Every now and then I’ll be around a bunch of photographers and they’ll be looking at images of Joe Buissink’s, Jim Garner’s, Jerry G’s, Yervant’s or Bambi’s for example and somebody will always say, “Sure the images are great, look at where they are!  I’ve got nothing that looks like the ocean where I live!”

This is just a short point to make this morning.  If you know what you’re doing you can create award-winning incredible images any place on the planet.  Hey, I lived near the ocean for seven years and can’t deny for a second, there’s no place more beautiful to be – but not necessarily to photograph.

I get the jokes all the time about trading in Marina Del Rey for Akron, but Akron’s actually got lots of great spots to photograph and so does Cleveland and virtually every city in America.  For example, in down town Cleveland there’s a lot of old brick and the opportunity to create some incredible back drops.  There are small parks and neighborhoods, screaming to be photographed.   In Akron, there’s Greystone and the John S Knight Center where Matthew Jordan Smith will be teaching in a few weeks – both have some great corners of natural light and dynamic lines for high-impact composition.

One of my most favorite images here at home is one Don Blair did of my Dad and me and it was done in a booth at a trade show!  My daughter’s high school senior head shot fifteen years ago was done by Tony Corbell on a skid of cameras in the back corner of the Hasselblad warehouse. (Okay, it wasn’t because of the scenery, but because I was too cheap to get a senior head shot done, but Corbell did it for a pizza – how could I refuse?)

The point is, if you’re dreaming about what your images would look like if you lived near the ocean or in the middle of the Rockies you need to get yourself some destination assignments.  In the mean time, you need to not just look around you but see what’s around you.  From old buildings and parks to construction sites and simply understanding lighting well enough to utilize a back drop and create beautiful images – you’ve got lots to work with if you follow Joe Buissink’s routine and develop your “mind’s eye” for creating your own unique look!

Let’s have some fun with this one.  Send me your outstanding images from places that are just ordinary, but helped you create some extra-ordinary images… (3×4, 72dpi) to skip@mei500.com.  We’ll post them here on the blog and we’ll draw a winner for free registration to Skip’s Summer School, August 8-11 in Las Vegas.   The winner will be non-transferable, so don’t enter if you can’t join us!

“I think a photography class should be a requirement in all educational programs because it makes you see the world rather than just look at it. And by seeing we also begin to understand ourselves.”  Anon