Good Pictures Are Everywhere
You need not be a globetrotter to take impressive photos. Start in your own backyard or take a walk down the street where you live. The great photographer Edward Steichen took hundreds of pictures of a tree near his home in Connecticut. “Each time I look at these pictures,” he said, “I find something new there. Each time I get closer to what I want to say about that tree.”
Make a list of different places, events, celebrations and seasonal changes that could provide picture opportunities close to home. While many people think that they have to travel to an exotic country to find exiting photography, the best pictures are often taken close to home. Close observation and a good understanding of subtle changes in your own environment will often yield the most powerful shots.
You don't need to go far to witness the effect of time. Simply look out your window or take a walk in a nearby park to discover seasonal changes in your own yard. You might even decide to take a series of shots of a particular outdoor scene to record the ways in which it changes with the seasons.
When you take pictures close to home, you have the advantage of understanding your situation better than when you are out of town or on vacation. Your familiarity will allow you to see and use elements that others might miss. Also, looking at your everyday world for new picture possibilities has the advantage of making your normal world quite interesting.
Photographer's Log
