Find Your Photo Happy Place

If you want to improve your skills as a photographer, you need to find your happy place. I’m not talking about a state of mind, although having a positive attitude surely helps when taking photos! I’m talking about finding a place that inspires you and that has plenty of diverse photo opportunities. This is your GO-TO place whenever you need to scratch your creative itch. Finding your photography happy place is crucial to your development as an artist.

Ideally, your happy place will have the following characteristics:

It should be a place that inspires you. It almost goes without saying that your happy place should be photogenic, but it doesn't need to be drop-dead gorgeous. It should, however, be a place that you connect with on a personal level. You should love your happy place — after all, that's the whole point of a happy place!

It should offer plenty of photo opportunities. Take the time to thoroughly explore your happy place, making a concerted effort to find all the best that it has to offer. Since you're likely to frequently visit your happy place, it has to be varied enough that you will always find something new with each visit. As your creative vision gets stronger, you’ll start seeing new opportunities that you overlooked before.

Finally, you happy place should be nearby. Having a nearby shooting destination is a smart strategy, as you can easily practice your skills there and you're close by when promising conditions head your way. In the alternative, your happy place can be a remote destination, but one that you visit often.

Once you’ve chosen your happy place, you need to set an important goal: become the master of that place. This is YOUR place, and you need to own it. You should have the very best portfolio from this place.

You shouldn’t just do this because of sheer competitiveness. Your happy place is your training ground where you hone your skills and develop your artistic vision. If you can find a way to make great photos in your happy place, you’ll be able to take stunning photos no matter where you travel in the world. Last but not least, your happy place portfolio can serve as a calling card for you, giving you a unique set of photos that set your work apart.

What's my happy place? It's Badlands National Park in South Dakota. I just love this twisted landscape, which is made up of soft claystone formations marked by colorful layers and intricate erosion patterns. My favorite times to shoot there are late spring/early summer during the height of the annual storm season when the skies are epic, and at the end of summer when the storms quiet and clear night skies reveal the Milky Way. This is my favorite place in the world to photograph, and every time I go, I discover new photo opportunities. I absolutely love sharing this amazing place with others, so that’s why I return every year to host my Landscape and Nightscape masterclass workshops.

You can see some of my happy place photos below. What's your happy place? Please let us know in the comments, and feel free to share some photos of your own!