Which State is the Best State for Landscape Photographers to Live?

[tax888]

Every state has something to offer LF photographers, and good photographers can make great images anywhere, but the question is asked in our Large Format forum what the best state is for LF photographers to live in. Please consider following facts:

Weather
Cost of living
State income tax and |Real estate tax
Number of National Parks
Workshop or large format community
Death rate of coronavirus

and more you can think of ......

[Pops]

In my mind California ticks most of the boxes, except cost of living. Lots of variety there. Arizona would probably be second.

I’m trying to figure out how to make the most of my regional offerings.

[Two23]

Every state has something to offer LF photographers, and good photographers can make great images anywhere, but the question is asked in our Large Format forum what the best state is for LF photographers to live in. Please consider following facts:

1. Weather
2. Cost of living
3. State income tax and |Real estate tax
3. Number of National Parks
4. Workshop or large format community
5. Death rate of coronavirus

and more you can think of ......


1. Montana. Has a four season climate. That's like getting to live in four new places without having to move. Each season has its own mood.
2. Montana. Affordable housing, food is low, sales tax is low.
3. South Dakota. No income tax at all. One of the reasons i moved here.
4. Montana. Yellowstone, Glacier, plus some nice state parks. More than that you have the great plains in the east. The Missouri River valley is spectacular and few outside the region know it.
5. Montana. Long a destination for photographers. FJ Haynes lived in Bozeman.
6. Montana, North & South Dakota, Wyoming. I wouldn't worry about that anyway over the mid to long term. I'll mention that most of the states in region never overreacted with "lock downs." I took the month of April off work and was driving hundreds of miles a day taking photos. Motels and restaurants were open if I wanted to use them.

If I was single I'd buy a smaller RV and just wander the Great Plains. It's so big I would never get to all of it. As for California, the best place to live there would be Reno.


Kent in SD

[C. D. Keth]

I have to say Utah is pretty good. 13 national parks dept. units (5NPs, 3 NMs, and some recreation areas and historic sites), 43 state parks. About 80% of land is publicly owner, either federally or by the state. Ecosystems range from alpine marshes to the famous redrock desert. Taxes are reasonable, there's probably 300 sunny days a year. I like it here.

[Vaughn]

California is totally messed up. Cost of living, hippies, earthquakes. Stay away.

[Drew Wiley]

Yep, stay away from California. Carnivorous deer, twelve-foot long venomous centipedes .... Forget that we have more National Parks and Wilderness Areas than any other state in the lower 48. Every inch of it is covered with million-dollar houses inhabited by Zombies and klepto surfers. Nothing to see here.

[Pechoretc]

If the question was posed more broadly: where is the best place to live for a photographer who takes landscapes in a large format, I would name only one place - the Republic of Tuva, located in Russia in southern Siberia near the border with Mongolia. My friend, an American photographer, visited there and said that Tuva is a mixture of Tibet and Wyoming, because Buddhist culture exists against the backdrop of untouched nature and a very small number of inhabitants ... For the past twenty years I have been there every year and take photographs. Some of my Tuvan pictures can be viewed here: http://rasfokus.ru/pechoretc/bestphoto.html
They can easily be identified by the plot among my other pictures - these are natural landscapes or some household items of Tuvans

[Bernice Loui]

Shark attacks, Mountain Lions, blood thirsty fleas & ticks, blood thirsty disease spreading mosquito A-plenty in California.. Scared yet?


Bernice

[tonyowen]

Ignoring the US-centric bias of the question the best State for landscape photography is the State of Mind that is open to, and welcomes, all types of vistas.

For instance, Russia, Antarctica and Canada are all bigger land masses that CONUS and Alaska combined, and have equally if not better/different type of topography suitable for landscape photography than CONUS and Alaska.

In terms of landscape photography, and leaving aside Russia, Antarctica and Canada, what about the Andes in southern South America, Iceland, Africa, Europe and Asia?

Regarding the question of the habitation, there are many locations that are more beneficial to quality of life than CONUS and Alaska.

A closed or limited mind-set is not conducive to landscape photography or any other aspect of human life.

Regards
Tony

[Drew Wiley]

My gosh, are we ever daydreaming now that we can't really fly anywhere! I must confess my own addiction to topo maps as a form of escapism, and printing old negs of wonderful places in the West I've been. But I can't complain. I had a great hike with my Norma yesterday, with wonderful natural softbox lighting over the velvety hills, with all the grasses transitioning as they dry out into luscious flavors of gold, green, and rust. No worries. Our vicious mountain lions and giant centipedes only eat people from out of state.

[C. D. Keth]

If the question was posed more broadly: where is the best place to live for a photographer who takes landscapes in a large format, I would name only one place - the Republic of Tuva, located in Russia in southern Siberia near the border with Mongolia. My friend, an American photographer, visited there and said that Tuva is a mixture of Tibet and Wyoming, because Buddhist culture exists against the backdrop of untouched nature and a very small number of inhabitants ... For the past twenty years I have been there every year and take photographs. Some of my Tuvan pictures can be viewed here: http://rasfokus.ru/pechoretc/bestphoto.html
They can easily be identified by the plot among my other pictures - these are natural landscapes or some household items of Tuvans

Why don't you live there?

[Kiwi7475]

If the question was posed more broadly: where is the best place to live for a photographer who takes landscapes in a large format, I would name only one place - the Republic of Tuva, located in Russia in southern Siberia near the border with Mongolia. My friend, an American photographer, visited there and said that Tuva is a mixture of Tibet and Wyoming, because Buddhist culture exists against the backdrop of untouched nature and a very small number of inhabitants ... For the past twenty years I have been there every year and take photographs. Some of my Tuvan pictures can be viewed here: http://rasfokus.ru/pechoretc/bestphoto.html
They can easily be identified by the plot among my other pictures - these are natural landscapes or some household items of Tuvans

Incredible place!

[Drew Wiley]

Viewing some of those shots does remind me both of Wyoming and our desert lake areas, like the Mono Lake area. But any place at least a thousand miles from the nearest McDonald's franchise would be photographic paradise.

[Jody_S]

My best LF landscapes are from 2 municipal parks within the boundaries of Montreal, 1 is about 500 yards from my house and the other is about 4 miles away. 3rd is the area west of Montreal where I lived for 25 years. The best state for LF landscape photography is the one you're in when you decide to make images. I haven't seen enough of the USA to answer the question and in any case my criteria would be quite different from the OP's. I don't like hiking for 3 days to get to where I want to take photos, nor do I care to drive for 5 hours hoping the light will be good when I get there. I won't comment on the other named factors.

I will say I don't enjoy watching out for various animals that could kill me, though I have spent time in polar bear country without worrying too much and the cold is just as much a killer as rattlesnakes or scorpions. The devil you know, I suppose.

[Drew Wiley]

A highway junction pancake house or sub sandwich shop can darn near kill you too. There's a reason you never see polar bears or mtn lions eating there.

[Bob Salomon]

Reno, CA?

[Drew Wiley]

Lots of people retire to the general Reno area, meaning not Reno itself, but more like the Carson City area slightly to the south, which has rapid access back into California via south Lk Tahoe and Hwy 50, usually even in winter. It's also right on Hwy 395 which runs the length of the east side of the Sierra, with rapid access to innumerable mountain trails and lakes. But poorer folk settle into scruffy mobile home communities further into bottomland sage areas, where it can get pretty hot and dusty. Nevada isn't for everyone, especially if you have allergies to rabbit brush etc. And most jobs there pay poorly, so most folks who do relocate there are retirees. But a bit up on the east side of the Sierras, around snowline and the aspens, it does offer certain scenic and outdoor amenities. But as far as the fact of Reno being in Nevada rather than CA, remember how Johnny Cash stated that if he had really shot a man in Reno, why would he have been in Folsom Prison in California - which he never was either, except for an entertainment event. My wife and I heard one of his last live events in Reno itself, which is only about 15 minutes from the CA state line.

[Corran]

The best state (or country) is one you are familiar with and have the ability to spend time both photographing and exploring what it has to offer. Any photographs made on a trip or brief visit, and ones shot at the "usual suspects" are probably going to be nothing more than retreads of other photographers. Really getting your camera out there and shooting/exploring constantly is how to make the best landscape photos.

I once read a harsh criticism about something I said here, about "learning" the place I was living. For some reason this person I guess thinks a photographer should be able to make jaw-dropping, award-winning, top-notch photos of any place they go immediately upon first experience. I find that to be complete BS. After years of shooting I've found that on average, my best photographs of a place come the 2nd or 3rd time I visit. Sometimes it's the first, because I got lucky and bagged a great shot or two, or the light/weather was really good, and sometimes I go to a place I feel has promise 4, 5, or 6 times and never really get a shot I am happy with.

I used to think GA was the most boring state in the world until I actually got off my ass and shot a few thousand photographs. Get out there and SHOOT wherever you are. Doesn't matter if it's Yosemite, the Everglades, or your neighborhood park.

[Vaughn]

Reno, CA?

As in...What's the difference except who owns the casinos?

