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

[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+...w=1215&bih=595

[Dann Corbit]

https://www.google.com/search?q=new+...w=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.