There is nothing interesting to photograph around here!

[bmattock]

This is something I see quite often; not much on RFF, but other places I frequent. Some people take trips to distant lands or exotic locales in order to take what they hope will be beautiful and interesting photographs.

While it is certainly true that there are many breathtakingly beautiful places on Earth, and many of them are lovely to photograph, I am of the opinion that part of the job of the creative person is to find something to be creative with in whatever circumstances they find themselves.

Some complain about lack of gear. Having used cameras of similar quality and mechanical nature as famous photographers as Henri Cartier-Bresson, I can assure you that simply using the same type of camera as he used does not ensure interesting photographs will flow from you.

Some complain about lack of scenery. I truly do not know how that can be. I have seen wonderful photos of inner cities, rural areas, industrial complexes, barren deserts, snow-capped mountains, and just about everything in between. One thing I have noticed is that we humans tend to become accustomed to where we live; we start to take it for granted; it's not exciting or new or particularly photo-worthy to us. Take someone from outside our environment and plop them down in our backyard, and perhaps they would feel differently. Maybe we need to think about where we live and try to come at the issue with fresh eyes.

Some complain about the weather. While I agree that if you can't go out due to weather conditions, or if the weather simply isn't something photographable (like perhaps weeks of snow), there are many kinds of photography. Still life is an example, macro is another. Can you not set up a table and a couple of light sources and experiment with portraits or still life photos or macro shots of interesting things in your own home? I've seen amazing snowflake photos, waterdrop photos, pictures of billard balls and eggs and so on.

In short, I guess I would say that a photographer is a creative person, an artist if you will, who uses the camera and lens to produce creative output. Therefore, it is the job of the photographer to be creative about the photographic process. If where you live is not photographically interesting, find a way to make it that way. That's creativity in a nutshell.

Or buy a ticket to Rome, if you feel you must. But I just wanted to point out that there are alternatives.

😀

 

[skopar steve]

I find myself looking for something different to photograph, or the need to go to an unfamiliar or exotic location to get inspired. Can't say "there is nothing to photograph around here!" as people are always photographing in front of my house.

From front of my house.




Back yard

 

[Oscuro]

This is something I see quite often; not much on RFF, but other places I frequent. Some people take trips to distant lands or exotic locales in order to take what they hope will be beautiful and interesting photographs....... But I just wanted to point out that there are alternatives. 😀

An editor that we both worked for in the '80s often remarked, "boring people get bored".

Cordialmente,
Mme. O.

 

[maxmadco]

Beautiful, thanks for sharing.

 

[Santtu Määttänen]

I find more things to photograph close to home after taking a trip away. It sort of opens eyes to see your surroundings again. Effect lasts months or even a year 🙂

 

[Prest_400]

Agreed on that. It used to happen to me long ago but nowadays (and for a long time since) I'm quite pragmatic and open.
I have been discovering photos around my neighborhood that I have obviated for long ago. Change the setting, and everything can change. Weather? Helps. Gear? I have a Fuji 6x9 but sometimes the iPhone is nuts, and a Polaroid is fun. Scenery? Heck, a night industrial scape. A seaside afternoon shot... So much around!

I find more things to photograph close to home after taking a trip away. It sort of opens eyes to see your surroundings again. Effect lasts months or even a year 🙂

Indeed! Perhaps it is the effect I have now... Tho I think I kept the ability.
Went to Sweden and NY in the lapse of a few months and sometimes it's the novelty that makes you think you are more creative.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

It is just harder to approach it locally. New place is easy, very easy.

 

[BlackXList]

One thing I have noticed is that we humans tend to become accustomed to where we live; we start to take it for granted; it's not exciting or new or particularly photo-worthy to us. Take someone from outside our environment and plop them down in our backyard, and perhaps they would feel differently. Maybe we need to think about where we live and try to come at the issue with fresh eyes.

This is absolutely the case for me, although I try to never leave the house without a camera, I almost never take anything in my immediate surroundings.

I'm sure I'm missing stuff, because my brain is lulled by the familiarity, but I'm always carrying a camera just in case something pops through.

 

[Spanik]

Oh well... each time I see something I think "if I only had a camera with me". And when I do have a camera along I think "why would I take a photo of that?". And those times I do think I should take a photo, have a camera along and do take a photo I think "Meh..." when I see the result.

 

[css9450]

Sometimes the creative bug gets away at the worst possible time.

I once drove three hours to take night photos in an old industrial city full of wonderful night scenes. But somehow during the long drive I lost the muse and so when I got there and drove around aimlessly and didn't find a single thing to photograph. Got home around 2 AM tired and frustrated. But I've since returned a couple times and done well, so clearly its a situational and attitudinal thing.

 

[BillBingham2]

It is just harder to approach it locally. New place is easy, very easy.

