photos yet to figure out what that is. Idle time seems to be more the determining factor in whether I get something I like. I require lots and lots of just-wandering-around time regardless of where I am.
You people are so lucccccccccccccccccyyyyyyyyyyyyy. I hardly get time to travel, well 5 hard days a week, saturday for shopping with wife for the next week...sunday..i try to get fresh. Damn. Wish I finish the PhD soon.
Ok, the leaves me only option. And I try to get keepers (although from my POV).
Guy, I'd say mine are about 50-50. I think some of my best images are from around my home but some of the images I like the most are from other areas I've traveled in. That has really more to do with the emotions they evoke about the trip rather than the image standing on it's own. If you look at the image standing by itself then the majority of my best images were taken near my home or within a day trip of home. Great question by the way!
John, statistically the vast majority of Americans who died in the last 30 years ate a pickle within the last year of their life. You can never be too careful!
Close to home is a relative term. I have only a couple of shots from my hometown in my portfolio, but I would say about 60%-70% are from California. But CA is a big place and has a lot of the traditional photo meccas (Yosemite, eastern Sierra, Death Valley, Mono Lake, and you can go on and on). Same can be said for your home state of Utah.
I wish I could get more inspired in my hometown. People come from all over the world to visit here, but it just doesn't get me up and going. I defnitely feel more inspired on road trips, whether in CA or elsewhere.
BTW, thanks for the info. I will avoid pickles from now on. These days, anything can kill you.
Well no wonder practically all of yours are taken close to home, Guy. Look where you live
I would say most of my images are from Alberta. But I would not consider all of them close to home. Alberta is big. (Like Texas! ) So I consider many of my Alberta shots to be taken during my travels. That includes Jasper NP, a 5 hour drive from home. For my favorite "spur of the moment" destinations I would estimate 75% of my work is from there. British Columbia follows a close second. My favorite BC destination is Vancouver Island.
95% close to home. The best investment in my photographic time spent are in places relatively close to home. I think my familiarity with local places lead to better images and most of my print sales are local and local images resonate with these buyers.
Still, I love to travel and see/photograph new places
The real factor for me is how much time I spend in a particular place, regardless of whether it's my "home ground" or not.
I found myself a couple years ago getting into a rut when working on stock photography because I was getting way too caught up in the "capture, conquer and move on" mode. Things got much better when I decided to not worry about how much coverage I got in a certain region and planned trips where I may stay in each area for a few days at a time.
I just have a real passion for photographing an area real completely. This year I began a project here at home. I'm working on spending the whole year here and have many projects lined up afterwards based on "a year in the life of" the forest where I live.
It has been so much fun I've decided to try and do this in a different area--all within the rocky mountain region I live in--four states and one province--over the next twenty years. My plan is that every other year I'll focus on one particular region like I'm doing here. We'll see how it goes Randy
For scenics almost all of my keepers are from out of state. There are indeed some good ESS spots in Texas but not much near Houston except in the Spring when the flowers are out. For macro most all of my best are within 20 yards of my house. My wife has a green thumb and a love for butterflies so I have lots of little things close at hand. >=))>
Um, if I think of size of some states in US or Canada, except a few photos from Australia, everything from Norway to Slovenia fits your category, Guy . To be serious, I don't travel a lot and most of my favourite landscape photos are from Slovenia (read within a circle of 200 km from my doorstep). Birds are a whole different can of worms, but I will not open it right now .
For landscape I love to visit "same old" places over and over again. Weather is changing, seasons are changing, my ability to express is (hopefully) changing and my mood is changing. So it's plenty of opportunity to find new images on old locations (and family suffers less with me being a few hours walk/drive from home).
My most 'inspired' work is done when I am on the road and away from my usual routine. It is simpy that mey eyes and heart are more open to the good things going on around me. Rarely do I pull something 'out-of-the-hat" in my local area.
Personally, would rather eat a pickle, than be in a pickle. 'Course, if I died while eating a pickle, I would really be in a pickle. Hmmm.