[Drew Wiley]

Sometimes the same folks, Vaughn. Once the gambling interests in Reno and Vegas realized that they were going to lose some serious money to tribal gaming in CA, they decided to invest in them instead of continuing to fight them. But of course, that still involves competition. Among the many Indians kids I grew up with there were two 100% brothers who lived in the same shack, but are now respective treasurers of two completely different competing "tribes", which not only belonged to totally different language families in aboriginal times, but one of which was exterminated by the other over 300 years ago, and now has been resurrected by legislative fiat just to justify another immense casino. There's another casino right in the next city, within walking distance of us, which was a bowling alley before its history was reinvented by an act of Congress. No known authentic Indian habitation, and just another historical anomaly concocted for sake of casino taxation, and equally infiltrated by organized crime. Closed now, of course, due to the virus. So I guess the pimps, hookers, and loan sharks have applied for unemployment benefits.

[Mark Sampson]

The best US state for landscape photography is the place that you like. I'll suggest that all 50 have much to offer if you keep your eyes open- even though there are some few I've never visited. David Plowden loves the midwest and has done great work there. Of course California has been a mecca since the days of Muybridge and Watkins. Paul Strand and Paul Caponigro (among many others) did great work in New England. I've spent most of my life in the beautiful, if unspectacular, landscape of western New York State- and realized after I'd moved away that I'd barely scratched the surface. The late John Pfahl did a wonderful series on the Susquehanna river valley in Pennsylvania. There are countless other examples...Corran's comments are spot-on. There's a lifetime of work in front of you wherever you are, if you can see it. So go where the landscape inspires you, regardless of national parks, tax rates, camera clubs, or anything else. You'll find a way!

[reddesert]

My gosh, are we ever daydreaming now that we can't really fly anywhere! I must confess my own addiction to topo maps as a form of escapism, and printing old negs of wonderful places in the West I've been. But I can't complain. I had a great hike with my Norma yesterday, with wonderful natural softbox lighting over the velvety hills, with all the grasses transitioning as they dry out into luscious flavors of gold, green, and rust. No worries. Our vicious mountain lions and giant centipedes only eat people from out of state.

I'm okay with becoming food for mountain lions, giant centipedes, or even realtors - all part of the ecological cycle. But it's the poison oak I can't stand!

[Ironage]

I think it is tie between western South Dakota and Idaho. They both have unique and beautiful landscapes to offer without:

Crazy oppressive taxes and laws.
Huge populations of annoying people.
Expensive land.
Traffic.

The biggest advantage of these states is the character of their population. You want to live with good people. Also weather, variety is inspiring before your eyes and lens.

One caveat for Californians. Please do not consider these places because the locals will not accept you. Those who flee that state seem to want to turn their new state into California, or get home sick and return.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[scheinfluger_77]

I’m with two23 on this one, and would include Idaho. This is the area I grew up in and lived in my early life so yes in this case it’s US-centric. I’ve seen lots of cool photos from around the world, just not been there. We did take a trip to Israel 6 years ago and I think landscapes could be made there as well. I would see it as a challenge to work in an environment far removed from the inter mountain region in the US.

[Peter Collins]

New Mexico. Just over 2 million mostly hospitable people with 5 great cultures. So lots of lonely spaces. Many Hernandezes if you look closely. And--the light! Strong and mysterious.

[Michael Wellman]

For me it would be any state in the southwest. I'm in Texas which is a good place to live and has many different venues for landscape. Mountains to oceans, desert to green forest and swamp areas and has one of the largest bird population. It's also a great jumping off point to travel to NM, Utah, & Colorado.

[Tin Can]

The State of Mind

[bob carnie]

Ontario the last state to join has amazing lakes and rugged features.

[John Kasaian]

Disneyland?:rolleyes:

[Leszek Vogt]

The short answer is it's all about taste. Pretty much like cameras....looking for ideal. Some people don't mind dealing with tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, extreme heat/cold, massive humidity and probably 100 other negatives. Some turn these into quite interesting photos.

Not a good idea to come to Washington (not DC), unless you are into "walls" (not political). I mean sink holes, rain...and more rain, pot holes (bigger than NJ Turnpike)....yes, for some this becomes a wall. Did I mention rain ?

Les

[Alan Klein]

Wherever you go, there you are.

[Scyg]

Depends on what kind of landscape you want to photograph, I guess. If you're into the grand vistas of the Great Plains, you'd be wise to move there, or at least close by. If you want the Rockies, ditto - move there. Not sure what the tax questions have to do with landscape photography - If you want to photograph Yosemite, you're probably better off not living in Texas, no matter what the tax situation might be.

[Vaughn]

Yeah, the tax thing is a little strange, but I photograph light -- and that's everywhere. So it gets down to where I want to be...and I am here.

[tonyowen]

Ontario the last state to join has amazing lakes and rugged features.

I agree with the amazing lakes and rugged features but I thought that Ontario and all Provinces west would join the US in the 1970s after Charles De Gaulle's Vive le Québec libre on the balcony of Montréal City Hall. It caused a diplomatic uproar with Canada and inflamed the Quebec sovereignty movement.

At that time I was resident in Toronto; and it has not happened yet.

regards
Tony

[bob carnie]

I agree with the amazing lakes and rugged features but I thought that Ontario and all Provinces west would join the US in the 1970s after Charles De Gaulle's Vive le Québec libre on the balcony of Montréal City Hall. It caused a diplomatic uproar with Canada and inflamed the Quebec sovereignty movement.

At that time I was resident in Toronto; and it has not happened yet.

regards
Tony

Well right now we are considering letting Oregon, California, Washington to join Canada all immigration welcome up here.

I kind of like the Carolina's so they can come up here as well

[Greg]

For me New Hampshire. Recommend the book: Among the White Hills, the life and times of Guy L. Shorey. Especially admire the work he did with his 7x17 Korona in the early 1900s. Think of him driving around the White Mountains in 1906 in an open windowed car in the dead of winter to photograph a mountain view with his 7x17.... we have it so relatively easy now.

[William Whitaker]

State of Financial Readiness.

But seriously, as I read over all the responses, I was reminded of the fact that since retiring in 2014, I have taken jobs three times that have caused me to move west. I live in North Carolina, having always called that "home". But in 2015 I moved to Las Vegas to take a job. Nevada just doesn't inspire me. Sorry! And going somewhere interesting involves just too much driving. Although not as far as if I were to drive from NC! Then another job took me to the Central Coast of California. That was interesting. But that job didn't last and before I knew it I was back on I-40 to NC. Most recently I took a job that led me to the south burbs of Seattle. True, it's a beautiful area. If you can see it for all the cars. Then there was the cost of living... yikes! Didn't matter 'cause I got laid off in February.
How about my home state of NC? Well, yes. We do have some fairly scenic and visually interesting areas here. The Appalachian mountains are beautiful. But I've always found it extremely challenging to find a scene, a composition, that moves me. We do not have the Grand Vista that the Southwest and so many other venues offer. No, we have the haze, humidity (and the bugs). And the first two destroy contrast such that detail is lost. It can be worked around. But I've always run out of time before I've come up with a solution.
I did make one of my favorite photographs on the other end of the state, interesting to say. But it took me literally three days of scouting, looking, setting up and then striking my equipment until I found the composition and the conditions which caused me to commit it to film.
And, living again in NC, I miss the West and its beauty. But every time I've moved west, I have missed the East coast with its trees, hills and dales and especially New England which I miss whichever place I'm living. I've spent a fair amount of time one place or another in coastal New England and I fell in love with it. One of these days I'm going back!
So, I think culture has a lot to do with the answer. The southern Appalachians definitely have their culture. Some of it I definitely do not find attractive. But then, the local folks there are descended largely from the Scots-Irish who settled in this area. Those are my people as I share that heritage with them. So it feels like home... sometimes rather oddly.
New England has its cultural distinctions - very strongly! - and that makes the landscape that much more interesting (it seems to me, anyway).
The West (again, to me) is about space, isolation, big skies and strong lighting. But then Coastal California begins to take on its own character, sometimes in ways reminiscent of New England.

These are my own reflections on places I've lived... my own experiences. I don't expect anyone to agree with them. But one thing I think is indisputable is that from a US-centric point of view, the the US has an incredible diversity.
So throw a dart at the map. You'll find your vision and your images wherever you go. Maybe more so if you go somewhere you've never been before.
And that applies to the rest of the world, too. Maybe even more.

[C. D. Keth]

I think it is tie between western South Dakota and Idaho.

You really want to live in Idaho with all the mad anti-govt nuts, EOTW preppers, and mormons that are too Mormon for Utah? I like Idaho to visit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Vaughn]

Well right now we are considering letting Oregon, California, Washington to join Canada all immigration welcome up here.

I kind of like the Carolina's so they can come up here as well

Don't know if I want to move to a country that wants the likes of me...but if the geologists have plate tectonics down, you'll have California up your way before you know it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BxnIkqK1J4


You really want to live in Idaho with all the mad anti-govt nuts, EOTW preppers, and mormons that are too Mormon for Utah?

And a high concentration of retired southern CA police officers...

[FrancisF]

Clearly the most pointless and interesting thread I have read in a while.

And the answer is simple. It is not a state, it is an island. Monhegan

[CreationBear]

How about my home state of NC


I'm not sure if you got to kick around Washington State much, but there was actually a pretty substantial emigration from WNC to the Darrington area back in the first half of the 20th C with folks following the timber industry back West as the North Carolina hills were cut-over. (A lot of people made the trek West, too, in the early 1950's--a period of time my people in Arkansas/Oklahoma, at least, always claimed was tougher economically and "climatically" than the Dust Bowl era.)

