Ever feel like you can’t come up with any ideas of things to take pictures of? You may be thinking to yourself that the only way you can take great pictures is by going off to some remote beautiful vacation spot or unusual city in order to find inspirational photographic elements. Well, we all can’t drop everything at a moments notice and fly off to an island in the middle of nowhere to find that great shot, but with a little thought and vision you might be surprised at the amazing things that surround you in the area you live in. Read further to see what I mean…
Last weekend I drove up hwy 14 to get some sunrise shots above Red Rock Canyon State Park. I thought it would’ve been the perfect time to take pictures because a storm front had just moved through California; usually that can create some really great cloud formations. Unfortunately the clouds I was hoping for didn’t appear. I did get some shots, but I wasn’t exactly happy with them.
When I got home from the drive up hwy 14, I walked through the corridors to my apartment and looked up. I saw the two open areas of the roof in the complex. The sky was blue with some interesting clouds floating by. The sun was also shining through the openings on part of the walls and I thought, “Hmm…that would make an interesting photo.” I put down my camera bag and took a few shots.
Once I got into the apartment and finished working on the photos of the sunrise from hwy 14, I looked at the photos of the roof openings I took at the apartment complex. You know what? I liked the apartment shots a lot more than the photos I took up hwy 14. I guess I never really thought that anything around me could have such nice photographic possibilities.
So, think about it. Look around the area you live in. What do you see? Do you look up at the sky often or at all? Try looking at things from different angles. Take the time to walk out the front door and look at the environment. Do you usually just walk out the door daily and not pay any attention to what’s around you? I know I do. Half the time I’m on the move and have other things on my mind. Just take the time to slow down and look at the things around your home. I bet you’d be surprised at what beautiful things are actually around you that would make great photographs.
