Where is the best place in the world to take a photo?
 

If you were going to take a vacation just to take pictures where would you go?

And I'm not interested in the postcard locations (Rome, Paris, Tokyo, etc.).

Bart

I have a few:
Oregon Coast
Big Sur, CA
Sedona, AZ
Yellowstone NP
Yosemite NP
Crater Lake NP

Canadian Rockies
Alaska
New England Coast

if you are a photographer - you can take world-class pictures anywhere. And if you aren't, you can take bad ones anywhere.

unanswerable question IMHO since there are a million places you could go. Even though all the places mentioned so far are amazing - all you would get are "postcards". What sort of pictures do you want??

Best place in the world for photos = wherever you are. Totally agree with janisj on this - the scenery doesn't matter, great photos can be found anywhere.

I would go where there are a lot of people. Much more interesting than mountains or lakes.

How this custom with photo travel is started when in USA I cannot say. Somany time I getting stuck on a bus or plane to see family photos on their tourists wallet and purse but we cannot leaving rude. so we see thousand pictures of the strangers all of the time. How this can be? Nobody think we wanting to see the pictures for a no reason.

The question is absurd.

Great photos are found everywhere and most are unexpected.

This question is for people who like theme parks, where the entertainment is provided for you and all you do is pay. It is a unique experience for you and one muillion of your closest friends.

The last two trips I stopped carrying my camera and it was quite liberating.

Fully agree.Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One of my favorite photo"s I took two weeks ago was of my 5 year old granddaughter with her newborn brother in her arms.Paul

Home seems like an unlikely spot but just this week I missed a chance at a wonderful shot of a red fox watching me from the cover of some young trees as I didn't have my camera with me since I was home. :^(

the best place to take a photo, is to take it to a professional photo shop so that desired enhancements can be rendered.

oh im sorry, did you want a geographical tourist destination instead?

I'm not a photographer, but my best pictures have been of Alaska, French Polynesia, and the National Parks.

The question if you read it is not absurb.

If I were going on vacation just to take pictues I would go to the rockies.

ok - you want an answer - w/o a doubt Scotland. But you don't want postcards so I'm still not sure how that helps any.

The OP asks an interesting question - "If you were going to take a vacation just to take pictures...." is a personal preference on the destination. Most photo contests are subject to various categories depending on what you like - scenery, people, animals, etc. There is no wrong answer... Bart just wants your suggestions or go to another post.

Mine are -
Santorini
Northern Italy
Switzerland
Baveria
Cote d'Azur
Anguilla

& agree w/trippinkpj but except for Sedona (never been there).

Great site for photos of the world- http://www.panoramio.com/

Yellowstone/Grand Tetons
National Parks of Utah

Utahtea

I think a good answer is "behind the camera." But to offer something you might find more helpful:

Hard to beat New York City, especially if you like black and white.

Cartier-Bresson did some good non-postcard work in Paris.

Mexico. We could go on about Mexico -- markets, mountains and volcanoes, street scenes, ruins, deserts, jungles . . .

From the peak of any mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park on a clear day, above the clouds. If you're not a hiker, take a photo at the top of the highest paved highway in the U.S. in Rocky Mountain National Park (also called the Trail Ridge Road). The scenery is spectacular and it's amazing how many foreigners make this a top destination (you can hear foreign languages everywhere). I think us Americans take our own backyard for granted.

Back in the days before automatic exposure cameras, the secret to taking great photos, taught in many, many beginning and advanced photo classes was: "set exposure to f8 and be there".

It is still a valid lesson that several posters have already made. Great photos can be found anywhere, you never know when you will stumble across one, you have to be open to seeing it, and finally, you have to have a camera to capture it.

Having said that, a few of the greatest photos I've seen were never taken. The opportunity was there but, for whatever reasons, I was not able to take them and they exist only in my memory.

I agree with janisi...Scotland. Loch Ness.

For nature pictures, definitely Big Sur, the coast north of San Francisco, the Oregon coast or Alaska (most anywhere).

Places that I've really enjoyed photographing:

Canadian Rockies -both the 'postcard' views and the wildflowers.

Scotland - was always looking for the perfect combination of water, heather, sheep, mountains. Came close, but never got exactly what I wanted.

But the one I'm most excited about now is Romania. I was there touring last September and we had a few mornings or afternoons that we just walked, especially in the remote villages, around and shot pictures. The people, architecture, ruins, scenery, all amazing. There are parts of the country that are so unspoiled, and also lots of incongruous juxtapositions (men riding in a horse and cart talking on a cell phone). I am hoping within the next 2 years to return specifically on a picture taking trip (and also visit some relatives).

