Why not? Ok, ‘why not’ won’t be tallied as an official reason to photograph in your own backyard, but seriously, why not? Especially now as landscapes in many locations are brushed by the aesthetics of winter, critters are/and will become more active, and many of us are limiting our interactions with the world as we continue to move through this pandemic.
In a number of recent Backcountry Journeys articles, we’ve hinted at the notion of getting out there and photographing, even if you are unable to travel. This keeps coming up of late because, frankly, we’re all hyper-antsy to get out and to do some photography, and aren’t traveling as our schedules would normally dictate. We all want to photograph, because that is who we are and what we do, right?
Most folks reading this can commiserate with having a photography trip (or two) canceled over the past year and, as such, might have their camera gear stored away accumulating dust. With travel still uncertain we have to look to other avenues in which to get our photography ‘fix.’
Why wait for a trip to work on your photography? No matter where you live there is more than likely something out there, be it landscapes or wildlife, that is worthy of having its picture taken by you.
Personally, I’ve been spending a great deal of time with my long lens at a local wetland here in Flagstaff where a pair of Bald Eagles have been joined by a number of geese, ducks, and heron. I even tracked a Road Runner, which is quite rare in northern Arizona.