I would say that at least 90% of my keepers come from the "local" area, for precisely the same reason you bring up. You can return to the same area to "improve upon" prior images. Many times during post processing I will look at something I want to do differently re: comp, different time of day, even different season - 2,000 miles away, pretty tough to go back and reshoot; 3 hours away, no problem. Locally, I can keep chipping away until the clouds are just right or the sunset more vibrant, etc.
Close to home! I am never successful in making "fine art landscapes" while travelling. I need to know the place and how it is affected by light. 90% of my best shots are shot within 10 kilometers from my previous home. Sadly now I have moved to a bigger town and find little inspiration close to my new home, but I take it as a challenge.
I do lots of photography when travelling too, but then as stock and snapshots. The good thing is that I can focus almost 100% on taking pictures and not have house chores and work stuff in the back of my mind.
My dream would be to live a remote and beautiful place in the Arctic where I could shoot just minutes away from a small cabin. Maybe some day....
Nice to see that you didn't forgot this place! When you'll have your cottage set up, let me know. Wherever this place will be, it'll still fit into "home state" by American standards (see my previous post ), so I'll be able to pull fine art photos too .
Will never forget NPN, just been struggeling to get my head above water for the last year with moving, building new personal and professional networks, new job and new camera... Yes, I've gone insane and bought a full frame digital... Barely got time to be online now that I need to learn all those new buttons, custom functions and RAW processing...
Posted by Tom Nevesely on July 13, 2006 at 12:04 PM
Almost all of my best shots are from "near home" - I'd say 80%. I think it's because I get to visit the locations in all different conditions - season, light, etc. When travelling I often feel rushed and Ioften feel that I have to take what I can get. If I'm travelling with photography as my primary goal I tend to feel more relaxed and focused and I produce better images.
One more thought on this after shooting some flora shots this morning. I think with new locations (or new subjects such as flowers) we are often awed enough by the beauty that we see that we do not take photos that are different or very that evoke emotion - just because wee are trying to take in the beauty. Familiarity with an area or a subject IMO makes us take those different shots....
Well no wonder practically all of yours are taken close to home, Guy. Look where you live
Don't confuse the chicken and the egg, Will. I live here because I got tired of making sporadic visits. I realized I need to be near these places because I love them.
While living in California for several years I made repeated trips to Utah. Not a single image from that period is as good as what I've been able to do since moving here.
Spicy pickles? My mom makes habanero dill pickles (I am not joking) and they are excellent. Just enough kick to be good...but not too much. Anybody want to try some? Maybe we can arrange a print for pickels swap!
Nathan, I might swap you some for that printer. Seriously
Guy
Posted by Robert Helms on July 13, 2006 at 11:29 PM
I'd have to say 70% of my best images come from my home state. Granted the state isn't a photographers dream, but I have learned to see it in a new way.
I was just out this morning shooting images in an area I had visited literally dozens of times and found an image I had walked by each and every time without ever having noticed. Four of the images that are going up on my site were all taken in this area and within a hundred yards of each other.
When I travel I get a few decent images here and there, but since time is always limited it really makes it difficult to get anything to get really excited about. Most of my trips are taken with hiking and scenery in mind more so than photography. I may set up for a sunrise/set that doesn't happen or maybe the wind is blowing and I'd rather hike farther along the trail than sit and wait for it to lay. I usually save my photography trips for my second visit to a state or location.
I went to the Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks last year and both of these are gorgeous locations ripe with photo ops. and I don't believe I brought home one image that is going up on my site. From a photography perspective that really isn't encouraging, but I wanted to experience these places more than I wanted to sit and wait on the light. Though in some instances the light just didn't happen. One just can't control the weather. I was in the Narrows of Zion and once you got far enough upstream away from the masses the place just takes on this peaceful, raw beauty, but yet I didn' t get one image that is portfolio bound. The water was a little high and very dirty making the area not so pleasing for photography, but very rewarding in every other way.
