Exploring your local area for landscape photography can be a surprisingly effective way to sharpen your skills and experiment with new techniques. While traveling to new, exotic locations often feels more rewarding, the familiarity of your home patch offers unique opportunities to grow and refine your approach.
Coming to you from Jason Friend Photography, this insightful video emphasizes the importance of practicing landscape photography close to home. Friend begins his shoot at one of his favorite bays, a location just a short drive away, but one he hadn’t visited for sunrise in years. He discusses how photographers often take their local areas for granted, falling into habits of photographing the same compositions over and over. Revisiting these places with fresh eyes, as though you’re a tourist, can help you break free of those habits. Friend notes how his fellow photographer, David Taylor, brought a different perspective to the same location, reinforcing the value of stepping outside your usual way of seeing.
One of the key points Friend highlights is the freedom local photography provides. Unlike a trip where you might only have a limited window to get your shots, shooting locally allows you to experiment without pressure. You can take creative risks, test out new gear, and explore different compositions without worrying about missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Friend demonstrates this by shifting his focus away from the obvious shots of St. Mary’s Lighthouse to explore less conventional angles. By doing so, he discovered new compositions that wouldn’t have occurred to him otherwise.
Local photography also allows you to revisit locations across different seasons, weather conditions, and times of day. Friend points out that knowing how a location changes with the tides, light, or weather is a significant advantage. This intimate familiarity gives you a better chance of capturing those fleeting moments of perfect light or unique atmospheric conditions. Taylor echoes this idea, noting how returning to familiar spots lets you notice new details and evolve your style over time.
A practical benefit of working locally is the chance to test gear in a low-stakes environment. Friend mentions how shooting near home is ideal for evaluating whether a new lens or piece of equipment suits your needs before committing to it for a trip. This experimentation can save you from potential frustration when photographing in less familiar locations. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Friend.
And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out our latest tutorial, "Photographing the World: Japan II - Discovering Hidden Gems with Elia Locardi!”
