This is why you should photograph your local landscapes more often

Landscape photography can enrich your life in many ways. One of the most obvious perks is traveling to new locations, but do you always need to travel to get amazing shots? Well, you sure can, but there are also perks to staying in your hometown and shooting local landscapes. In this video, Mads Peter Iversen gives you five reasons to shoot your local landscapes.

1. It’s simpler

Obviously, it’s so much easier to shoot locally: there are no flights or long rides; you don’t need to worry about accommodation, car rental and other logistics. And of course, it’s also much cheaper. If you like to travel, all these things are not the end of the world and most of us don’t see them as problems. However, sometimes you don’t feel like organizing the trip, or you simply can’t afford it. Well, in those cases: your hometown or the nearest forest are waiting for you and your camera.

2. Honing your skills

Shooting locally allows you to train and hone your skills before you visit a new location. This way, once you travel to a new place, you can get more great photos and be well prepared for different techniques.

3. Appreciating your own surroundings

If you find your local landscape a bit boring, you can overcome that and focus on finding interesting compositions and subjects. Once you do, you’ll appreciate your own neighborhood way more. And photos from there will you feel closer to home if you get homesick on your travels.

4. Scouting the location

When you shoot locally, you have the chance of getting to know the location really well. This way, you can keep working out the shots you want to get. You can always return and shoot in different conditions and get the best out of the location.

5. You’re not a part of the oversaturated market

Unless you live in Iceland or a popular place like that, you’re not a part of the oversaturated market. It means that photos of your local forest, park, mountain or riverside are more unique and rarer than photos from world-famous landscapes. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t visit world-famous locations, but there’s less competition when you shoot locally.

I already wrote about “my landscape” and about the place by the river when I go over and over again. I believe that revisiting the same place can benefit your photography, and in my case – that place is a few kilometers from my home. And of course, I went there right after I bought a new lens last month.

I love traveling and I love taking photos in new cities, mountains I’ve never seen before, or forests I still have to explore. But my local landscapes are always there for me, even when I don’t feel like going anywhere or when I don’t have money to travel. And I believe it’s a good thing to remember that even these familiar local landscapes can provide way more than we may think.

[5 IMPORTANT reasons to do LOCAL landscape photography | Mads Peter Iversen]