Now my next visit to Utah will be with more photography in mind and the same goes for Colorado and every other state I've been fortunate enough to visit. The Grand Canyon I don't really see myself going to again, but Utah and Colorado I certainly will.
Travel photography is really just difficult unless photography is the reason for the travel ,and even then it still has it's limitations.
Posted by Richard Wong on July 14, 2006 at 9:49 PM
I don't know about percentages and quality, but either way I feel more emotionally attached to images from my home state of California. I could have all my best images from outside of California, but I'd still be more attached to my California images. Being able to selectively time your trips close to home also plays a factor.
I love traveling more than anything else, so usually I'm more concerned with enjoying the experience and the company of whomever I'm with than spending every sunrise and sunset getting the best photo ops though I will try to arrange things in a way that I could conveniently get to certain spots at those special times as long as it does'nt compromise the trip for anyone else. Photo trips are a different story, as my whole attention is devoted to photography.
For landscapes, most of my "wow" shots are from out-of-state. Oklahoma does have some nice landscape shots, but it is much easier to shoot awesome landscapes even on a short trip to the Columbia River Valley or the Rockies than at our best shot.
But for other types of shot, the familiarity factor comes through. I'm making a project of collecting shots of exotic reptiles, most of which I shoot at zoos. I've been to a BUNCH of zoos as I traveled, but a large portion of my excellent reptile shots are at L'il Ole Oklahoma City Zoo. (The fact that we have a pretty good reptile collection does help, but not enough to explain the overweighting).
Even in a restricted zoo environment, for our particular zoo I know intimately which animals are particularly interesting, have "I want to shoot that" ideas for some creatures so I pay close attention when they seem on the verge of fulfilling one of my ideas, and if one of the animals is particularly active on a day when I'm there, I am quite content to sit and watch him for an hour--In a new, wonderful place, I'd feel the impulse to explore and get "full coverage", but here I know I have good shots of nearly all the creatures already, and can always come back for any I don't get. So I'm willing to take the time to be patient. I don't have those options in an unfamiliar zoo.
I would estimate that 98% - 99% of my "keepers" are within 40 miles of my home. Here are 3 primary reasons why:
1) I live in a raw, wild, beautiful area with a minimal population.
2) I don't have much time or opportunity to travel. Its hard to photograph those "other places" if you don't go there!
3) Despite the beauty of the area, the unique light and special conditions that make interesting photos rarely happen while you're just passing through. To harvest a lot of good photos from a locale, you have to spend a lot of time there and learn to anticipate the conditions that work best for each little area. Living there tends to make that a lot easier
Posted by Leann Greene on July 17, 2006 at 5:46 AM
Great topic....Near Home (95%)more specificly within 1 hour of my house..It is non park spots that I can just get up early for or stay late for and then the self pressure is off to make the trip worth it. No waiting for gates to open,not much gas invested and it allows me to melt into the scene more.
Probably 98% of my "winners" are from out of state locations... far, FAR out of state, requiring air travel or multi-day road trips. LOL Northern Illinois is not exactly a prime landscape destination, you know what I mean? It's safe to say that I live in something of a concrete jungle where strip malls outnumber scenic wonders 1000 to 1.
To be sure, my photography (and my soul) would thrive if I lived admidst natural beauty. Unfortunately, that is not possible in my present situation. However, at some future point, I definitely want to live in a scenic location. One of these days... ah a girl can dream...
But on the positive side, travelling with the express purpose of devoting 8 to 12 solid days to nothing but photography really does push my creativity to new levels, forcing me to see hidden possiblities and look at everything wth fresh eyes.
And to those who say they have trouble getting to know the quirks of a distant location well enought to really capture its essence... I understand that, but I would just say that exhaustive research into the weather patterns, topography, sun/moon rise/set times, tides, tempertures, road conditions, personal accounts, etc. all combine to actually make me almost feel like I know those distant lands almost better than I know my home.
