Take better photos - how varying your location improves your skills

Mundane things are everywhere in our lives and finding them isn't hard. Making great photos of mundane things to make them look interesting isn't too hard either, but we rarely do it. Instead we go for the sweeping vista, the amazing sunset and the honeypot locations which often teach us nothing about taking good photographs.
This isn't Street Photography. I am largely avoiding photos of people or even the streets. I am mostly concentrating on things within the environment. Objects, shapes, blocks of colour, that kind of thing. I think this is a distinctly different kind of photography from Street Photography which, while there is crossover, would often involve human figures. That's not to say my shots here are devoid of human life, but the figures in most of these images are not the focus and that's where I draw the distinction.
It can be difficult to pigeon hole genres overall. There are cross-over points between many types: the Urban Landscape is a landscape, for instance.
It's best not to get hung up on genre: if you want to label this "mundane photography" shoot, think of it as more "observational photography".
#mundanephotography #landscapephotography #takebetterphotographs
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[@toine1915]

Hello, buddy. For me, you can make these kinds of videos every week. Simple yet incredibly fun to watch. I would like to see another video of the village where you live. You've done this before and I absolutely loved it. For us, photography should be fun, we should enjoy going out with our camera. Don't think about anything and take pictures of things that have value to you. And it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. I'm really going to try this setting. No likes for comments about how good the photo is. Just pictures that I can look back on and laugh at. And why can't these be good photos? A street photographer is no different. They talk about it differently but do the same thing we do. Take pictures of nice buildings or situations. We should enjoy ourselves and think more about ourselves. I also want to start working with color again. I hope I can get the hang of this now. Take care buddy, I have also been to that place you told me about in your email. Greetings to Nicky and keep your back straight, dear friend. Antoine.

[@russgrant512]

I "cut my photographic teeth" on the mundane and still go back to it regularly, despite the lake district being my home turf. There's a great advantage to setting yourself at a disadvantage. It really teaches you to look and to adapt. With no cheek intended, thank you for pointing out the obvious and allowing us to air the opinion that it's the best of teaching aids. Train hard, work easy!

[@AndyBanner]

One of the things that photography courses at college will do is get you to shoot mundane things and the reason is clear. It gets you looking but more importantly, it gets you SEEING and there's a distinct difference as any experienced visual artist will know very well. Thanks for your support, Russ.

[@sharondmeber3802]

Fun video! Mundane is the word of the day😊I really enjoyed this and find it very inspiring! I have always appreciated this genre of photography so it has re-sparked me to get out with my camera to again look for mundane subjects. I am somewhat new to my location and find it quite uninspiring and uninteresting but I also recognize it is my attitude that needs adjusting as I come from a big city with lots to offer photographically and my current location does not as it is much smaller with less grandeur. I believe it is also an emotional journey that I still need to work through as much change has happened but I find getting out with camera in hand does help! Some really great shots in this video Andrew, thanks! 😊

[@AndyBanner]

Thanks! Getting acquainted with mundane stuff through your lens is such a valuable exercise. We all need to do it more often. It's an eye-opener. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@goranritterfeldt2608]

Excellent. I appreciate your video’s and approach very much. I am interested to hear you express your background as a photographer, So perhaps in a coming video. You are a strong character so thank you a lot. Take care Göran from Latvia

[@krzysztofg2145]

I just realized I'm into that type of photography.. its so relaxing :) Personally i like your "mundane" shots more than "landscape" stuff , heh :)

[@AndyBanner]

Prints available...... lol

[@dtowers7557]

Another informative video really is one of the better photography channels around 👍

[@AndyBanner]

That's a very kind thing to say. I am sure it's not true, but I'll take it. Thank you.

[@laurelb8372]

You have a great eye to see an image where most would walk on by

[@AndyBanner]

Some people can train their "eye", others acquire it and some seem to be born with it. We all see different things. Check out the video the week before this where "rentanickki" was realised.....

[@SteveMorris1964]

Great vlog as usual Andy, I end up shooting mundane quite often and like you, it usually ends up as a B&W image. But I don't mind the mundane, it makes you work harder to get at least 'something' out of the image worth working on in post process. And sometimes, you can end up with a rather surprising gem, that you never saw at the time of taking the image.

[@AndyBanner]

I think this can be especially true of things with structure and contrast.

[@luzr6613]

Really good video, Andrew - densely packed with thoughts and observations. Glad to hear someone emphasize the importance of editing in a way that honours the subject or the intent of the image, rather than just going for an homogenous style to the editing. Now, had i been in such a mundane environment with you, i'd have been surreptitiously snatching shots of the leopard skin print poking up to your collar-line - the exotic gracing the mundane. Have a great week, mate, and thanks for your hours and your sharing. All the best from Hell on Earth. Cheers.

[@AndyBanner]

Ah, yes, my scarf... I think my clothing choices might be the cause of the sporadic unsubscribes..... Anyways, who you calling mundane? :-)

[@luzr6613]

@@AndyBanner Sporadic unsubscribes? I wonder how some of these people come to be engaged in photography in the first place, given that the world is so dangerous for them. F'em if they can't take a joke. Cheers, Ears.

