A thing I have learned from doing a lot of travel landscape photography is the value of photographing the local environment. Here, I present five reasons to go out and photograph the local landscapes and nature.
In my new video, I go for a walk in my local forest and present five reasons why you should photograph your local landscape. One reason I emphasize is your ability to get to know your local landscape very intimately. You have much more time to explore, photograph, evaluate, and re-shoot a specific scene and composition. On top of that, you get to choose what conditions in which you want to photograph the scene, as you can just wait for different or optimal weather. Throughout the year, I have really enjoyed returning to the same scenes from summer, through autumn, to winter. We have yet to get some snow and frost, but I know exactly where to go when those conditions happen. You also get to compare the scene throughout the year and might experience some unforeseen revelations. In my case, I found many of my favorite forest compositions to work the best with green leaves instead of autumn colors, something that surprised me quite a lot.
Another reason to photograph the local landscape is economical. Besides it being physically easier, your wallet might also thank you for not dealing with flights, accommodation, and rentals. It is a big expense you can cut away. There is a big chance it is easier to sell prints of your local landscape to the local population. Not many people outside of the landscape photography community care about an epic photo of a mountain and waterfall in Iceland surrounded by northern lights. They would much rather have a photo of something they can relate to.
Check out the video above. Maybe you know of more reasons to photograph the local landscapes; let me hear your thoughts below.