Respecting Spaces In Landscape Photography

As a general rule, landscape photography is a solitary sport, unless, of course, you are shooting in a well-known location or at a spot popular with non-photographers. In such cases, you may find yourself having to share the spot with others, and this is where problems can occur.

In his video, Australian photographer Izzy Abuleela shares his thoughts on how we should be tolerant of others while shooting, rather than getting annoyed by their proximity.

Is it a choice? We've all likely experienced this scenario: you have your perfect composition dialed in, and just as you're about to press the shutter, someone walks into your frame. Or worse, they notice your setup and position themselves right next to you to capture the same scene.

How do you react to this? Do you give them a piece of your mind? Shout at them to get out of your frame? Or do you continue on your own mission, knowing that you can always clone them out, or are you happy to share the location with your kindred spirit?

It's certainly easy to get annoyed, and finding patience is harder. However, the choice you make can either enhance your experience or destroy it. Ultimately, it's your choice at the end of the day.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you have examples of how you had good or bad experiences? Let's continue the conversation in the comments below.

Darren Spoonley's picture

Darren J. Spoonley, is an Ireland-based outdoor photographer, Podcaster, Videographer & Educator with a passion for capturing the beauty of our world.

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1 Comment

The title of the article is "Respecting Spaces in Landscape Photography", but the video is not about that - it is about how to photograph this seascape with manmade structures in overcast conditions, with one small mention of a fisherman coming along, so he changed his position. Less than one minute about another person on the scene in a 17 minute long video. Even if it was about that one minute, that is about respecting other photographers, not the space itself. I wonder why the author entitled this article the way he did, as nothing in the video has anything to do at all with protecting, preserving, or respecting the area that the guy was photographing in.