Reposting 7 Tips for Photographing Around Home

Life has been a bit busy this week and I am hoping to get out to take some photos as well, so I thought for my post today I might repost an old one. I liked this post and it is something that I really believe in. I hope you enjoy it again, or for the first time.

7 tips for Photographing around home

The reality is you don’t have to travel to be a photographer or to take photos.

There seems to be this misconception that you aren’t a real photographer unless you go to Iceland or Africa, or somewhere else high profile. It is a load of crap really. Today I thought I would talk about it, or rather give you 7 tips as to why photographing around your home is a good idea.

Let’s just be clear, I don’t mean the house you live in, rather the area you live in. Let’s say in all directions with around a 2 hour drive. There are so many advantages and not really any disadvantages.

Let’s take a look at them:

1 – Reduce your carbon footprint

They say one of the worse things you can do for your carbon footprint is step on a plane. So every time you fly somewhere you are making that footprint worse. That’s not saying you can’t fly somewhere, but then maybe you need to work out how to reduce your footprint in other ways, so the plane travel isn’t as bad.

If you want to travel by plane, then perhaps consider how often you do it.

As we saw yesterday cruise ships are also really bad for the environment. They cause a lot of pollution and have the ability to land a heap of tourists in one place at a time.

When you photograph where you are then you are not creating that footprint. Your car isn’t going to be as big as the plane. It is even better if you carpool and travel with other people as well. Take friends with you when you go to take photos.

2 – Get to know the great spots

When you are around home you get to know the best places to take photos. Of course, they are often well known, and places that tourists will know about as well. However, you still get to take photos of them. You aren’t restricted by time and can go when you like.

One definite advantage is that you have the ability to shoot the location over and over again until you get a perfect image. This isn’t something that tourists can do.

3 – Learn about the secret spots

No matter where in the world you live there will be spots that are secret and only the locals really know about them, or have access. I live near a massive swampland. It is beautiful but basically unknown, so it is never overrun with tourists. Well, the tourists don’t know about it.

There are so many places that are like that. Tourists tend to go to the well known places and that’s it. Many are often only here for a short time as well. There are places around Melbourne you can often get to yourself for that very reason.

4 – Bad weather isn’t a problem

If I’m going somewhere to take photos and I wake up and the weather is crap, I stay in bed.

However, if I am travelling, I have to get up and put up with whatever the weather gives me. It may be the only time I get to take photos. There were many days on my last trip to New Zealand where the weather was really bad. Had to miss out on some things and because we were moving on we couldn’t reschedule.

When I’m here if the weather is not what I want, then I wait until it is. I have particular types of weather that I like to go out for and I can wait for it. Doesn’t really matter too much. This way I can photograph what I want in the weather I want. Brilliant.

5 – Photograph places through different seasons

Like the previous tip, you can pick what season you want to photograph in. Actually, that’s not true, it is more photographing in every season. You don’t have to choose just one like you do when you’re travelling. Well, that is unless you are very rich and can visit in each season. I don’t know many people who can do that.

You can do an amazing job as you photograph one place over the year in each season.

6 – On hand if something special happens

Every now and then something special might occur where you live and you can just go and take photos. You aren’t looking at it from a country or two away wishing you were there to take photos. It could be the aftermath of a storm or fires. Maybe a dam will empty a huge amount of water. I don’t know. It isn’t something I’ve done, but if you liked that sort of thing, you would be on hand to do it. Capture that unique moment.

7 – Photograph places without tourists

This would have to be one of the best things I think. Because time isn’t a problem you can wait to take photos. If there are a lot of tourists around you can go another day. You can work out days or times where it is likely there won’t be as many.

Of course, this is if you are photographing places that are well known. I know that the beaches around Melbourne and along the coast are a nightmare in January. So I don’t get anywhere near them. I know what time to get to the 12 apostles so they aren’t overrun with them.

These are the things that locals get to know and be aware of. It is amazing how secretive us locals can be as well.

Should you travel?

If you want to, of course, you should just do it responsibly.

I’ve decided that I will travel, but probably not out of Australia. I am going to make my country my travel destination. I want to see what is here. Not sure how much I will see but will give it a go.

So far I have done a lot to reduce my carbon footprint and that feels great. Still, I don’t want to be part of the problem, that is my choice.

Do you have any tips that I might have missed out on?

Gallery

So I am going to try and show lots of photos of places that are within that 2 hour drive or there abouts. There are a few, but I could have done a lot more. I love where I live and know I can get some amazing photos without having to go too far.