Here's a little winter scene from Germany, just to show something different. It's funny: I almost completely missed the photos from that folder in Lightroom and just accidentally stumbled over it today.
"Swans at the Salzachbruch" // Fuji S5pro, 1/2s @ ISO100, f/8, 105mm focal length (35mm-e)
Sometimes I have the feeling that everyone with a somewhat decent camera has to go to all the well-known places and make exactly "that" photo of it. In spring a friend said: "Hey, we're maybe going to Antelope valley! Because apparently, not enough photos of the California Poppies have been made yet." - he said that with a smile of course, but it pretty much sums up my feelings.
I'm not saying that I'm not "guilty", I surely committed one or the other "sin" in the sense of making all-too samey and cliche photos. But I wonder if the photographers who go there don't get the feeling that "everything has been done here already, so why bother?" - but on the other hand, if you go there, you probably just have to make "that" photo. The more I see, the more I wish to not got to these common and popular places and repeat what already has been done a million times.
When I found that landscape and nature photography would be my heart's photography subject and looked at all these "killer shots" from all these "killer locations" I felt somewhat hopeless - how would I ever be able to create something like this? But as I visited my familiar places more often, I began to realize that these places have a lot to offer, photography-wise.
What I learned from spending my time in an area of Germany that is lacking most of these "highlights" (Königssee was a two-hour drive - certainly not something you do every day) is that it is far more rewarding and pleasing to explore the surroundings of the area you live in and discover the beauty in the small and maybe hidden places with a camera. And the result and reward are photos that show something new and different.
It takes time, though. I still find it incredibly hard to go to a "new" place and make photos that I'm really happy with on the first visit. Maybe I'm lucky sometimes, but to really get to the essence of a place, to cover all of it's facets it requires a more thorough approach than just a one-time visit. Maybe that's the reason why there will be no part 2 for my "Exploration" post.
PS: Puffins, the waterfalls of Iceland, Monument Valley... the list goes on and on. :P
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