At any rate, I definitely concur with your love of NC even though I'm across the hill in Knoxville--I did work in Whittier for a couple of years, however...Newfound Gap Road makes for an interesting commute.:)

[William Whitaker]

You'll find your vision and your images wherever you go.

I'm fond of my own story about a time back in about 1984 when I walked out the door of my apartment and was struck by the arrangement of trash cans next to the driveway. I went back in, grabbed the 4x5 and made a photo of those trash cans on some Polaroid Type 52 (ah, the good old days!). It seemed weird, and does today, but it was an oddly satisfying subject. But was it a landscapes? Maybe more of a still life. But technically it was a landscape.
That was New Hampshire. There's so much more landscape in New Hampshire, I know. But someone we all admire once advised to "photograph that to which you respond emotionally", or very similar words. It could be anywhere.

[scheinfluger_77]

You really want to live in Idaho with all the mad anti-govt nuts, EOTW preppers, and mormons that are too Mormon for Utah? I like Idaho to visit.

Idahoan: “Move along, nothing to see here.” (Accompanied by Jedi hand wave)

[Drew Wiley]

Try flying over the central Calf coast range at night. Other than the beach towns, less lights than the Mojave Desert, far less than the Dakotas or southern Idaho. No surfers or palm trees or roller skaters - in fact, almost no one. You guys and your stereotypes! All of Appalachia is lit up by comparison. I grew up in California right next to hundreds of square miles almost completely uninhabited just because the terrain was so steep. Not much about that has changed since except for whitewater rafting. Yes, I now live on the coast and real estate is expensive. But there are massive sections of CA where land is quite affordable and property taxes close to non-existent. It's a big highly diverse state. And believe me, we have our share of anti Gov nuts and heavily armed survivalist types too.

[Pechoretc]

I am a lawyer, I teach at the university, I have to live in a big city. Photography is my hobby. But I am always very drawn to Tuva ...

[dasBlute]

I'd say the the four corners area: wonder, curiosity, freedom, and openness :)

[Drew Wiley]

The actual Four Corners monument area, at the exact intersection of four states, is now pretty much surrounded by ugly oil and natural gas infrastructure. A lot has changed, especially air quality. Tiny little towns are now meccas for hundreds of cyclists and paved over with motels and fast food operations. One more reason to throw away all of the postcardy "must-see" places and go out, micro-explore, and find special places of your own. I really wanted another trip to the Utah canyon country this fall, but don't know if it will work out under present circumstances or not. I came back from Utah last Sept over the backside of the Wasatch Range after many years, and oh my gosh the changes - endless subdivisions and horrific traffic where once there had been only meadows and trees. And air quality along the Wasatch Front around Salt Lk City etc is even worse than LA in its bad ole days. It was a relief to get into the true wide-open spaces of Nevada, which is increasingly beckoning more quality camera time from me. It's just hard to adequately control dust issues when so many tempting A to B destinations involve dirt roads.

[tonyowen]

Once again moving away from the US-centric bias that pervades this thread. Why has nobody mentioned Australia?

Away from the coastal cities, Australia has some of the strangest landscapes in the world. It is worth noting that the painters and artists that accompanied Capt Cook on his voyages had to resort to making their images of Australia more English than England. This was because their patrons would not believe the strange, but true, landscape the painters and artists had encountered.

In many ways it is similar to the fall colours of eastern North America, which until you have seen it with your own eyes, make the visual representations, painted or photographed, difficult to accept as being true.

The Canadian Group of Seven artists tried to display North Americas fall colours but, in my mind, failed due to their method of painting - which hides the simplistic and awesome beauty of eastern North America fall colours.

Once more I suggest that it is the State of Mind, not the geographical area of one country or another, that attracts people to view, visit and perhaps record landscapes be they mundane or spectacular.

Regards

Tony

[Vaughn]

Try flying over the central Calf coast range at night...
Lots of light pollution in what should be nothing along the backside of the King Range of the northern CA coast. Hum of generators and the light from massive greenhouse grows. The wilderness I worked in is due east of there and sitting on the top of Shell Mountain (6700'), I have watched the sun set behind Kings Peak (4091'), 55 miles away with a little glimmer off the ocean, but fortunately at night it was too far to notice any lights.

I advise no one to backpack and/or photograph in the Yolla Bollys. I spent ten years getting 150 miles of trails up to spec, only to find them, 30 years later, in even worse condition than I started with. I use to maintain the spring boxes...often the only source of water for miles of dry ridges and seasonal creeks..some are just mud holes now. If it is marked as a 'Lake" on the map, it is probably just another mudhole. My favorite, Minnie Lake, is a mini mudhole. By mid-July, one needs to know where the next water might be.

Some of the trailheads and the roads to them are not maintained -- heading up the main road access into the area I had worked had two abandoned and stripped cars about 5 miles up it...reassuring. One 16" drop in the road was interesting in my Eurovan. Because I can read a map and know the territory, I only have a little trouble finding my way around the wilderness when the trail disappears for awhile -- not enough hikers to keep a visible path. Fires have come through, leaving a whitethorn and manzanita maze to find your way through, if you can figure where the trail goes. If you get in trouble or get lost, no fellow hikers will be within weeks (if you are lucky) to help...and with the steepness of the terrain, there is no direct route from somewhere to anywhere. And of course plenty of bear, coyote, rattlesnakes, and scorpions. So go elsewhere. Please.

[jp]

Every state has something to offer LF photographers, and good photographers can make great images anywhere, but the question is asked in our Large Format forum what the best state is for LF photographers to live in. Please consider following facts:

Weather
Cost of living
State income tax and |Real estate tax
Number of National Parks
Workshop or large format community
Death rate of coronavirus

and more you can think of ......

Someone mentioned Monhegan...

1. Poor weather >1/2 the time for large format photography. I've been there all times of the year.. The common impression is the idyllic summer sunny calm day.
2. It'd be difficult to buy a modest house there. Most year around people don't afford to live there year around and rent their places out for the summer to visitors.
3. above average
4. n/a
5. minimal unless you like painting
6. probably 0, you could be the first if you visit without quarantine, but the death might not be technically from coronavirus.

Maine as a whole fairs well. NH would do better for cost of living, taxes, etc...and a good portion of the state is a national forest. Eastern NH would be my suggestion; a quick drive into Maine. Southern NH is essentially tax free Massachusetts.

Maine would have:
1. I like the weather... Mild on the coast, more of every weather inland.
2. above average depending on where in the state.
3. above average
4. Acadia NP, part of White Mountains National Forest, Kahtadin Woods and waters national monument (named as such to avoid the political process involved in creating a national park). I don't visit these often. I have two state parks and several preserves all within a few miles, and ten beaches in town, lighthouses, islands, etc...
5. Some independent workshop people, Maine Media Workshops & College, tons of creative people loosely/formerly associate with things like MMWC and Kodak Center for Creative Imaging, etc... Maine more than a hundred years ago was home to the Clarence White school of photography which taught or relied on much of the influencers of the modernism.
6. Depends on where in the state you live.

I watch different photographers on Flickr and would likely enjoy the Scandinavian countries and Russia as well. Some beautiful areas! I'd be quite challenged to learn another language to be honest.

[rfesk]

Maybe grand vistas are not so prevalent in some areas but just about anywhere has the potential for great landscape photography. It is up to the photographer
to make the compelling image. Now as to cost of living, climate etc. That is a different story.

[dasBlute]

apologies, I was being obtuse, I was referring to an inner state of mind...

The actual Four Corners monument area, at the exact intersection of four states, is now pretty much surrounded by ugly oil and natural gas infrastructure....

[Kirk Gittings]

New Mexico. I have spent my life photographing here and have just barely scratched the surface. And............if you can't find it here or are hankering for a diversion, we are so damn close to AZ, Utah and Colorado that a half days drive will get you to some of the most amazing places on the continent.

But please don't move here :)

[Tin Can]

LOL

I almost did!

and NM is still high on my list, if I live long enough to move again

perhaps an Estate sale BEFORE I croak and one last relocation of the 40 plus in my life...


New Mexico. I have spent my life photographing here and have just barely scratched the surface. And............if you can't find it here or are hankering for a diversion, we are so damn close to AZ, Utah and Colorado that a half days drive will get you to some of the most amazing places on the continent.

But please don't move here :)

[Mark Sampson]

Ha. After visiting New Mexico (and meeting Mr. Gittings) back in '12, I thought that it would be an interesting place to live, but never thought it possible. Then in 2017 life (that is, my wife's career) brought me to southern AZ. Tucson is quite livable, and there are beautiful landscapes that I'm learning to see and photograph all around. But NM still calls to me... I'll just be a visitor though, Kirk!

[Drew Wiley]

rfesk - It is precisely the desirable climate and sheer diversity of microclimates that makes it so darn expensive to move here to the Calif. coast. If you don't mind miserable summer heat, there are plenty of affordable places to live in Calif. But I'd rather have dry heat than summer humidity, which can feel a lot hotter.

[Tin Can]

I have lived in AZ, no thanks, too many people


Ha. After visiting New Mexico (and meeting Mr. Gittings) back in '12, I thought that it would be an interesting place to live, but never thought it possible. Then in 2017 life (that is, my wife's career) brought me to southern AZ. Tucson is quite livable, and there are beautiful landscapes that I'm learning to see and photograph all around. But NM still calls to me... I'll just be a visitor though, Kirk!

