Hey, just like everyone  I like to go on vacation.  I even like to take photographs on vacation.  I’ll even research vacation spots where I’ve seen great photographs.  I sometimes stand in basically the same well worn “Kodak Moment” spots that millions of other tourists with cameras have and take the same iconic shot.

It’s fun.  Seeing a  great photographic location, learning about it, tracking it down and trying to capture something similarly amazing.  Our first trip to Iceland was like that.  I even found some online videos which gave tips on where to find some of the iconic locations.  And then you get there and find that these “secret” locations aren’t really all that secret as bus loads of tourists are dropped off there everyday.  Of course I try to find other shots along the way, things that perhaps only appeal to me.

As you look at more and more photographs online and start looking at the portfolios of fellow photographers it seem the same locations come up over and over.  It gets rather obvious who spends vacation money on photographic workshops to these “exotic” locations that come up again and again.

I was at a dinner once with someone who enjoyed going on photo workshops or safari’s for vacation.  She would spend $10K to photograph polar bears in Canada or go to Africa to photograph lions or giraffes.  I asked her what she did with the photographs and she said – nothing, I just like to take pictures, it relaxes me.

Geez, I am green with envy.  Wish I had that kind of money to spend on traveling to these iconic locations around the world that you see, over and over and over.

Which brings me to my main point – are you offering the world the same photos they’ve seen over and over?  I can kind of tell from someone’s portfolio if they are a frequent photography workshop traveler.   The same iconic locations pop up again and again from Alaska, Antelope Canyon, or even Namibia.

These are all great trips and lots of fun photographing as they present some of the most stunning landscapes the world has to offer but if you are trying to sell your fine art photography, is it enough to stand out from the crowd?  Are you offering the world anything unique, new and different?

Sure you can spend $10K+ on a trip to the other side of the world to be in the 10th photo workshop of the year and come back with photographs that only a small portion of the photo community have had a chance to take, but with online searching, those same shots don’t become so exotic anymore as there are so many versions of them posted.

Meanwhile something truly unique and personal can be found in your home town.  Something different.  Something unique to your own personal artistic vision, something that you have determined to be significant, not some workshop instructor.

Sold a 15.000″ x 20.000″ print of Wash Day to a buyer from Fort Worth, TX.  Note: the watermark in the lower right does not appear in the final print.

By all means, take the iconic shots while on vacation but also look beyond those well worn shots to see the possibilities all around you while on vacation and at home.

The Appeal of Photo Workshops

If you are short on vacation time and have the money to spend, the appeal of photo workshops is that the “pro” photographer takes you right to the best spots and helps coach you on things like settings and lens choices.  Workshops save you the time of researching an area and making accommodations plans.

“You could go alone to New Zealand, Mexico, Cuba, or wherever your wanderlust takes you, and bring your camera along for the trip — hope to stumble upon the ‘photographic’ spots, and take some pictures you think might be good.

Or, you could sign up for an amazing, fully immersive photography workshop in an exotic locale with a pro photographer who knows the land, guides you to all the best spots, gives you feedback during critiques, and helps you edit your new travel portfolio along the way. “

Here are some of the more popular photo workshop locations where you can join a group:

Wildwood, NJ

Paris

Barcelona

New Orleans

Galápagos

Bhutan

Sedona

Acadia

Yosemite

Texas

Tennesse

Utah

Colorado

Moab

Wyoming

Yellowstone

Austria

Bahamas

Bolivia

Tuscany

New Zealand

Mexico

and so on.  You can probably find a workshop in just about any spot in the world if you look for it.  Just remember – between workshops, don’t leave your camera in the closet – explore your own local exotic location.