The Benefits of Photographing Close to Home

When I first started exploring photography, I was under the impression that to create compelling images, I needed to travel somewhere extraordinary (an epic mountain range, the Icelandic coastline), or capture incredible light. But over time, I realized that some of the most rewarding images (and lessons) come from photographing close to home.

There’s something special about getting to know your local landscapes; the way light interacts with them, their shifts through the seasons. Whether it’s the rocky cliffs at Lighthouse Park, the beautiful forests of Golden Ears Provincial Park, or the mist-covered trails in North Vancouver, returning to familiar places has taught me more about photography (and patience) than any single trip.

Practice Makes perfect

Photographing close to home means you can practice, a lot. Without the pressure of capturing a portfolio-worthy photo, you have the freedom to experiment. You can try different compositions, exposure settings, lenses, or creative approaches without worrying about missing a rare moment.

The more time I spend shooting, the more intuitive my camera becomes. The camera should not be in the way of taking photos, so the more practice with it in different settings, the more it becomes a natural extension of your photography experience.

When you’re photographing nearby locations, you can visit them over and over, refining your technique and sharpening your eye with every visit.

Seeing Familiar Places in Unfamiliar Ways

One of the best parts about revisiting the same area is seeing it under completely different conditions. A bright summer morning can transform into a moody winter scene. A forest trail you’ve walked many times looks totally different under fog or fresh snow.

Each visit reveals something new: a shift in light, color, or atmosphere that you hadn’t noticed before. These changes teach you to anticipate how a location responds to weather and time of day, helping you predict when conditions might align for a special image.

Over time, you start to know the landscape ; when the tide is just right at Lighthouse Park, or when to expect morning mist in the forest.

Training your Eye and Building a Connection with Place

When you photograph close to home, you’re challenged to find new ways of seeing something you’ve seen countless times. You start noticing small details: the texture of bark, the way shadows fall across moss-covered rocks, mushrooms and moss on the forest floor. Sometimes, weather events create lasting changes in the landscape, changing what you might have known and creating whole new photographing opportunities.

This practice of observation — slowing down, looking closer — has definitely sharpened my eye. I’ve always found composition to be the greatest challenge in photography, so practicing different compositions has played an important role in honing my skills.

Over time, I’ve realized that photography isn’t about where I am, but more about how I see my surroundings. When you spend time in the same forests, mountains, or coastlines, you form a genuine relationship with those places. You begin to care more deeply about their preservation and appreciate the subtle rhythms of nature.

I find that that connection often translates into my images, and hopefully viewers can feel when a photographer truly knows and loves their subject.

Reducing Barriers to Creativity & Creating a Personal Body of Work

Shooting close to home removes so many of the obstacles that can get in the way of creativity — the cost of travel, the logistics, the pressure to produce something “worthy” during an expensive trip. You can simply grab your camera, step outside, and take photos. You might also step out and return with no photos, but still have a meaningful experience exploring, learning, and connecting with the landscape.

As you build a collection of images from your surroundings, patterns begin to emerge — your interpretation of light, your favorite compositions, the themes that pull you back again and again. Over time, these photos can form a cohesive body of work and may even lead to photography projects.

For me, that has meant a better understanding of my natural surroundings and my photography preferences. I’ve learned that:

• I prefer long lenses and focal lengths, even for landscape photography

• I have location and subject preferences, regardless of how many times I’ve visited an area; I will go out of my way to find lone trees or extreme light and shadow contrast

• I’ve learned that I can still create unique photos, even after many visits to the same locations

I hope this inspires you all to go out and shoot somewhere close to home!