[Drew Wiley]

Try the Arizona strip to the north of the C. River. It's sparsely populated, and if you don't mind gingham prairie dresses, the women tend to outnumber the men twenty to one.

[Vaughn]

Try the Arizona strip to the north of the C. River. It's sparsely populated, and if you don't mind gingham prairie dresses, the women tend to outnumber the men twenty to one.

Things up there might have improved a little...but not a place for outsiders to move to.

[Drew Wiley]

The most infamous colony has mostly relocated. One of our shipping/receiving clerks wanted a job in animal rescue, then met a likeminded gal who happened to live just outside Kanab. So he announced he was moving there; and I asked him how many women he was marrying. He gave me a blank stare. He had actually visited the animal farm, but didn't know that right at the end of that same road was one of the oldest and biggest colonies anywhere. Fortunately she was not part of that particular scene; but he had to learn how to talk very carefully in that neighborhood. A strong cockney Brit accent didn't help.

[Vaughn]

The Flagstaff area was always attractive to me -- use to drive down there from the Grand Canyon to get my 120 film developed (B&W and some transparencies). And Northern Arizona University sounded cool. Living 4.5 months up on the Rim was wonderful, but I do need to be closer to water...and it is either a hike straight down too far to water too cold to swim in, or drive down to Sedona and swim with the tourists in the great yellow river.

I like being on the northern CA coast...and some places do not have a high cost of living. This county has less people that many cities, and I live far enough away from the main concentration of people living around the Bay. Small town of 1350, weathering the virus okay, but the owner of the bar next door (est 1899) is having it tough and is looking to sell, if she can. The brewery in town probably is not having it easy...but recently bought by a local tribe. It might be able to survive easier with the deeper pockets of the tribe. Generally we are looking out for each other. And that counts a lot when choosing a place to live. I bought one of the worse houses in one of the best cities of California, even the locals had passed it up as a possible rental. I love it, it's home. One can try moving here, but houses are hard to find and if they hit the market, they often never get advertised...and of course the prices are going up.

[tonyowen]

New Mexico. a half days drive will get you to some of the most amazing places on the continent.

Being somewhat pedantic what exactly do you mean by ‘the continent’

There are six ‘continents’ Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe and [the] Americas.

The American continent is 14,000km [8.700 miles] long and comprises 35 countries. Its population is around 1.000 billion and it extends from Boothia Peninsular in Canada to Cape Forward in Chilean Patagonia.

Whereas, the term ‘the continent’ in common parlance refers to Europe with comprises 51 countries and a population of 741 million.

In neither case do I see the validity of the claim that New Mexico is close to some of the most amazing places on the continent.

I think that perhaps you mean "we are so damn close to AZ, Utah and Colorado that a half days drive will get you to some of the most amazing places. "

Regards

Tony

[Sal Santamaura]

Ignoring the US-centric bias of the question...


Once again moving away from the US-centric bias that pervades this thread...


Being somewhat pedantic what exactly do you mean by ‘the continent’...

Tony, I understand those outside the U.S. might view this country unfavorably. I'm not here to argue that they're unjustified in their perspective, and probably agree with most of them. However, this is a U.S.-based forum. The OP's question was not ambiguous; it concerned which of the 50 U.S. states members considers "best" (based on stated criteria) for landscape photographers to live in. Why attempt to drive discussion away from the OP's inquiry? Methinks doing so persistently risks becoming a Welsh analog of "the ugly American." :)

[Ray Van Nes]

Southern Alberta which is not a state but province. Everyone thinks only of Banff but there is much much more.
1. Foothills - tough to photograph as they are more subtle than the mountains but beautiful.
2. Badlands - We have several areas beside Drumheller, there is Dry Island Buffalo Jump, and Dinosaur Park which is a Unesco site
3. Writing-On-Stone Park which on the border with the US. Small but spectacular with lots of funky sculptural formations.
4. Kananaskis Country which is a huge provincial park east of Banff. Free to get in and huge.

[Vaughn]

Being somewhat pedantic what exactly do you mean by ‘the continent’

Tony

Being somewhat pedantic...When one is referring to Europe, the word 'Continent' is a proper noun and is capitalized. Therefore, Kirk was quite proper in his use of the word.

[Drew Wiley]

Yeah, well we can dream on. Alberta does sound interesting. But I can't even get my driver's license renewed or a passport for awhile with everything closed. i already had to wait 4 months for an appointment, and then all appointments were cancelled until who knows how long, and in-person appts are required for this kind of thing. Drivers licenses will be automatically extended up to a year; but that won't get me into Canada, and there's no guarantee that the officials cards stating an extension will get out within a reasonable time themselves. The Hwy Patrol is simply being informed to overlook somewhat expired state licenses; but that might not work out of state. One more complication. The Southwest is looking more and more tempting for a road trip this fall, but with gas prices so low at the moment... dream on. I'll stop daydreaming tomorrow and be happy to be lugging my camera pack over local hills. There's plenty to see and shoot nearby.

[Vaughn]

Definitely time to enjoy one's favorite state...mental or otherwise...

[bob carnie]

Yeah, well we can dream on. Alberta does sound interesting. But I can't even get my driver's license renewed or a passport for awhile with everything closed. i already had to wait 4 months for an appointment, and then all appointments were cancelled until who knows how long, and in-person appts are required for this kind of thing. Drivers licenses will be automatically extended up to a year; but that won't get me into Canada, and there's no guarantee that the officials cards stating an extension will get out within a reasonable time themselves. The Hwy Patrol is simply being informed to overlook somewhat expired state licenses; but that might not work out of state. One more complication. The Southwest is looking more and more tempting for a road trip this fall, but with gas prices so low at the moment... dream on. I'll stop daydreaming tomorrow and be happy to be lugging my camera pack over local hills. There's plenty to see and shoot nearby.
Drew we have spies looking out for the likes of you , trying to get into Canada....

[Tin Can]

double bubble

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/coronavirus-canada-new-brunswick-newfoundland-double-bubble/2020/05/07/78e08960-8eec-11ea-9322-a29e75effc93_story.html

[Drew Wiley]

Bob - you already let in the weirdest of us. The Queen Charlotte Islands off BC obtained far more hippies than remained in this State, most of whom were netted and taxidermied by the Smithsonian Museum for a 60's diorama a long time ago anyway. I suspect one or two more are hiding out somewhere in the Midwest, probably trying to figure out how to use tie dye as a film developer, or else scheming how to reinvent communes further north.

[Kirk Gittings]

Southern Alberta which is not a state but province. Everyone thinks only of Banff but there is much much more.
1. Foothills - tough to photograph as they are more subtle than the mountains but beautiful.
2. Badlands - We have several areas beside Drumheller, there is Dry Island Buffalo Jump, and Dinosaur Park which is a Unesco site
3. Writing-On-Stone Park which on the border with the US. Small but spectacular with lots of funky sculptural formations.
4. Kananaskis Country which is a huge provincial park east of Banff. Free to get in and huge.

I went to grad school in Calgary. I loved shooting in Southern Alberta.

[tonyowen]

However, this is a U.S.-based forum. Why attempt to drive discussion away from the OP's inquiry? Methinks doing so persistently risks becoming a Welsh analog of "the ugly American." :)

Sal, apologies for tardy reply - Tax returns etc is the reason

I did not realize that non-US residents were excluded from commenting on any thread.
Mine were not the only postings trying to widen the scope of the thread.
I am NOT Welsh. I have dual British and Canadian citizenship and presently live in Wales - next year perhaps somewhere else

Regards
Tony

[Sal Santamaura]

Sal, apologies for tardy reply...Apology? Tardy? Many don't ever reply to posts; two days is nothing. Please don't apologize.


...I did not realize that non-US residents were excluded from commenting on any thread...They/you are not. Had you commented on which of the 50 U.S. states the OP was inquiring about, I'd not have replied to your post.


...Mine were not the only postings trying to widen the scope of the thread...No, but yours were persistent and their tone implied that the U.S.-centric nature of the forum needed changing. The others weren't/didn't.


...I am NOT Welsh. I have dual British and Canadian citizenship and presently live in Wales - next year perhaps somewhere else...OK then, a "Commonwealth analog of the ugly American." :)

[Thad Gerheim]

Another way to look at this is which states have the most renown landscape photographers? I think that would be California and New Mexico, hands down by far Carmel. You have to be certified crazy or mormon to live in Idaho and besides we prefer people who contribute to society, instead of on the lam from the tax man.;)

[LabRat]

A good state of MIND... Anywhere...

Steve K

[Scyg]

Another way to look at this is which states have the most renown landscape photographers? I think that would be California and New Mexico, hands down by far Carmel. You have to be certified crazy or mormon to live in Idaho and besides we prefer people who contribute to society, instead of on the lam from the tax man.;)
Don't know if I'd necessarily want to live where lots of renowned photographers had already done their thing. Kind of like doing street photography in New York - it may be easier to get a "classic look", but you'll be very likely just treading over someone else's footprints. Doesn't mean you can't do something original, but it might actually be harder than somewhere less... used.

[Vaughn]

Don't know if I'd necessarily want to live where lots of renowned photographers had already done their thing. ...

