Basic tips for Landscape photography on how to discover Your Area

Since I'm from North Dakota I will mention a few of the natural surroundings of our state hopefully this will give you some guidance in determining where to photograph in your location. Eastern and Central North Dakota is home to farming, rivers, historic sites, state parks, grasslands, wide open prairies and scientific areas. Farm land or ranches provide so many opportunities: Spring time on the farm can be farmers in the fields planting or working the land. Ranches will have horses and cattle where spring will bring those new little calves. Rivers can always be interesting at sunrise or sunset; long exposure on the river can provide some creamy water, then capturing the river when the sky is beautiful from a sunrise or sunset can make your image spectacular. Sheyenne National Grasslands: The grasslands offer many hiking trails; take advantage of the hiking trails if you can and you can discover unique items not found when driving. Western North Dakota is home to the badlands, national parks, oil riggings, wildlife, wide open prairies. Each of these topics offer opportunities for landscape photography in North Dakota.

North Dakota badlands has endless opportunities for landscape photography. The soil in the badlands is very light and it is very easy to have over exposures in the badlands so double check your images to make sure they are not over exposed. Keep note of images you may have seen of your area. I make notes of places in my area. For example, I love sunrise and sunsets however these types of images have unique requirements so I'll make a note of what type of image I think would work in that location. All state offices will have an extensive list of all parks in your state. Also your state most likely will have a tourism department that will list all possible photographic sites in your state. Here are a couple of links for North Dakota: https://www.parkrec.nd.gov/ and https://www.ndtourism.com/national-state-parks. You can do the same for your state. More discovery about your area - All state offices will have an extensive list of all parks in your state. Here are a couple of links for North Dakota: https://www.parkrec.nd.gov/ and https://www.ndtourism.com/national-state-parks. You can do the same for your state. Information on all national parks can be found online: https://www.nps.gov Each park will have a map of the area that will help you decide where to photograph in the park.

My favorite national park in my area is the Theodore Roosevelt National park south and north unit. This park is home to the beautiful badlands, the Little Missouri River, beautiful sediment formations, bison, wildlife and in the south unit wild horses. Even with gloomy skies photographic opportunities are there. Plan your photo shoot based on a couple of questions: How much time do you have? Plan your shoot for how much time you have. Maybe you only have a couple of hours so head out to the nearest trail, lake, river. I do a lot of spur of the moment shoots based on weather/clouds. For example If we have eaten supper and the clouds look like it might be an amazing sunset, I'll head over to one of my favorite quick locations to capture that sunset picture. Keep a list of those quick locations just for that spur of the moment image. If I'm lucky enough to have a whole day, I'll head out to some of my favorite areas or just one area based on time of year. Wandering through a state park can be quite a discovery and it seems that every time you travel to that park it changes.

I've discovered that each park has it's uniqueness and some may be better in the spring and some in the fall. I've also discovered that I have some back roads that have a lot of photograph possibilities. So get off the highway and take the backroads. Special note: I carry a North Dakota county map in my vehicle so I can find the backroads and not get lost. Of course we all have GPS on our phones these days making it quite a bit easier. If I'm really lucky to have a few days I'll plan ahead, book a room, load my dog and gear and head out to the North Dakota badlands or maybe Lake Superior. What time of year Of course this decision is based on several different things: Time of year: if it's winter up here you need to know what roads are open and if there would be anything interesting along that road. Winter also brings hoarfrost, snow fogs and stormy days all great factors to base your decision on. E.g late winter brings warmer day which brings morning filled with hoarfrost. I love old barbed wire fencelines with hoarfrost so I'll head to the Sheyenne National grasslands looking for fencelines to put in my composition. Springtime brings road concerns also if it's been muddy (I for one don't want to call my husband 50 miles from home and tell him that I am stuck in the mud). Also be aware of any flooding in the area that you should stay away from. ALWAYS BE SAFE!

Early springtime is there anything yet to really photograph? Wildflowers are always fun and they could be found in your state park. Late spring early summer can mean row crops just peaking their heads above the dirt and can bring some interesting lines in your landscape. Later summer can bring ripened farm fields and the Milky Way creating art with the ripened farm fields or composing a Milky image can always be fun. Of course in the fall we always have fall colors and finding creative ways to capture the colors is also fun. Most importantly: What pulls at your heart for landscape photography: Always follow what is in your heart to photograph. I have been asked several time why I don't photograph this or that. I feel we always have to be True to ourselves in other words don't shoot to please other people. However with that being said; Don't be afraid to try new things/techniques or push yourself to discover new landscapes. Learning new techniques can be scary and frustrating however don't give up. When you push yourself to new discoveries we grow as a individual. Another most important tip: Shoot, shoot shoot. you can't learn or improve unless you are out there with your camera! Take care, Roxanne