I look at the local stuff as much more fun. I can think about the current lighting conditions and come up with subjects that fit that look. I can just go for a drive/walk and keep my eyes open for a shape or a shadow I haven't seen before. I can think about what represent where I am and seek that out.

I find I don't have the time in new places to really get to know the lighting, the people to feel at ease with creating good pictures the way I do in a place I know/live.

B2 (;->

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I live in a midsize city in Indiana. I constantly hear photographer here say that there is nothing here to photograph; "its the most boring place on Earth." They just aren't opening their eyes. Even if they did, most of them have nothing to say anyway, and it would show in their work.

A boring landscape shot in the city of Fort Wayne.

This is not a rural area, it is in a city of 250,000 people. The property is on Bluffton Road, a commercial area lined with gas stations, fast food restaurants, discount tobacco stores, and rundown motels that rent rooms by the hour. This vacant lot is passed by thousands of cars a day, many belonging to people who live nearby, and many of them have never noticed this place.

 

[Swift1]

I live in a very small town. I can take my powerchair from one end to the other in under 5 minutes, I have gone out to take photos nearly 100 times in town and have been over every square inch of town, and despite that I usually find something worth photographing every time I go out.
I try to remind myself that there is always something worth photographing.

 

[Oscuro]

I live in a very small town. I can take my powerchair from one end to the other in under 5 minutes, I have gone out to take photos nearly 100 times in town and have been over every square inch of town, and despite that I usually find something worth photographing every time I go out. I try to remind myself that there is always something worth photographing.

di preciso!

 

[CSG123]

One of you pointed out the take on the old saying about familiarity breeds contempt. I often feel like I have to go somewhere else to take interesting photographs. Nothing could be further from the truth. What I need to do is reengage my brain and see the things that are before me.

Now, if you want to photograph specific places, you have no choice but to go to them. But even street photography can be done in small, boring towns; you just have fewer subjects to choose from.

I took this photo a few years ago and while it's technically a rather poor shot, I've always thought it was a good example of what's right in our back yard (mine is Twin Falls, ID).

 

[Keith]

If you're interested in composition, shapes, light, angles, varying depths of field etc you will always find photographs in any environment.

 

[Dpingr1]

I thought of Chris Crawford when I read this post, and I'm glad he weighed in -- nothing seems interesting in Indiana. It's as fascinating a subject as anywhere in Europe or Asia to me. Just look at Chris's pictures -- home can be more surprising than anywhere else.

 

[zauhar]

One of you pointed out the take on the old saying about familiarity breeds contempt. I often feel like I have to go somewhere else to take interesting photographs. Nothing could be further from the truth. What I need to do is reengage my brain and see the things that are before me.

Now, if you want to photograph specific places, you have no choice but to go to them. But even street photography can be done in small, boring towns; you just have fewer subjects to choose from.

I took this photo a few years ago and while it's technically a rather poor shot, I've always thought it was a good example of what's right in our back yard (mine is Twin Falls, ID).

Great image - I'm curious, what do you think is 'technically poor' about it?

Randy

 

[zuiko85]

I live in a midsize city in Indiana. I constantly hear photographer here say that there is nothing here to photograph; "its the most boring place on Earth." They just aren't opening their eyes. Even if they did, most of them have nothing to say anyway, and it would show in their work.

A boring landscape shot in the city of Fort Wayne.

This is not a rural area, it is in a city of 250,000 people. The property is on Bluffton Road, a commercial area lined with gas stations, fast food restaurants, discount tobacco stores, and rundown motels that rent rooms by the hour. This vacant lot is passed by thousands of cars a day, many belonging to people who live nearby, and many of them have never noticed this place.

Too right Chris. I live in Olympia, the capital of Washington state. Depending on where I stand (sometimes it has to be the middle of a road) and with a 200mm lens I can make the capitol dome appear to rise out of a dense forrest. Until just last year I lived just a block south of the capitol grounds and observed hundreds of tourists every year taking pictures from the same few perspectives, but as a resident and retired I have time to scout the whole area for somewhat more interesting angles. Sure, some of these are with up to a 400mm lens but many, perhaps half are with a standard angle lens. Strangely, even for downtown with crowded buildings I don't find much use for a wide angle shorter than 35mm.

 

[film4me]

I live in the middle of the prairies in Canada and for the longest time thought that it is one of the most boring places in the world for photography. That was until a few years back when I posted a few of my shots from around the local area on another photo site. Much to my surprise, a photographer from New York City commented on one of the shots and mentioned that she wished she could have the opportunity to go to such a beautiful place and have the chance to photograph. She went on to say how lucky she thought I was. It completely changed my perspective. I have only dreamed of going to New York with all the incredible photographic opportunities it would provide, but that one comment made me appreciate what I have in my own back yard.