Like in sports, if you want to get better, ya gotta play people better than you -- you have to lose a lot.

[Scyg]

Like in sports, if you want to get better, ya gotta play people better than you -- you have to lose a lot.

I'll freely admit I never saw it as a competition. Even if you do, I would think it's how you do things not where you do them that counts. But I guess everyone's got their own take on things.

[Vaughn]

I'll freely admit I never saw it as a competition. Even if you do, I would think it's how you do things not where you do them that counts. But I guess everyone's got their own take on things.

Neither do I, as in win-lose. I am talking about learning and pushing one's self to improve.

Edited to add: I photograph a lot in Yosemite Valley...late fall to early spring. Up higher if I happen to be in the area in the summer. It is quite challenging to find and keep one's own voice when Ansel's is still echoing off the walls...not to mention those of his assistants and students. Stepping up to this challenge is not being competitive. Who wants to make AA's images better than he did? I want to make my images stronger.

I could stay huddled under the redwoods, keeping to what has become rather easy imagery to capture...40 years of working with the light here has advantages, but I do not want to make the same type of images again and again. So I photograph in Death Valley a bit and I had a nice month in Chile with the 5x7, but where ever I photograph, I bring that experience back to the redwoods and look with renewed eyes.

Actually, I want to do more work in my backyard -- the town I live in. Perhaps 11x14 and toned cyanotypes. Sounds like too much fun.

[Drew Wiley]

Scyg - like everything has already been taken? and in the same manner? Might as well roll up into a big ball and die, my, my. I live in the most populated state in the country, which also has the most number of Natl Parks and Wilderness Areas of the lower 48. Yet I've had a view camera many many times where no footprints were visible for days on end. But let's say that's not the case. On one trip just a few years back, I stumbled onto the exact spot at Bullfrog Lake in Kings Canyon where AA took a famous picture. It's a big slab of rock slightly above lake level. At one time that particular lake was so popular with horse packing outfits that now it's completely off limits to camping to let the spot recover. But there on that very same rock, I take a look a slightly different direction from the AA perspective, and said to myself, How on earth did he miss thaaaat? Something completely different that I've never seen a picture of until I printed it, and in my own personal style. And I'd hang that thing any day of the week beside anything AA did in that area. His photography was a big factor in it becoming a Natl Park to begin with, which nobody else can repeat. But there are huge sections of that very Park he never saw even from a distance, and where signs of any kind of human presence are rare or nonexistent. But finding your own slice of geography has far less to do with it than finding your own style and not being intimidated by someone else's reputation. Personal creative opportunities will always exist, no matter how many times a particular genre has been explored.

[Scyg]

Scyg - like everything has already been taken? and in the same manner? Might as well roll up into a big ball and die, my, my.
Now I didn't say that, did I? I live in Chicago, one of the most famously photographed cities in the country, if not the world. If I thought that, I'd never take my camera out, and somehow I still do.
Your and Vaughn's perspectives on Yosemite definitely gave me something to think about. I only visited it once, decades ago, but what I saw was stunning even without venturing too far from the tourist areas. I could easily see myself spending a lot of time there, just for the experience of it, whether taking pictures or not, so I'm definitely not judging people who do. My original comment was about whether a landscape photographer would be better off finding their own space rather than retreading the same ground (physically) as earlier artists, and certainly wasn't meant to denigrate the work of those who choose to photograph often photographed places.

[Merg Ross]

My original comment was about whether a landscape photographer would be better off finding their own space rather than retreading the same ground (physically) as earlier artists, and certainly wasn't meant to denigrate the work of those who choose to photograph often photographed places.

Understood, and a good question. And one that gives me thought.

I have photographed at a location made famous by Edward Weston, namely Weston Beach at Point Lobos in Carmel, from the time of my first camera to the present day. Over sixty years. So what?

Upon reflection, and to your point, it was a challenge. Not unlike attempting to make an original photograph in Yosemite with the shadow of Ansel Adams looming. It can be done, and a few members on this forum have succeeded. Congratulations to them.

Whether I succeeded at Point Lobos, I don't know. But the fact that Weston had photographed there was the catalyst for my being there. And, a few of the photographs from those many visits still give me pleasure. That is what really matters.

http://www.mergross.com/portfolio_9.html

[Vaughn]

Finding a place not treaded upon photographically will be difficult. I spent a few days in the Finger Lake area in NY, including staying a couple nights at a hostel near the mouth of Watkins Glen. I worked in there with the 5x7, knowing quite well it is a relatively small area that is heavily visited and photographed. Might be as photographed as Yosemite Valley...definitely if measured in photos/sq foot. If I ever get around to printing them, I think I might have something that I can call my own. Negs look sweet.

But then again, I suggest staying away from Redwood National and State Parks, I've already taken all the good shots.

[Tin Can]

Laughing out loud

1st time in a while

Thank you!



Finding a place not treaded upon photographically will be difficult. I spent a few days in the Finger Lake area in NY, including staying a couple nights at a hostel near the mouth of Watkins Glen. I worked in there with the 5x7, knowing quite well it is a relatively small area that is heavily visited and photographed. Might be as photographed as Yosemite Valley...definitely if measured in photos/sq foot. If I ever get around to printing them, I think I might have something that I can call my own. Negs look sweet.

But then again, I suggest staying away from Redwood National and State Parks, I've already taken all the good shots.

[Scyg]

But then again, I suggest staying away from Redwood National and State Parks, I've already taken all the good shots.

: )))

[Alan Curtis]

I've had the pleasure of seeing several of Vaughn's wonderful carbon transfer prints of the Redwoods. He is correct "nothing to photograph here folks just move along"

[Vaughn]

I am thinking of putting on a tour of my tripod holes...don't know why AA did not think of that...

[Tin Can]

Since we will never get outside again...

I suggest VR imaging direct from your googles, using the exact tripod and holes, duplicating the moment in Star Time

Sell to the huddled masses




I am thinking of putting on a tour of my tripod holes...don't know why AA did not think of that...

[Drew Wiley]

Scyg - I grew up right across the river from Yosemite, but have only taken about six photographs in Yosemite Valley itself my entire life. None of them look like something anyone else has taken. My favorite print of all time of El Capitan, perhaps the most photographed great rock in the world besides Half Dome further up the Valley, was an old 18X22 blue-sensitive neg albumen print by Muybridge. The sky is totally washed out, and the monolith, all by itself, nearly so in total glare - basically white upon white except for the resident albumen hue. But it has a sense of presence and sheer scale unexcelled to this day. I've seen a lot of AA's work up close, and there are particular shots taken from exactly the same parking lot used by millions of people over the years to photograph Yosemite Valley, and there is a particular AA 8X10 shot of El Capitan from that same spot which is almost never published or exhibited, taken in his mid-60's, which doesn't even resemble most of his own many earlier versions from the same perspective. It's almost entirely dark in a brooding thunderstorm, but one of my very favorite images of his. I have done a fair amount of LF photography in the high backcountry of Yosemite. The last time on a two week backpack, I didn't even encounter another person for an entire week of that time, or even see any evidence of human presence ever except for some random obsidian chips by aboriginal bighorn sheep hunters. AA in younger years made it up to the Lyell Fork of the Merced twice and made some famous images, which include what is now named Ansel Adams Peak in the background. And yes, I could identify the exact tripod locations, although certain swampy meadow conditions have changed somewhat. He had dramatic thunderstorm light. I had soft veiling silvery light due to a bit of forest fire haze in the air. The shots came out totally different but equally compelling, but would have had done so anyway because each of us sees things differently if we just allow ourselves to find our own path and don't worry what the last guy did.

[Bernice Loui]

It's a reflex... This painting comes to mind each and every time Yosemite & AA comes up:

Mark Tansey's painting.
204003



Bernice

[Drew Wiley]

There's a better antidote, Bernice, in fact a couple of better antidotes, and they can be hung on the wall too. They're called Watkins and Muybridge. Or maybe you'd prefer a cartoon of the Valley from the famous parking lot vista at the end of the tunnel, with ladder rungs up the side of El Capitan, a satellite dish on the summit, and a label on it on stating, Mt Winnebago.
I always identified the two curses of Yosemite travel as being the mosquito and the motorhome : one makes you travel a lot faster, the other a lot slower.

[LabRat]

How about going to Dizzyland and shooting from the Kodak moment picture spots??? Nothing like affirmation you will get the best picture (like everyone else)... Can't loose...

No matter where, we just have to see with a fresh eye of our own... Don't copy... 10 people can be standing on the end of Santa Monica pier with a camera (device), and there will be 10 different pictures of the sunset... There will be selfies, but Hoppe, Coburn, or Stiglitz could be seeing and thinking there...

As for clichés, if you shot where many pictures have been made, one could strive to "see" personally where many others have stood or shot, and make a personal statement, and surprise the hell out of others... And because the view is familiar, there will be a connection from those who have been there...

Good exercise...

Steve K

[Vaughn]

It's a reflex... This painting comes to mind each and every time Yosemite & AA comes up:
...Bernice
I had forgotten that! But I grew up camping every year in the Valley or up at Tuolumne...I still remember getting lost in the campground returning from seeing the Firefall. A city kid -- a far cry from old Drew. My Aunt, who almost made it to 100, remembers riding the train to El Portal. Later, I had a friend living in the Valley who liked visitors, so I had a place to stay, even with my boys, tho the 3 of three of them climbing the rock behind his place while wearing their roller skates made him nervous for some reason.