Noe847: &quot;<i> Scotland - was always looking for the perfect combination of water, heather, sheep, mountains.</i>&quot;

Your criteria brought one of my all time favorite photos to mind -- a ewe and her 2 lambs laying on a tiny beach at Fionnphort on Mull w/ Iona and the Abbey in the distance across the water w/ an orange streaked sky as the sun was just sinking behind the island.

Now, THAT would be the perfect picture!

There are many great places to takes photos.

However, if you're looking for those spectacular places then I would say (in no particular order):

Bryce Canyon because it's so different
Cathedral Rock in Sedona at sunset
Antelope Canyon near Page, AZ

so why is Paris a &quot;postcard location&quot; and Yosemite is not? I don't understand your criteria.

What I can say, is the best vacation pictures I've ever taken were in Ireland. the soft, misty weather made for wonderful diffuse light. the contrast of grey stones on green grass, or rocky hills against the ocean made for spectacular vistas. And I found it easier to find focal points for my shots when there were ruins, castles or abbeys in the way than it is to take photos where there is nothing but landscape.

I agree about Ireland. I live in Oregon so I shoot the coast quite a bit and it never gets old. I have to say though my favorite place so far has been NYC. Buildings, people, lanscapes,bridges,water...so many different types of shots there even many that aren't &quot;postcards&quot;

the OP has never come back - either to clarify what he meant, nor to join in the discussion. Guess he wasn't that interested after all.

noe847: Yes it was an amazing picture. Another one of my fav &quot;sheep shots&quot; was taken on Skye. Mother and lamb walking down a long winding road, a small whitewashed cottage w/ a red post box and a wide open landscape w/ the Cullins in the background w/ mist on the peaks. No people, no cars. I called it Rush Hour on Skye.

Thanks for your posts, I find half of them very informative and the other half 'classic fodors' (you're post is worthless my opinion is better).

I love photography and have taken some of the best shots in my portfolio in the least likely places (Peoria, Provo, my back yard).

For all of you who feel the original post is irrelevant. Get a F******g life, and don't respond.

I like vague questions, they lead to the most honest answer. But if the answer is an argument, what's the point.

I now have a new found urge to head to Scotland and Ireland.

Can't wait to see the next rebuttal.

Bart

LOL, I am just going to try and answer the question.
Some of my favorite vacation photos are from the following:
Hawaii
California Coast, Big Sur, Monterey Peninsula
Scandanavian Countryside and the Fjords
Alaska
Mediterranean, Cote'd'azur and the Provence
US National Parks
And ...... New York City

eeuw - nice language bart!!

You post a question, don't come back to even acknowledge anyone answered for two months - and then get nasty about it.

are you sure it isn't &quot;brat&quot;??

my best photos have all been taken in asia, the absolute best in burma and cambodia. the colors, the people, the culture, the temples. all so rich.

By the way, for those of you who are interested in the post (and not the act of posting worthless negative comments), my favorite places to shoot are follows:

Rome, all of eastern Europe, Kauai, NW USA coast line and the Andes.

I was some what dissapointed shooting photos in the following:

Australia, Spain and Germany (except for Bavaria).

Hope each of you have wonderful travels.

Prego.

I guess I can only answer for places I've been. Now to me, &quot;the postcard&quot; is that photo of something you've seen a million times already. The shot of the sparkly Eiffel Tower; the sun bouncing off Half Dome or the sunrise over Angkor War. That same shot that every single person took when they were standing where you are now.

Ok, this is one of those argumentative things that probably call for getting one of the &quot;life&quot; things. Don't mean for it to be though. It's just that I vary a lot on what kind of photography I think I'm interested in. So... the answer is that it depends on what you want to shoot.

For ruined castles wihout tourists: Transylvania
For access to wide open desert: Merzouga in Morocco http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Afr...hoto688847.htm
For gorgeous landscapes that look like no one lives on Earth: Canadian Rockies or south island, New Zealand
For exotic stone temples with trees growing through them: N.E. Cambodia
For dynamic street photography: Bangkok, New York or Fez (I imagine this would list most cities).
For dramatic coastlines: Western Ireland or Southern Australia
For stunning architecture shots: Budapest (the river really opens up the view) http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Eur...hoto696778.htm
For portraits: Most places in non-Muslim Asia. People are much more open to having their picture taken without wondering why you want to take it.

I think the top of the Mount of the Holy Cross in Colorado is a great place.
Not many people take photographs from there.

Another place: Klein Matterhorn

Venice. You could be completely blind and 99% of whatever you shot would be gorgeous ;)

Here:

http://www.explora.com/patagonia_theplace.php