Continuing my 10-Day Stay Out There challenge, today I want to talk about exploring new places.
The first step to staying out there, is getting out there. It might sound like an obvious notion, but because photography is such a vast topic it can be easy to fall down the rabbit hole and get caught up in endless online reading, without ever putting things into practice. I used to be guilty of this myself, but over time I’ve discovered that a day in the field with my camera, is worth weeks of reading and theoretical “what ifs” from the comfort of my home or office.
Today’s challenge is simply to get out there and explore a new place with your camera. When I need an extra kick of creative inspiration, this always does it for me. I happen to live in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to in the world (Whistler, British Columbia), but honestly, I sometimes struggle to create amazing images there. I’m so used to the scenery around me now that it doesn’t always light my fire. That’s why I recommend getting out to a new place with your camera. You don’t have to go far, but make it somewhere you’ve never been before.
The great thing is that these days I can still share images with all my followers from the road as I explore. Take this next image for example. I shot this with my new point and shoot camera, a Sony RX100 IV, last week while I was exploring the Kananaskis valley in Alberta, Canada. I was looking for grizzly bears and moose, but as I said yesterday, you should always take a photo when you feel inspired! I saw this bend in the road, pulled over and took a quick shot with my pocket camera. I’m a bit of a tech nerd, so this part is really cool for me…
So many cameras have built-in WiFi these days, including this Sony camera. I connected my phone to the camera over WiFi and imported the photo into Lightroom mobile to edit it. From there it can be shared to my blog, or any of my social media channels instantly. When I get home, the photo, along with the edits I made, is already in my Lightroom catalog.
Click to view larger.
I really want you guys to take these tips from the next few days, and get out there with your cameras! Send me the resulting photos via the social media accounts I listed above, and I’ll be happy to take a look and pass on my feedback.