So if one has a positive history with a place, it grows on you. Not that all is always cool...the new version of the Firefall has become a mob scene at a time of year when the Valley was once quiet. So it goes.

Abbey called the National Parks, National Sacrificial Parks, or something along those lines -- give the tourists a place to go to so the rest is left alone.

Another damn Yosemite picture...

[Drew Wiley]

Yep, the "Green Dragon" tourist train. After dark it would stop alongside El Cap so the tourists could see the little dots of light of climber headlamps. My nephew would always take along a spare lamp or two, and then when the train of tourists appeared, throw a lamp off from wherever he happened to be on the cliff, let out a loud scream, and give them their money's worth.

[reddesert]

Haha Bernice that's great. I was very interested in Mark Tansey in the 90s and had a book on his work, but did not know that painting.

Here is a Yosemite photograph that shows there's always a new way to look at things, "One and a Half Domes" by Ted Orland, https://shop.anseladams.com/products/one-and-a-half-domes-yosemite

204015

I think Tuolumne Meadows was the place where I as an east coast kid first understood both the grandeur of Western mountains, and the axiom that even in a crowded place, you can get away from nearly everybody once you're 30 minutes from the trailhead.

[Ben Calwell]

I would list Wyoming, but I'm sure the entire state doesn't resemble Grand Teton National Park, which we visited last fall. I was in awe of the Tetons. Sadly, I did not have my view camera on that trip, as we flew and I didn't want to deal with all the extra equipment, tripod, film holders, etc. All I had was my Fuji digital camera. I saw scenes that cried out for large format. I want to return some day with my "big" camera.

[Vaughn]

... "One and a Half Domes" by Ted Orland
...
I think Tuolumne Meadows was the place where I as an east coast kid first understood both the grandeur of Western mountains, and the axiom that even in a crowded place, you can get away from nearly everybody once you're 30 minutes from the trailhead.
Working at the Grand Canyon and living on the Rim (1977), I found places where I could hang out. One place was 20 or so feet below the rim, a hollowed out bit of the canyon wall, deep enough to keep out of any rain or snow -- and deep enough if kids start tossing rocks from above. Incredible view.


Ted -- someone who photographed extensively in the Valley in a unique way. My photo above may have never been taken without the introduction to Mr. Orland. And perhaps even the one here -- well, more the title than the image...the image called out to be made. Backpacking and camping on the top of Sentinel Dome for a night with this map inserted into a rock. Taken in the morning...my friend and I were not early risers...nice leisurely morning with Yosemite Falls booming from across the Valley. Then a long day of hiking -- over to Glacier Point, then down the Four-Mile Trail (still officially closed for winter) and hoof it over to the Village. A Memorial Day 25 years ago...maybe 30.

Edited to add: On second thought, I do not think I would have trimmed the top of the print in such a manner without Ted's trail-blazing departure from the path.

[Drew Wiley]

Ben - Thank goodness most of Wyoming doesn't resemble Grand Teton or Yellowstone NP's, at least in peak tourist season. There are equally dramatic areas with very few people; but they won't let you in without a view camera!

[Ray Van Nes]

Yes, a small connection with our mutual connection with Clyde McConnell, your prof and my friend.

[Ben Calwell]

Ben - Thank goodness most of Wyoming doesn't resemble Grand Teton or Yellowstone NP's, at least in peak tourist season. There are equally dramatic areas with very few people; but they won't let you in without a view camera!

I now kick myself for not bringing my Wista, which, in hindsight, would not have been that much of a hassle. TSA might have mistaken my Pentax spot meter for a gun, though. And I could have mailed my film to avoid x-ray damage, although I don’t think the xrays at the screening areas do any harm.

[munz6869]

I have to volunteer 'Victoria' in Australia. In a relatively small (for Australia) state, we have alpine areas & wild high country, arid desert, temperate rainforest (with some of the tallest trees in the world), glorious winding coastline, and wonderful dry eucalyptus forests. Also all the 19th century goldrush architecture in Melbourne and the regional cities. It's a smashing place to grow up in and photograph...

(also, this I just noticed is my 200th post since 2006 - apologies for flooding the forums!!!)

Marc!

[Drew Wiley]

When me and my friend were finally stumbling out of the northern Wind River range after two weeks last summer, having seen nobody else for an entire week of that time, we encountered a couple from Tennessee only a couple miles in from the trailhead. They had hauled their own horses and trailer all the way from Tennessee just to find out if they would be suitable for a north to south ride all the way down the main trail the following year. Their fuel bill must have been horrendous; but they didn't look like poor types. Another fellow near the start of the trail had a cannon of a .454 Casull strapped to his hip in order to defend his wife from any grizzly that came around. But it had a telescopic sight on it, so I don't see how he could aim it fast enough at a close charging bear. Nearly all the grizz are on the opposite side of the divide further north; and I was more wary of moose anyway. One had walked through our camp the night before, and on a prior trip had knocked over my 4x5. It was not being belligerent, but just taking its ordinary path through the willows that I had ignorantly set up my camera in the middle of. Nothing was damaged, and the moose and her calf otherwise ignored us. I've only seen one bear there, and from a considerable distance, and it was a black bear. The truly vicious critters are the huge horse flies that are around in the higher meadows until the first big Sept freeze. Skeeters and gnats are bad until around August. I carried my little Ebony 4x5 folder, but had a Fuji 6x9 rangefinder in the car for quickie road shots etc. There are always lots interesting places to see and camp between here and Wyoming. The Wind River range is one of my favorite alternatives to the high Sierra when we're having bad forest fires and smoke issues out here.

[Vaughn]

I have to volunteer 'Victoria' in Australia....Marc!

A regular magpie you are! Have not been to Victoria...maybe someday, but I have a long list...and Oz might just be too much and too far to tackle this late in life (other than sight-seeing and a few images here and there). Taz is nearby, and that has been on that list, too. I have some experience in NSW and the NT to build on, but I'll be sticking close to home now.

[Matt Stage]

I'll play. My home of California will never be what it once was and probably never was what it was once purported to be. My people got here in 1847 and full of good sense, stuffed their pockets full of gold and promptly left. Less sensible generations followed and for some inexplicable reason stayed.

That said, one must consider the city state of Singapore. It is much bigger than it appears on any map. In a compact space you find architecture from many cultures spanning the periods from colonial to the post modern. Industrial, harbor, military sites all to be found. Street photography everywhere you turn. There are surprisingly expansive seascapes and amazing lush tropical forests full of the most amazing range of plants and mind blowing orchids that grow like weeds. Best that it is never far to drag a camera. Offshore there is easy access to an exhaustive menu of under exploited photographic wonders. It is easy for me, as someone who has lived in and traveled all over China, to make the argument that Singapore offers the finest Chinese food to be found anywhere on the planet. I'm talking feel like you've died and gone to heaven epic meals. And tropical fruit so full of flavor that you won't be able to eat imported pineapple or bananas for years after visiting. Durian anyone? No bears but rumor has it that there are still tigers, lurking. Did I mention the orchids?

[Drew Wiley]

Er... I have a number of friends in Singapore who come here frequently, but think I'll stick closer to wide open spaces. Not all of us do well in captivity, even if the enclosure is well manicured. I'm not making reference to anything political, but just to what makes my own eyes relax and what doesn't. That gold country your ancestors left is where I grew up, right around when it had only 2% of its former Gold Rush population numbers, and how I prefer to remember it. Nobody else for miles and miles.

[Matt Stage]

Word is the area was quite nice before gold fever broke out, and then all hell broke loose. It took many decades for the land to begin to recover from such intensive human exploitation. These days I suppose it would again be nice country if it weren't currently over run with killer bees and with murder hornets on their way from the north and assassin hornets from the south, the sensible should stay well away.

I should agree with Drew. The sad fact is that anyone from Singapore or even China must seriously hold their nose to eat what sadly passes for Chinese food in California. Don't go to Singapore because it will ruin the experience of eating anywhere else. People who enjoy eating fresh fruit will forever be disappointed trying to palate stuff that tastes like sawdust after a visit there. Photographers who enjoy hauling cameras great distances will not appreciate having everything they could desire to shoot in a compact, convenient place. Certainly, people who enjoy unruly, filthy cities piled high with human waste and worse would never like a place that is well managed and civilized and sanitary. Divers who love brackish water will hate having near unlimited visibility to see an explosion of colors surrounding them. People who demand wide open places will certainly hate dense uncharted tropical forests complete with uncontacted peoples and teeming with flora and fauna unknown to science. Word has it that said forests, mere minutes from the city, have no shortage of tigers and komodo dragons and headhunters and of course anthropophagous "wild orange men". In other words, Singapore is clearly a terrible place which should be avoided at all costs.

[Daniel Casper Lohenstein]

South of France. Alps, Cote d'Azur, Languedoc-Roussillon, Catalunya, Cévennes, Atlantic Ocean / Biarritz ... Wine, wine, wine and wine, good food, fresh fish, saucisson d'âne, very relaxed people, a lot of culture and sightseeing (Cathars, Albigensian) ... Short distances, a lot of variation, public transport, starting points of ancient pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela in Spain ... Very low crime rates, very few people with guns, fearful bears and wolves in the Pyrenees, clean and comfortable camping sites ... And wine, wine, and wine ...

