Is it Really Possible to Make Good Photos Anywhere You Are?

We all want to make good, great, or “better” photos. But a lot of us lack the inspiration to shoot every day, or we lack the motivation to shoot every day. Or perhaps we are too tired. Or nothing around us in our environment inspires us.

So the question is:

Is it possible to make good or interesting photos where we live, or anywhere we are? Is it necessary for you to live in a big city or to be constantly traveling to exotic places to make good photos?

Some practical thoughts:

1. Of course we are more inspired and motivated to shoot photos when we are traveling or in an unfamiliar/exotic place. Our visual stimuli is more excited with novelty.
2. Is it possible to discover visual novelty in a place we’ve accustomed to?
3. And no matter what, will we always adapt and get bored of our own city, irrespective of where we live? For example, even if you live in NYC, SF, London, Saigon, Hanoi, you’re probably going to “get bored of it” or lose your visual excitement of the place. I think this is human nature.

As I’m writing these lines, I’m back in the suburbs of LA. But something has changed within me; I’ve been shooting a lot since I’ve been back the last two days!

I cannot speak for certain, but these are some ideas why I think I’m so motivated to shoot:

1. Enjoyment shooting JPEG on RICOH GR II (positive film preset, maximum saturation and contrast), and experimenting shooting everything with and without a flash. The discovery that shooting with a flash (especially during the day) creates really fascinating images, while increasing the contrast, details, and dynamic range of my photos!
2. Enjoyment of spending time with loved ones and family members (my mom, going to the baptism of my godson, family members, etc).
3. The creation of more “tiled galleries” on this blog (WordPress.org). A new way to display, collage, and creatively put together images. More fun than just single images!
4. Allowing myself to just shoot whatever random stuff interests me (cars, homes, urban landscapes, flowers, colors, textures, people, places, food). Essentially not allowing myself to get trapped within any photo or art genre.
5. Realizing that I don’t really care to make “perfect” photos anymore. I just like shooting photos for the sake of it, ghen looking at my photos, processing my photos, and sharing them for others to enjoy as well!

You can make fun photos anywhere

Perhaps we shouldn’t really be thinking whether our photos are “good” or “bad” (because this implies we are trying to impress others).

Perhaps instead we should be like children; treat our photos as fun or not fun!

Therefore I think it is possible to entertain yourself via photography regardless of where you are! And generally speaking the most fun cameras I’ve discovered are the RICOH GR II and the Google Pixel 3. Both are pocketable, easy to carry with you everywhere you go, and extremely fun to process the photos.

The smaller, more compact and more pocketable your camera, the more you’re going to shoot, and the more you’re going to enjoy the process!

Shoot on!

ERIC