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

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    25

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

    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 ......

  2. #2

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    Apr 2020
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    Re: Which State is the Best State for Landscape Photographers to Live?

    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.

  3. #3
    Foamer
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    South Dakota
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    Re: Which State is the Best State for Landscape Photographers to Live?

    Quote Originally Posted by tax888 View Post
    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
    In contento ed allegria
    Notte e di vogliam passar!

  4. #4
    C. D. Keth's Avatar
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    Re: Which State is the Best State for Landscape Photographers to Live?

    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.
    -Chris

  5. #5
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: Which State is the Best State for Landscape Photographers to Live?

    California is totally messed up. Cost of living, hippies, earthquakes. Stay away.
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  6. #6
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Which State is the Best State for Landscape Photographers to Live?

    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.

  7. #7
    Pechoretc's Avatar
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    Ekateriburg, Russia
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    Re: Which State is the Best State for Landscape Photographers to Live?

    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
    Experience allows us to make mistakes much more confidently ...

  8. #8

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

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


    Bernice

  9. #9

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    Anglesey, North Wales, UK [53.3N 4.4W]
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    Re: Which State is the Best State for Landscape Photographers to Live?

    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

  10. #10
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Which State is the Best State for Landscape Photographers to Live?

    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.

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