[Drew Wiley]

Funny thing about cuisine. Even an old package of freeze-dried food and some gnawy beef jerky tastes great when you're up above timberline with nobody else in sight. Singapore does sound like a nice area to visit. I'll try to spot it across the ocean next time I'm 13,000 ft up relaxing at the edge of a glacial cirque. Would love to see the Pyrenees too someday. But all this is just cabin fever talk. The high Sierra is a place I can realistically explore without boarding a plane or wearing a face mask, or frankly, spending much money. I probably couldn't even afford to eat in Singapore restaurants.

[Vaughn]

Photograph in your own backyard -- just have a very big back yard...

[Drew Wiley]

I did have (past tense) a very big backyard indeed, being adjacent to huge uninhabited sections of the San Joaquin River canyon, looking off toward the Ritter Range and Minarets on the skyline - second deepest canyon on the continent, with only the Middle Fork of the Kings River slightly to the south being deeper. Now I have to walk about 10 min to get to about 7000 acres of open space. But more likely tomorrow I'll drive just a few miles to where over 20,000 acres of open rangeland have now been linked contiguously together. Some of it requires a special permit to access; but those are easy to get. The forecast is cooler tomorrow inland. But today's printing session will all be high country negs, which will make me even more homesick for the Sierra.

[pomegranate]

Have you considered Wyoming?

The cost of living seems to be below average. Lots and lots of natural sites for landscape photography. National parks: Yellowstone and Grand Teton can't leave you indifferent. Also, several national monuments like Devils Tower and Fossil Butte. You can check the NPS page of Wyoming for more details: https://www.nps.gov/state/wy/index.htm
Moreover, you can easily access the neighboring states with fascinating nature—Colorado, Montana, and Utah—all with so many places worth your lense!

[Drew Wiley]

Do you actually live there, and in the winter too?

[Vaughn]

I visit eastern Washington State often enough...in all seasons, too, and I certainly do not mind the winters because I generally get to my sister's and stay put. But crossing the lava and flood topography as you cross the state from Spokane can be very interesting -- or head south through the Palouse, etc. I started to visit Spokane just as they were getting ready for the World's Fair (1974). A town built by the mining of silver and other metals. A great river runs through it with sets of falls with the old World's Fair grounds now a park. My old photography teacher/mentor was sent to Spokane to train as a bombardier during WWII. My boys were born in Spokane. Pretty place...glad I live in Humboldt County.

[CreationBear]

glad I live in Humboldt County.

You know, Drew keeps trying to convince me about how wild Californy is, but between Wynn Bullock and the latest 5x7 you posted over on Phototrio, I'm starting to believe that all the entrances to your state parks are choked with lithe young women in various states of dishabille milling about in the parking lot like Guatemalan landscapers outside Home Depot.:)

[Vaughn]

It's terrible! Try to take a landscape images and one has to clear naked people out of your image area! While not naked, the kids are even worse...they are all over the place -- don't know if there is any connection between them and the naked people.

[CreationBear]

don't know if there is any connection between them and the naked people.

Well, once at least.:) At any rate, I was looking forward to seeing some of Bullock's work at the CCP this summer--I definitely think you West Coast guys in particular have to be seen in person.

[Vaughn]

Well, once at least.:) At any rate, I was looking forward to seeing some of Bullock's work at the CCP this summer--I definitely think you West Coast guys in particular have to be seen in person.

This could be called a scouting shot I took about a week ago -- I would like to set the 11x14 up here at the end of the fallen redwood I am standing on for a 5x14 image (B&W) -- definitely reminds me of one of Bullock's well know images! The lens is about 20 feet above the forest floor.

[CreationBear]

The lens is about 20 feet above the forest floor.

Excellent, hope you're wearing your caulks!:)

[Drew Wiley]

You flatlanders simply don't get it. Wynn Bullock imported his models. The actual hominids who live in the redwood forests are all covered with matted fur for sake of camouflage and weather-resistance, and wouldn't look photogenic even shaved. One of them might be willing to sit down with you and discuss things, but only if you're willing to share a lunch of fresh banana slug sushi-style, uncooked.

[Vaughn]

... The actual hominids who live in the redwood forests are all covered with matted fur for sake of camouflage and weather-resistance, and wouldn't look photogenic even shaved...

Sir, how dare you! I resemble that remark!

[DavidFisk]

You know, Drew keeps trying to convince me about how wild Californy is, but between Wynn Bullock and the latest 5x7 you posted over on Phototrio, I'm starting to believe that all the entrances to your state parks are choked with lithe young women in various states of dishabille milling about in the parking lot like Guatemalan landscapers outside Home Depot.:)

You sound as if this all is a bad thing........

[CreationBear]

You sound as if this all is a bad thing........

Of course, one complication is that the models would become more knowledgeable than most of the 'togs in pretty short order. ("FP4+ and you're shooting it at what?! Hey, Kaylee! Check out what this guy says his EI is.") The whole scene would feel like just another episode of The Benny Hill Show, and quite frankly, most of us can get that at home.:)

[Drew Wiley]

If you're all that interested in mixing with the social set up on the Mendocino coast of NorCal, I'd recommend a very scholarly documentary movie on the subject titled, Home Grown. It's narrated by Billy Bob Thornton and contains quite a bit of botanical detail on the kind of vegetation one encounters in the redwoods. Should have been part of the PBS Nature series with David Attenborough instead.

[CreationBear]

It's narrated by Billy Bob Thornton

Ha, coals to Newcastle I'm afraid--the Kiamichi/Ouachita NF back home (as well as the Talladega NF I kicked around in while in Alabama) had their share of grow-sites. FWIW, Billy Bob is a local boy made good (however loosely defined.:))

[Roger Thoms]

Do you actually live there, and in the winter too?

The thing that sticks in my mind is the big snow drifts when we’d drive through Wyoming on our way to Montana when I was a kid. Oh and the occasional house with the roof collapsed. Just back from Utah, very close to Wyoming, had to get out my old backpacking tent after the big tent suffered bent tent poles due to high winds from thunder shower activity, with heavy rain and some hail. Only reason the tent didn’t complete collapse and blow away is because I was in it holding it up.

Roger

[Drew Wiley]

One time I got stuck in a wind tunnel below one of the main glacier fields at the roof of Wyoming in the Wind River Range. Glad it was my Bilbler mountaineering tent. I stayed dry and cozy, and even slept well through the howling wind. But when I got back down to trail level, there were various tents in disgraceful condition with some miserable hikers. I've had more than my own share of indoor swimming pools, collapses of lesser products, and once a tent that outright shattered after receiving a thick coat of ice rime. But knowing all that, I took a considerably lighter tent to Wyoming last yr. I'm getting old and lazy, and now try to camp a bit lower. But the original Bibler I-tent is famous for holding up in extreme conditions, and has never collapsed or leaked on me.

[giganova]

Not a State, but Argentina has it all: from the tropical rain forests to lonely beaches at the ocean, deserts, salt plains, pampa, highest mountains, 400 km of glaciers, to the Antartica with penguins, sea lions, and whales. Absolutely amazing country and the living quality is fantastic. I go there every year with my wife, who is from there.

[LittleQ]

Hmm, in my humble opinion, TOP-3 are: Alaska, Hawaii and probable California.

[Vaughn]

The West is the Best...:cool:

[Rayt]

California for the variety.

[Tin Can]

IDK, but if I was young again I might choose the state with least density

Population density in the U.S. by federal states including the District of Columbia in 2019 (https://www.statista.com/statistics/183588/population-density-in-the-federal-states-of-the-us/)

[Jim Jones]

Thank you, Tin Can, for providing proof of something I've long surmised, that there are a lot of dense people in the District of Columbia!

[Vaughn]

I'd like to see the mosquito density numbers, before I choose based on population density.

[Dugan]

How about the state of Euphoria?
:)

[jmdavis]

There are places with both high population density and high mosquito density. DC was considered tropical pay by the British before AC.

[Drew Wiley]

We have it all in California. Want mosquitoes? July in the high country. Want wonderful Godfather-movie quality amber light? Got it right now (sneeze, cough)!

[Vaughn]

There are places with both high population density and high mosquito density. DC was considered tropical pay by the British before AC.

And I do not desire to live in Alaska, either...tho preferable to me over 40 or more other states. I'll stick with California. Humboldt County has a population density of 35 people/sq mile -- and 60% of the population lives around Humboldt Bay. It is surrounded by counties with population densities of 25 (to the south), 27 (to the east) and 27 (to the north)...and zero to the west. Which puts us more in the Nevada, Nebraska and Kansas state pop density ranges, but with an ocean.

[Drew Wiley]

Yeah, people have weird stereotypes of CA, as if all of it was like Los Angeles. Well, LA is pretty darn big. But CA has counties as big as some states with very low population density. As a kid, the local high school district was as big as six New England states combined, and had less than 400 students. That's changed to some degree in recent decades; but 80% of the former official district is still uninhabited. The terrain dictates that. And even right here in the SF Bay area, where I now live, we have more open space and official park land than any other major urban area in the nation. A near miss today - still a bit too much smoke to go out - but in another day or two good air is predicted again, and outdoor solitude will be easy to find, along with plenty of wildlife.