[@luzr6613]

Hello Andrew - pleasure to see you. I'm in bed... an ice-cold Asahi... i'm going to watch your video now. Cheers!

[@AndyBanner]

Best served with a cold beer...

[@quirkworks4076]

Thanks for expanding my vocabulary! 🤪

[@AndyBanner]

This episode was sponsored by the word "unboringed".... and the number 5 :-)

[@eltinjones4542]

Interesting, can work well. If tried on occasions 📷👍

[@AndyBanner]

Why occasions? We're surrounded by mundanity - embrace it.

[@taterandy3958]

Enjoyed this video 😂 i like your 💡Ideas of mundane but what you are doing also urban landscape or environmental photography. Interesting photos that i really like because they are different is not your everyday type photos.

[@AndyBanner]

There's a great deal of crossover between many genres of photography. Last year, I invented Streech Photography, blending people watching with beach shooting - heck I made a video about it! :-) When does urban or environmental photogarphy become mundane? Does taking photos of a model in a street mean it's street or portraiture or is it Stortraiture? And will someone please define "fine art"? :-) Thanks for your support.

[@teresababer5310]

You have a wonderful eye for compositions.....mundane shots? Not at all!!! Great instruction on "seeing" your environment & visualizing your final outcome. I believe post is all part of the creative process. btw, spot on regarding the signage we see and the state of this world that we're living in😞

[@AndyBanner]

Thank you. I think "mundane" is a subjective term in the sense that I used it in this video. There are some excellent photographers that have made history with mundane images. It's underrated in many people's eyes because it's all around them every day and they would prefer to be somewhere that they are not every day. Call it escapism.

[@teresababer5310]

@@AndyBanner I completely understand and agree. I guess it’s not the shots that are mundane but the “ordinary” subject matter in the everyday world - that you happen to see very differently and creatively and end up with amazing creations of art❣️

[@thomasgrant1850]

Lovely mundane and banal work. I'm big into this at the moment. I even have a lightroom collection for all my bin shots

[@AndyBanner]

Thanks, Thomas. I really like the work I have seen you share. You've been far more successful in finding interest in some of the boxy buildings around our coast than I have. We should do a shoot together some time for sure.

[@thomasgrant1850]

@@AndyBanner thanks Andy, I really appreciate that. I've also shot the same wavey pathway by the car park in Yarmouth as you in the video. I'm going to have a look at it again as I never did anything with that image. Yes we should. I don't get much of a chance at the moment. Not that summers passed my ability to get golden hour before work has gone, most inconsiderate these changing seasons. That said I am excited to photograph autumn for the the first time.

[@AndyBanner]

Wonder when Autumn will descend?

[@dangilmore9724]

Mundane is such a harsh term. I like "prosaically banal." These are the type of images that will be considered "nostalgic" in 50 years.

[@AndyBanner]

Add a "polariod" filter to them and many could be "nostalgic" right now :-) Thanks, Andy

[@simonpayne7994]

If you are standing in front of the Taj Mahal, and have never been there before, it is perfectly obvious what you - as a photographer - have to do. If you are standing on a carpark on a dismal day at Umpton-super-Mud and see a couple of color patches or an interesting shape, it is not so obviousl. This is where creativity has to take over. Sometimes you will succeed, sometimes you will not. Andy had quite a good yield.

[@AndyBanner]

A trip to Weston SuperMud sounds more interesting if I am honest and I suspect the chances of Dehli-Belly are similar. But I think the point of standing in front of a well-known landmark and it being perfectly obvious what you have to do is deceptive because you're likely to do what millions do each year and get the same photograph. That's fine for a tourist, but not fine for a photographer. Creativity needs to be there all the time whether you're in Blindhead or in front of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

[@simonpayne7994]

@@AndyBanner Hi Andy. I agree. But the first thing to do, in spite of all ambitions, is, IMHO, to get the "standard" pictures painted onto your sensor. In the pre-internet era I even went so far as to look at the postcards on display in the local shops. In the role of a tourist you are always competing with the locally based professionals anyway. A game you can hardly ever win. Of course, I am looking for details and non-tourist motives at the same time. But I think my first self-imposed duty is to get the standard stuff in. Then I can quite happily go completely off my rocker afterwards. That is why I added: "... and you have not been there before." Today my approach is a little different with somewhat more emphasis on non-run-of-the-mill. Amusing that you immediately recognized "Umpton-super-Mud". A 100 years ago I used to live in Bristol.

[@duringthemeanwhilst]

at 8:45 you'd have thought the council would have put a bit more effort to get that marker post central to the slipway wouldn't you? anyway, HCB didn't do too bad shooting, essentially, everyday mundanity did he? decisive mundanity but mundanity all the same 🙂

[@AndyBanner]

Bloody council. It's like they put that a few feed out of place on purpose. It's like Cromer Pier where the three sets of benches and three lamp posts down the "middle" are not properly aligned. Bastards..... :-)