The five best ways to capture scenes less seen

Capturing scenes less seen can turbocharge your creativity. It also sets you apart from others. With an emphasis on our environment, here are five ways to capture overlooked scenes.

Climate change

Climate change provides many opportunities to photograph how the world is changing around us. What is happening around where you live? What about where you travel? Are there more extreme storms? Are there more dry lake beds where water once was prevalent? Photograph, photograph, photograph. If you can, before and after comparison photos are particularly fascinating. 

Events and protests

If current events provoke hundreds of thousands of women, educators, scientists, or specific groups of people to protest, it must be very emotional and important to them. This often makes for great photos. Protests provide a compelling look into what is going on now. They are also interesting to look back upon later, providing a glimpse into what was on people’s minds. After all, so many of the images most indelibly seared into our brains are images of major events and protests.

Seek out the unusual and the ignored

As anybody who reads this regularly knows, I frequently photograph abandoned locations. Most people ignore places like this, regarding them as blight. But it can be a fascinating and awesome experience. Before and after photos can be particularly fascinating. Find an old postcard or photo, and then photograph what it looks like now. Scenes of yesteryear, abandoned areas, old buildings planes, trains, or automobiles don’t last forever. Document them now.

Various kinds of art, especially folk art and unusual roadside attractions, can also create fantastic images. Most people drive past these. But they can make unique photographic subjects as well. I’ve previously written about how I find interesting foregrounds and subjects.

And of course, there are plenty of people who are creating rammed earth and straw bale homes. These are not only cool looking, but they are often captivating reasons behind why the owner chose this method of building. You have that camera in your hand! Photograph it!

Unusual perspectives

When someone writes an article about capturing scenes less seen, this is surely a common one. But it bears repeating. And emphasizing. Do it to extremes. Go macro and live large by going small. Get low. Get high. Offer perspective. Reveal something rarely seen.

When others stay indoors, you go outside

Some of the most fascinating, photogenic scenes occur when weather occurs. Often, landscapes, urban scenes, and your neighborhood are beautiful and otherworldly after rain. Cover that camera, put on a raincoat, and get outside. The Clear Outside app can help you with the weather.

While it’s fun to bring your mirrorless or DSLR, many photos can be beautifully photographed with that phone you have in your purse or pocket. As the quote by Chase Jarvis goes, “the best camera is the one that’s with you.”