[Corran]

Huh, I was surprised at how high GA actually is. But my county is nearly half the statewide number.

[Vaughn]

One needs to treat the figures with care. For example Hawaii with a density of 220. Population of 1.5 million. Plus an additional quarter of a million visitors on the islands at any one time...and generally all hanging out in the nicest places to be.

The County of Los Angeles gets 50 million tourists a year. It was a good place to grow up (from my white middle class perspective) and a great place to leave (at 18yrs of age). I have found a few physical activities finer than body-surfing...especially growing up in the waves. Almost worth the smog. Up here, snorkeling with steelhead in the rivers is pretty cool (especially the two summers I got paid for it) and it took the place of body surfing way up here where the ocean water is too dang cold all year. One makes due.

[Drew Wiley]

But up here you get to watch the sea lions body surfing in Tomales Bay, or just last month, virtually schools of harbor seals in orchestrated action in the shallows, scooping up herring I suppose. It's just a game of odds, either way, fish versus seal, seal versus shark. With hundreds of seals involved, the majority are going to survive the Great Whites. But with only a handful of human surfers involved, or more likely, just a few scuba divers dressed to look like seals, and rather slow-swimming seals, the statistical odds of being selected for lunch are quite a bit higher. That's why I prefer to watch from shore. But when I was a kid spending certain summers on the Tillamook coast of Oregon, there was a then remote spot where many big pools were isolated from the outrageous surf, and got warm enough to swim in. My cousin and I would routinely dive and handcuff a dozen or so big dungeness crabs with kelp fronds, and bring them back for the lunch kettle.

[Vaughn]

But up here you get to watch the sea lions body surfing in Tomales Bay... Fun to watch up here, too. Under the redwoods, I had a harem of elk wander into my 10-minute exposure at about the 3 minute mark. Surrounded, at 10 minutes I tore the 8x10 down, got it into the pack and on my back in record time as the bull had shown up and was making unkind noises at me. Climbing over a couple of fallen redwoods (not easy with an 8x10 and trunks ~10' diameter), the bull was satisfied...and probably chuckling the whole time. Dang elks did not even show up on the negative!

Incredible places all over the world.

[Drew Wiley]

I only saw one bull elk last week, but that doesn't surprise me, since I wasn't looking for the main herd, or really for elk at all. A couple weeks before I had a near miss with a black wild mustang atop the White Mtns - really nice setting scene with dramatic clouds n all, even the horse in exactly the right pose - but necessarily a telephoto shot, and still just enough smoke in the air to make the enlargement less than ideal. Sure had fun shooting it, at least. Like fishermen say, The worst day doing that kind of thing is better than the best day at the office!

[Dann Corbit]

I guess anywhere except Kansas and Nebraska, and a few of the eastern seaboard states like New Jersey.
Pacific Northwest - fabulous.
California, Nevada, New Mexico,m Utah - Fabulous
Texas - Wonderful
Colorado - Wyoming - out of this world
...
I have been to 38 states and saw beautiful stuff in all of them

Except Kansas, unless you like wheat, Nebraska, unless you like Corn, and New Jersey..
But in those three states, I only drove through on the highway. I guess there is somewhere beautiful even in New Jersey if you know where to look.

I was genuinely surprised at how beautiful New York was. My feeble mind had pictured an entire state paved in ashphalt and concrete with gothic looking concrete pillars jutting out of it, but most of New York is beautiful.

Vermont in the fall is incredible. Same for New Hampshire (but be prepared for the entire population speaking like Elmer Fudd).

Forida is dead flat, but the forested part is still lovely and the sunrises and sunsets are spectacular.

Idaho is one of my favories, as is Montana.

Here is a challenge:
Can someone post a breathtaking landscape from New Jersey =? ;-)

[Tin Can]

https://www.google.com/search?q=new+jersey+landscape+photos&tbm=isch&chips=q:new+jersey+landscape,g_1:beautiful:_lIbfn8Kb2A%3D&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS850US850&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivhuLChKHsAhUN96wKHekWA1QQ4lYoAnoECAEQGQ&biw=1215&bih=595

[Dann Corbit]

https://www.google.com/search?q=new+jersey+landscape+photos&tbm=isch&chips=q:new+jersey+landscape,g_1:beautiful:_lIbfn8Kb2A%3D&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS850US850&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwivhuLChKHsAhUN96wKHekWA1QQ4lYoAnoECAEQGQ&biw=1215&bih=595

I stand corrected. Even Nebraska and Kansas had some nice spots.

[Vaughn]

I only saw one bull elk last week, ...
Just got back from town...our usual herd of elk are hanging around in between there and here out in the fields...hard to count from the highway, but at least 3 or 4 dozen. A couple extra males hanging around...not close, but within sight.

[Dugan]

There's more to New Jersey than Newark and Trenton.
Just sayin'.

[Jody_S]

I look at this every time the thread gets bumped and my answer now is: the state of mind that makes you get up in the morning and head out to make landscape photographs.

[Vaughn]

I look at this every time the thread gets bumped and my answer now is: the state of mind that makes you get up in the morning and head out to make landscape photographs.

True, but still nice to have a great place to do it from.

[Dann Corbit]

What happens if we put me in Zion park or Glacier national park with 19k worth of equipment and Ansel Adams with a pinhole box camera in a Scranton NJ parking lot? Who gets the better picture?
So I guess the locale is important, but the most important thing is the person behind the camera.

And this planet we live on is stunningly beautiful. A long time ago, I was driving to Mt. Rainier national park with a station wagon full of young men of various ages. My youngest son (about 5 years old at the time) saw Mt. Rainier looming in the car window and said, "Look, somebody painted a picture in the sky!"

I remember when I was his age and we were driving up Whitebird hill in central Idaho. There was this ominous sky with absurd sunbeams blasting through gaps in the clounds and a giant flock of antelope running in unison on a hill nearby. I had a similar thought in my head, but mine was, "It's so beautiful it looks faked. Nothing can be that beautiful... Can it?"
About 58 years ago but I still remember it like it was today. Too bad I was five and didn't have a nice camera.

[Leszek Vogt]

Dann, one can find great visuals in NJ. I wouldn't start with Scranton, tho. Many of the Atlantic beaches are fabulous off season and the combo of light, the dunes, flora, etc. can rival many other places. OK, not going to compare with Yos, but it can hold its own.

The trick is to get away from the Parkway....it tries to emulate some type of "forest", and most of us are totally aware that 1/4 of a mile away it's nothing but cement....on both sides. One can see it flying out of Newark.

Les

[Tin Can]

Dann, from 1969 to 1980 when exploring USA I didn't carry a camera, as I considered even my Pentax H1 excess baggage

I took memory pictures in my head as I have done since a child

I stand still, concentrating on the view and remember it

especially places I would never see again

I have returned to live in one memory for my duration

one clear picture is the train station signage for seperate bathrooms

the sign was gone the next year, yet I see it clearly

[Vaughn]

What happens if we put me in Zion park or Glacier national park with 19k worth of equipment and Ansel Adams with a pinhole box camera in a Scranton NJ parking lot? Who gets the better picture?
So I guess the locale is important, but the most important thing is the person behind the camera...

My primary interest is light as it defines a place. This can be anywhere. I just prefer to hang out at places I want to be...it might be downtown Blue Lake, or the redwoods, or Death Valley, or even the top of Fort Point in San Francisco on a rare occasion...

Light is the bridge between the Place and the Viewer.

[Drew Wiley]

I like variety. I grew up right beside three National Parks and what are now half a dozen official Wilderness Areas, and all my life have enjoyed photographing in such places, though not necessarily stereotypical postcard images! But I've gotten every bit as good prints and even entire portfolios of things a five minute walk right up the street from where I now live. I'd even love to take a long drive someday to see the grasslands of Nebraska and so forth, and have no doubt I'd be able to bag excellent images there too. Like a black bear, I'm opportunistic - whatever tastes good, whether a wilderness blueberry patch or raiding someone's neglected picnic box.

[Alan Klein]

...

Here is a challenge:
Can someone post a breathtaking landscape from New Jersey =? ;-)
I don't know about breathtaking. But most of these are near where I live in New Jersey. And they're mine. :)
https://www.flickr.com/search/?sort=date-taken-desc&safe_search=1&tags=nj&user_id=55760757%40N05&view_all=1

[Tin Can]

Alan, are you familiar with "The Tracker: The True Story of Tom Brown Jr (https://www.amazon.com/Tracker-True-Story-Tom-Brown/dp/0425101339)"? I read his books decades ago. He found a lot of WILD in the Barrens.

At one time I was going to take his survival course

not now, I have enough just surviving right here and now



I don't know about breathtaking. But most of these are near where I live in New Jersey. And they're mine. :)
https://www.flickr.com/search/?sort=date-taken-desc&safe_search=1&tags=nj&user_id=55760757%40N05&view_all=1

[Alan Klein]

Alan, are you familiar with "The Tracker: The True Story of Tom Brown Jr (https://www.amazon.com/Tracker-True-Story-Tom-Brown/dp/0425101339)"? I read his books decades ago. He found a lot of WILD in the Barrens.

At one time I was going to take his survival course

not now, I have enough just surviving right here and now

No not familiar with it. I'll have to look into it. Thanks.