Reconnecting through camping and photography

work2fish wrote:
That said, I think it makes sense to gradually move into less popular areas and it is my hope that my daughter will see the promise of branching out and exploring photography topics that really push a person's creativity, in part because they are out of the ordinary.
Cheers,
Mike

I would actually, disagree with your conclusion and allow me to explain why.

Like your daughter, my son showed a distinct eye for photography at an early age. I gave him some of my manual cameras to start with. (Yes, it was that long ago) So it was harder and steeper learning curve with film. One of the things we would do, would go to areas to find the “special” shot in what would appear simple. To be honest, anyone can take great pictures at places like the Snake River Overlook in the Tetons or Maroon Bells, outside of Aspen. I did the opposite and challenged my son by taking him down to the Denver Public Library area to work on composition. We looked for contrasting lines, colors, as well as depth of field. We went to places like the Boulder Mall or many of the different Boulder Creek Festivals and captured images of the people and scenes. It stretched his abilities in many ways. By the time he was a Senior in High School he was an award winning photographer and won two photo equipment grants for his High School, allowing him to use this equipment exclusively for his Senior year in Photography. Working hard and being challenged made him a better photographer.

The following is a picture I took of my son’s tent, outside of my truck camper. We were boondocking beside a river. Nothing iconic or special about the location. But judge the picture below, as to whether a scene can be found in a less than special place. Especially when the Forest Fires were obscuring most of the landscape photos at the time.






Or just a bunch of trees, obscured by forest fire smoke




Or just the inside of the State Capitol of Idaho


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