It's not unusual to find landscape and nature photographers hitting the road or taking to the skies en route to far-away dream locations. Who doesn't want to experience and photograph new and interesting scenery? We all have location wish lists.

Still, traveling with abandon is unrealistic for most people.

To begin with, it's expensive - and thanks to inflation, the price tag for wanderlust keeps climbing. Dropping many thousands of dollars each time on photographic excursions might be a stretch.

Then there are scheduling constraints: your day job, family obligations, etc.

Jetting off to Kenya, or the Antarctic, or a handful of National Parks, or the Dolomites, then, might not be on your Bingo card for this year: maybe never.

What does that mean as far as your photographic aspirations? Must a person travel in order to make compelling photos?

Fortunately, the answer is no. You can satisfy your creative ambitions without venturing far from home.

You might be thinking this is easy for me to suggest. After all, I live near two of the park system's crown jewels, and back in New Hampshire the White Mountains were within close range, too. True - but "near" does not necessarily mean right next door. The closest entrances to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park from my house require 90-100 miles of driving to reach. It was the same story back East. So no, I'm not popping in on the spur of the moment. I look for subject matter closer to home, too.

What if there's nothing to shoot in your area?

Don't be so sure about that.

It's easy to become blind to the beauty in our backyards. Regardless of where you live, I'm certain you can find subject matter. Don't think about the local scenery in terms of what you don't have access to. Consider it in terms of what it does offer.

Perhaps you've witnessed the reaction of an out-of-town guest who, upon surveying the environs near where you live, is delighted by all the things there are to see and do. Maybe you consider the area boring, or lacking in visual interest - yet here is this person reacting much differently to the exact same things.

What's uninspiring to one is fascinating to another. Try to see your area with fresh eyes.

If you're feeling stuck for locations, visit a park or a cemetery or even a golf course - any of which can be wonderful. Back in New England, I spent a lot of time in old cemeteries with spectacular, huge specimen maples. Agricultural areas can be terrific, too: crops make great subject matter.

Go exploring. Even if you've lived in an area for years, I'll bet there are roads you've never traveled. Send yourself out on a treasure hunt. Take obscure side roads; find out where they lead and discover new sights along the way.

Get out a map and draw a 60-mile radius around where you live. Drill down and have a closer look. You might be surprised to find potential opportunities that have been hiding in plain sight.

Think about techniques you can use to capture local landscapes in a completely different way. For example, intentional camera movement can transform even the most mundane subjects into fascinating visuals.

Photographing locally means you can revisit areas often. You can quickly react to interesting conditions. You can shoot subjects in different light, different seasons, and different weather. Take advantage of this proximity! You might consider assigning yourself a project to capture the many moods of a single subject.

Another advantage to working close to home: you can bring as much gear along as you like. Toss whatever you think you might need in the back of your vehicle and off you go.

Exotic, far-flung destinations are great, but don't shortchange familiar scenery. To make great photographs, jet travel is not necessary.

Bloom where you're planted.

About the Photographs

These are all examples of working close to home. In order, top to bottom:

This derelict buck and rail fence is less than three miles from my house. Since "snow removal" is - for reasons unknown - a concept foreign to this area, winter driving is sometimes a wild ride. Consequently, I combed the area searching for a subject I could access without too much difficulty. This fire-scarred, collapsing fence was just the ticket. I've photographed it in all four seasons over the years, and the project is entitled The Neglected Fence.

New England autumns are truly a sight to behold, and in my opinion there's nowhere better to experience the show than New Hampshire's White Mountains. That said, lovely color is everywhere. Of all the autumnal foliage images I've made, this abstract is one of my favorites. Somewhat surprisingly, I didn't make it in my beloved White Mountains. This location was less than ten miles from my house.

These wildflowers were densely packed in the center of a roundabout in Stratham, New Hampshire. Again, close to where I lived. The trickiest thing about shooting them was finding a place to leave my car. Sadly, they didn't return in succeeding years; the town opted to keep the area mowed instead.

Monsoonal activity can produce amazing skies. Typically, I shoot as the storms are developing. The cumulonimbus form relatively quickly and climb very high, often creating stunning skyscapes. This photo, made just a few steps from my front door, is unusual for me in that I didn't make it on the front end of the storm. By now the heavy weather was nearly overhead, it had begun to rain, and the sky had mostly flattened out. The western horizon remained clear, though, so the setting sun was able to light the sky to the east, including these two clouds which looked to me as if they were communicating with one another.

A big fan of crabapple trees, I was thrilled to discover there are varieties that will grow even in Idaho's harsh climate. Like the previous image, I made this in my own yard.