POLL - home town photography

[Damien_Demolder]

It's easy to be inspired when you are away from home as everything you see is new and different - and you want to photograph it. Many of us forget to take pictures in the places we live and visit everyday, either because we are so used to these places we don't 'see' them anymore, or we just consider them to be uninteresting.

I always felt I had to 'go somewhere' to take pictures, which usually involved a car trip or traveling away from the area, but recently I've been making a more conscious effort to shoot close to where I live. I've found some nice places I didn't know about, and others that, with a bit of effort, can produce good pictures.

Do you feel the need to travel to take good pictures?

Head to the home page to vote in this week's poll - Do you feel you need to travel to get good pictures?

Thanks all for playing.

damien

[bench_ubbster]

I do most of my photographic experimentation in my home town. I wouldn't call it inspiring, but some of the experiments work other times they don't, but consequently , for me, it is the most photographed place. Always trying out different techniques and POVs.

So, no, good (and bad ) pictures can be found anywhere

[Scphoto]

I shoot a lot in Birmingham, but like to travel as our mountains aren't as good [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[TheFatControlleR]

I'm not sure I can make 'my hometown can look nice' but I can, perhaps, make it look inneresting.

[ChrisBrookes]

As it happens I went out yesterday with my camera, and shot the Shut shops of Oswestry! its amazing what you can spot when you look, though I did get cheesed off with people staring at me, as if they had never seen a person with a camera before, and people assume you are some sort of press person or something, why don't people understand recreational photography?

[Carrie]

None of the available options really sum up how I feel. My town has some really nice areas (and some not so nice) and I'm lucky enough to live within walking distance of some 'not bad' bits photographically speaking.

I don't need to travel to take photos but there's a heck of a lot that I can't do without getting in the car, and it would get a bit boring to photograph the same area too often, even allowing for trying different aspects and styles.

Visiting new places is part of the fun of photography for me, so whilst I don't always need to travel, sometimes it's the best choice.

[Steve]

I like to travel to photograph new things...but I don't feel like I NEED to.

I just wish I was a better photographer to make use of what I have in my home town

[colindavis]

I wouldn't say I lived in a photo paradise but where I live is a coastal town and former seaside resort on the west coast of Scotland so lots of photo opportunities. There is lots of local history to explore but I do tend to think of Ayrshire as my home turf as ma wee toon (Saltcoats) is quite small though the ever changing Big Issue sellers outside Sainsbury's provide ongoing local interest.

Colin

[Zou]

Edinburgh is certainly a photo paradise.

[Hotblack]

Travelling can certainly re-invigorate the photographic juices. Familiarity with my hometown is the biggest problem. In some regards I get contemptuous of it as I think I have photographed everything there is to be photographed in an interesting way. It just means I have to look harder for something new.

Sometimes I feel the need to travel even though I know I can work harder to find something different in my home location.

[chris000]

I photograph a lot in my local area but not much in my local town which is Salisbury. Once you have photographed the Cathedral (usually complete with scaffolding!) it does not have a huge amount to offer. If I'm going to photograph in an urban environment I prefer modern architecture with or without people juxtaposed - what little modern architecture Salisbury has is really pretty uninspiring.

[Bettina]

I did actually go on a day-trip to Ireland the other day and wrote about this venture in my new blog: Clickety Click

The ticket was cheap so there was no excuse. I live in London, so that's a great place, too, if the weather's good.

[Fire_Monkey]

I like to travel to photograph new things...but I don't feel like I NEED to.

I just wish I was a better photographer to make use of what I have in my home town

^^^^^WHS^^^^^^^

Also, when you travel, most people have cameras, so you don't feel as obvious!

[Wheelu]

I am fortunate in that within reasonable cycling distance there is a great variety of subject matter available, ranging from a stunning coastline and rivers, through historic buildings to run down industrial relics. Even re-visiting the same sites the changing quality of the light creates new possibilities. The advantage of shooting in your own patch is that you get to know the best spots and times of year/day to operate. If you can't take good shots on home territory you really have little chance of doing it elsewhere.

Of course going to a new location is exciting and challenging, but you are in the lap of the gods re the weather or discovery of viewpoints. Luck becomes a much more significant factor.

[AlanW]

Edinburgh is certainly a photo paradise

Yep, that's the box I ticked,
though the tourist shots I leave for the tourists

[zx9]

When not on site I am working from home so if it's a bit quite and the mood takes me I will slope off for a hour or two. About half of my photographs were taken within 30mins. walk from home. In reply to Bettina's comments about good weather, this month I missed the snow, I was working in Cardiff that day, but I have enjoyed hard frosts, fog and sunny days. I am waiting for a morning of heavy rain to take pictures of the commercial dog walkers in the local park so the thought of 'good weather for photography' in my book should be 'weather for photography'.

[LargeFormat]

Well over thirty years ago I did a photographic study of the town I live in. There have been so many changes since that it has almost become a historical record.

[El_Sid]

I don't feel the need to travel to get pictures - indeed when I do go far away and take pictures I seem to go into holiday mode and end up mostly with tourist snaps, partly I suspect this is because unfamiliarity with the location leads me to take the obvious rather than the interesting or unusual. At club (actually both clubs) last week Paul Foley, a landscape tog, was showing his work and it's his feeling that you need to get familiar with a place to really do it photographic justice.

If you look at the pictures on my Fotopic sight practically all the pictures are locally sourced - of course whether I do the places justice is another issue altogether..............

[Benchista]

There are pictures to be taken anywhere. Yes, some places will deliver some subjects better than others, but there's always something. When I first started photography, I lived in Leeds. There was at the time a lot of old back-to-back housing that was demolished soon after - it would've made for great pics. As it is, there are still lots of terraces that march up hillsides, all in a brick particular to the city. There's plenty of Victorian architecture. There are loads of parks, some suitable for landscape photography. There's the butterfly house. There's loads of modern architecture. There's plenty of scope for street photography. In short, you can do most sorts of photography getting around the city by bus. I then lived in Birmingham for quite some years, and it shares many of the above characteristics with Leeds. I've lived in Edinburgh, which is almost certainly the best place I've lived for photography - whatever the genre. Not many cities with a mountain in the centre, for a start...
And I've lived in Kenilworth for two spells now. OK, it's not great for street photography, if that's your thing, but there's planty of architecture - the castle, the remnants of the abbey, half-timbered houses, plenty of 60s carbuncles which are not without photographic interest, and some brand new developments. There are several nature reserves, with one of the best bluebell woods in England, and the possibility of lots of butterflys, the odd adder, muntjac deer and so on. I've seen a kingfisher, and plenty of woodpeckers and herons in my garden. Woods, fields, meadows, rivers - you name it, there's something there. Of course not always very dramatic, but very English. I should shoot a lot more locally.

[snowqueen]

I like to travel to photograph new things...but I don't feel like I NEED to.

I just wish I was a better photographer to make use of what I have in my home town

Me to ....