Does Photographing Famous Locations Make You a Better Photographer?

There are some extremely popular and well-known landscape photography locations out there, so much so that they are essentially bucket list items for a lot of people. When they are that popular, though, is there any point in photographing them? This excellent video essay features an experienced landscape photographer discussing the topic. 

Coming to you from Steve O'Nions, this awesome video essay discusses if photographing iconic landscape locations will make you a better photographer. I think the problem is that when a location is so popular, pretty much every conceivable combination of conditions, lighting, season, angle, and composition have been photographed (and you have likely seen most of those combinations), as such, it is about impossible to create something new, which makes it questionable if you will gain much from it as a photographer. That being said, if you are going just for the experience of it without expectations, then certainly, go and enjoy yourself! However, if you are looking to improve, there might be better ways to spend your time and money. Check out the video above for the full rundown from O'Nions.

And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out "Photographing The World 1: Landscape Photography and Post-Processing with Elia Locardi." 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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2 Comments

At this point, is it even possible to get an original photo of the Grand Canyon or Sedona? Or even Horseshoe Bend?

Yes! You'll be legend. In your own mind.