Summer is not a good season for Photography?
Great Egret at Caesar Creek last week on a 95 degree day.
I’ve seen a trend in YouTube videos from some well-known landscape photographers lately. They go on and on about how they don’t like Summer, and about how they struggle to create content during that time.
Its not worth going out to shoot because of several reasons:
1. Long days mean you have to get up really early for sunrise, and stay up late for sunset
2. The light is too harsh
3. Too many people on Summer break at our parks and beaches that get in the way of the shot
4. Its hot
5. Its humid
6. There are bugs
7. Foliage is dull, burnt
8. Not as many blooms as in the Spring
9. There’s nothing to shoot
Great Blue Heron with two fish - Ceasar Creek State Park in some “harsh” Summer light
Wait, what?
I guess, in a way I understand what they are saying, and to be fair, if you ONLY shoot landscapes there are some valid arguments there. These photographers have a MUCH GREATER following than I do, and a lot of that is due to them building their “brand” on social media platforms. And the #1 rule of social media is consistency. Meaning, that if people identify you as a landscape photographer, and follow you for that, then social media chaos may ensue if suddenly your feed has something other than what’s expected/established.
Thankfully, or not, depending on how you look at it, I don’t have tens of thousands of followers on social media. That means that I am free to degrade my brand by shooting all sorts of things. The nice thing about living in Ohio is that we have distinct changes of seasons, and a lot of great national, state, and local parks full of natural beauty and wildlife.
I like to say that during the Fall/Winter I am a Wildlife Photographer who shoots Landscapes, and in Spring/Summer I am a Landscape Photographer who shoots Wildlife. That’s mostly true, but somewhere in there you have to throw in my other photo passions: film photography, charity events, musicals/theater, macro, and architecture.
With the Summer winding down, you find that my Instagram posts of late have been a lot of bird/wildlife shots. I recently picked up the newer G2 version of my Tamron 150-600mm birding lens so I’ve been giving it a good work-out. Look for a review on it here in the future. Here are a few shots from the last 2 weeks taken with the new lens.
As Autumn approaches and the leaves start to change, my posts will begin to be more landscape oriented. COVID-willing, I have a trip planned in October for the Ithaca, New York area to shoot Fall colors and waterfalls. This was a trip that I had planned for Spring of 2020 but that didn’t work out so well when New York closed its borders early on in the pandemic.
Once we get into the Winter months, my photography is still mostly landscapes but with some wildlife thrown in here and there.
Waterfalls in Winter - one of my favorite cold-weather subjects. Upper Falls at Hocking Hills State Park
Female Cardinal in the snow - Spring Valley Wildlife Area
Then Spring blooms and I’m kinda all over the place. Waterfalls are flowing well, insects are everywhere, and birds are migrating through the area. This is the time of year that I am often leaving the house with landscape, birding, and macro gear to use all on one outing.
Sometimes tiny subjects can be as fun and challenging as large ones
So as you can see, I don’t think there is any season that’s bad for photography. That thought may be at the expense of consistency and growing my Instagram followers, but that’s OK. If a day comes when I’m forced into doing something I don’t like just to keep getting likes and followers – that’s the day I’ll have to consider rethinking my priorities.
Thanks for reading and have a great rest of your Summer!
Jeremy