Discussion
40 repliesOut of cusiousity, what ratio of images in your portfolio (as in the ones you consider the "cream of the crop") were made in your home or neighboring states (or the state you lived in when you made them) vs. ones captured while traveling?
For me, with maybe 1-2 exceptions, practically all are close to home.
Guy
It's an interesting question Guy, because most photographers report the difficulty of shooting close to home. If you want to see how much you are missing, vist take a visting photographer to your familiar haunts. They'll shoot things you have been overlooking.
Another point I'm curious about is people's experience with getting a "keeper" in a new or seldom visited place. I personally have a hard time getting anything good without going back several times.
Actually let me clarify that - anyone can hit Oxbow Bend or Delicate Arch for the first time and get a great image. I'm wondering about unique and not previously known situations.
Guy
35 out of 50 are in my state or withing one bordering...
I got some great stuff during my only visit to Utah when I shot with you. Out of the ordinary stuff too...
Other areas though I feel like I get good shots the first time I go there (my 'keeper' standards are a bit on the low side though...
Nathan
Scott
Virtually all of mine are from my home state. I believe that an intimate knowledge and relationship with a place is a much more fulfilling experience than simply photographing far off exotic places. Returning time after time, in different weather and seasons is very enriching and something I place a lot of value in. There is ALWAYS something changing and available to photograph. Even in locations that most of you westerners would probably scoff at
Ok, the leaves me only option. And I try to get keepers (although from my POV).
Guy
I wish I could get more inspired in my hometown. People come from all over the world to visit here, but it just doesn't get me up and going. I defnitely feel more inspired on road trips, whether in CA or elsewhere.
BTW, thanks for the info. I will avoid pickles from now on. These days, anything can kill you.
I would say most of my images are from Alberta. But I would not consider all of them close to home. Alberta is big. (Like Texas!
Will
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
Still, I love to travel and see/photograph new places
I found myself a couple years ago getting into a rut when working on stock photography because I was getting way too caught up in the "capture, conquer and move on" mode. Things got much better when I decided to not worry about how much coverage I got in a certain region and planned trips where I may stay in each area for a few days at a time.
I just have a real passion for photographing an area real completely. This year I began a project here at home. I'm working on spending the whole year here and have many projects lined up afterwards based on "a year in the life of" the forest where I live.
It has been so much fun I've decided to try and do this in a different area--all within the rocky mountain region I live in--four states and one province--over the next twenty years. My plan is that every other year I'll focus on one particular region like I'm doing here. We'll see how it goes
For landscape I love to visit "same old" places over and over again. Weather is changing, seasons are changing, my ability to express is (hopefully) changing and my mood is changing. So it's plenty of opportunity to find new images on old locations (and family suffers less with me being a few hours walk/drive from home).
Marko
Personally, would rather eat a pickle, than be in a pickle. 'Course, if I died while eating a pickle, I would really be in a pickle. Hmmm.
-PB
I do lots of photography when travelling too, but then as stock and snapshots. The good thing is that I can focus almost 100% on taking pictures and not have house chores and work stuff in the back of my mind.
My dream would be to live a remote and beautiful place in the Arctic where I could shoot just minutes away from a small cabin. Maybe some day....
Nice to see that you didn't forgot this place! When you'll have your cottage set up, let me know. Wherever this place will be, it'll still fit into "home state" by American standards (see my previous post
Marko
Nathan
Don't confuse the chicken and the egg, Will. I live here because I got tired of making sporadic visits. I realized I need to be near these places because I love them.
While living in California for several years I made repeated trips to Utah. Not a single image from that period is as good as what I've been able to do since moving here.
Guy
Guy
Nathan
...Indian Food! Make mine Bartha with a side of hot pickle chutney
Guy
I was just out this morning shooting images in an area I had visited literally dozens of times and found an image I had walked by each and every time without ever having noticed. Four of the images that are going up on my site were all taken in this area and within a hundred yards of each other.
