Obviously, a comprehensive guide to world photography spots would be ridiculous, so here’s my little guide to some of the most stunning photo opportunities around the world. Also, I apologise in advance if i’ve missed your favourite spot, I had a lot of trouble getting it down to this few!

Milford Sound, New Zealand
Milford Sound is a 15k long fjord within Fiordland National Park on the South Island of New Zealand. With sheer sided cliffs of 1200m or more on either side, and famous peaks such as The Elephant (1517m) and The Lion (1302m), it makes a stunningly beautiful venue for landscape photography. The wide, deep bays make ideal subjects for panoramas as well (see below). One of New Zealand’s most celebrated tourist attractions, it was once described by Rudyard Kipling as ‘the eighth wonder of the world’.

Halong Bay, Vietnam
Halong Bay is located in north eastern Vietnam, and means ‘Descending Dragon Bay’ in Vietnamese. This UNESCO World Heritage site is dotted with over 3000 monolithic limestone islands and a huge array of sea caves. The bay also contains a unique fishing population of over 1600 inhabitants who live solely on floating pontoons, and never venture to the land. A wonderful location to float about and discover islands, inlets and caves, and really excellent photo opportunities all around.

The Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
The Masai Mara is one of the most famous game reserves in the world, and covers approx. 1500 square kilometres in south western Kenya. It represents only a fraction of the Greater Mara Ecosystem, which includes 11 other reserves. They are undoubtedly one of the best places for wildlife, and for fans of this kind of photography it’s a must.

Venice/Florence/Rome, Italy
Ok, i could only really justify putting one entry in from Italy, even though it contains so much beautiful old architecture. However, I just cant choose. Each city has it’s own magical building; for Venice it’s the Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square), Florence has the Uffizi and Plazzo Vecchio and Rome has the Colosseum and the Pantheon. You don’t have to be fan of architecture or architectural photography to enjoy them, I leave it up to you…

Machu Picchu, Peru
Mach Picchu, or Old Mountain, is an Inca village located 2430m above sea level, perched on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in the heart of the Andes. One of the most familiar Inca symbols, this wold heritage site has almost everything for the outdoor photographer. Being so high, it benefits from fantastic, almost 360 degree views, has some interesting wildlife (lamas!) and a real sense of history, being more than 550 years old.

Nabatean City Of Petra, Jordan
The city of Petra in Jordan is a ancient settlement dating from around 6th century BC that is carved into the rock. Set in a narrow canyon in the desert, this incredible architectural monument used water control systems to collect flood water nod survive through drought times. With an elaborate complex of buildings and tunnels, this major tourist attraction and symbol of Jordan is superb.

Kilauea, Hawaii
It’s quite rare that you can get close enough to an active volcano to take photos, but Kilauea’s constant eruption since 1983 means that you might get closer than you want. In all it has destroyed 189 structures, but also produces some amazing sights, such as in 2008 when it started flowing into the ocean, creating spectacular night time light shows. One for the adventurous photographer.

Altiplano, Chile
Another one for the adventurer here, the Altiplano, or high plane, is an area of the Andes occupying parts of Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. It’s height averages slightly less than the Tibetan plateau at 3750m, and features some of the most amazingly bleak, deserted landscapes. It also contains several high lakes, made different colours by salts and algae, some vivid reds and greens. The combination makes a beautiful lunar style landscape, made even more authentic by the lack of oxygen!

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Yellowstone is probably THE most well known National Park, located over Wyoming, Montana and Idaho it covers nearly 9000 square km of dramatic, volcanically active mountain and forest. The park is located over the Yellowstone Caldera, a large volcano, and so benefits from lots of geothermal activity and therefore some stunning photography opportunities.

Meteora Monasteries, Greece
These six incredible Greek Orthodox monasteries date from the 14th century and are built on narrow sandstone pillars several hundred meters high, overlooking the plains of Thessaly, Greece. Amazing feats of architecture, they are built within a metre of the edge of the cliff and are accessed by stone staircases cut into the sides. They are still occupied today, so make a great combination of portraiture and landscape photography opportunities.

James is a keen photographer and world traveller. He currently works for Rolex watch specialists Swiss Time Machine, but in his spare time he loves to get away from the UK with his camera to any of the destinations above.

No related posts.

Best Photography Locations In The World is a post from Blazing Minds Copyright 2008-2011. Please link back when using this source material.

If you enjoy reading my blog, then please support me with a donation and Follow @BlazingMinds on Twitter