When I travel I get a few decent images here and there, but since time is always limited it really makes it difficult to get anything to get really excited about. Most of my trips are taken with hiking and scenery in mind more so than photography. I may set up for a sunrise/set that doesn't happen or maybe the wind is blowing and I'd rather hike farther along the trail than sit and wait for it to lay. I usually save my photography trips for my second visit to a state or location.
I went to the Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks last year and both of these are gorgeous locations ripe with photo ops. and I don't believe I brought home one image that is going up on my site. From a photography perspective that really isn't encouraging, but I wanted to experience these places more than I wanted to sit and wait on the light. Though in some instances the light just didn't happen. One just can't control the weather. I was in the Narrows of Zion and once you got far enough upstream away from the masses the place just takes on this peaceful, raw beauty, but yet I didn' t get one image that is portfolio bound. The water was a little high and very dirty making the area not so pleasing for photography, but very rewarding in every other way.
Now my next visit to Utah will be with more photography in mind and the same goes for Colorado and every other state I've been fortunate enough to visit. The Grand Canyon I don't really see myself going to again, but Utah and Colorado I certainly will.
Travel photography is really just difficult unless photography is the reason for the travel ,and even then it still has it's limitations.
I love traveling more than anything else, so usually I'm more concerned with enjoying the experience and the company of whomever I'm with than spending every sunrise and sunset getting the best photo ops though I will try to arrange things in a way that I could conveniently get to certain spots at those special times as long as it does'nt compromise the trip for anyone else. Photo trips are a different story, as my whole attention is devoted to photography.
But for other types of shot, the familiarity factor comes through. I'm making a project of collecting shots of exotic reptiles, most of which I shoot at zoos. I've been to a BUNCH of zoos as I traveled, but a large portion of my excellent reptile shots are at L'il Ole Oklahoma City Zoo. (The fact that we have a pretty good reptile collection does help, but not enough to explain the overweighting).
Even in a restricted zoo environment, for our particular zoo I know intimately which animals are particularly interesting, have "I want to shoot that" ideas for some creatures so I pay close attention when they seem on the verge of fulfilling one of my ideas, and if one of the animals is particularly active on a day when I'm there, I am quite content to sit and watch him for an hour--In a new, wonderful place, I'd feel the impulse to explore and get "full coverage", but here I know I have good shots of nearly all the creatures already, and can always come back for any I don't get. So I'm willing to take the time to be patient. I don't have those options in an unfamiliar zoo.
1) I live in a raw, wild, beautiful area with a minimal population.
2) I don't have much time or opportunity to travel. Its hard to photograph those "other places" if you don't go there!
3) Despite the beauty of the area, the unique light and special conditions that make interesting photos rarely happen while you're just passing through. To harvest a lot of good photos from a locale, you have to spend a lot of time there and learn to anticipate the conditions that work best for each little area. Living there tends to make that a lot easier
Probably 98% of my "winners" are from out of state locations... far, FAR out of state, requiring air travel or multi-day road trips. LOL Northern Illinois is not exactly a prime landscape destination, you know what I mean? It's safe to say that I live in something of a concrete jungle where strip malls outnumber scenic wonders 1000 to 1.
To be sure, my photography (and my soul) would thrive if I lived admidst natural beauty. Unfortunately, that is not possible in my present situation. However, at some future point, I definitely want to live in a scenic location. One of these days... ah a girl can dream...
But on the positive side, travelling with the express purpose of devoting 8 to 12 solid days to nothing but photography really does push my creativity to new levels, forcing me to see hidden possiblities and look at everything wth fresh eyes.
And to those who say they have trouble getting to know the quirks of a distant location well enought to really capture its essence... I understand that, but I would just say that exhaustive research into the weather patterns, topography, sun/moon rise/set times, tides, tempertures, road conditions, personal accounts, etc. all combine to actually make me almost feel like I know those distant lands almost better than I know my home.