Pelicans skim waters near Denver in search of fish. “We have a fascinating blend of history and culture, stunning landscapes, unique architecture, and light like nowhere else.” Tip: To take advantage of the ethereal-almost magical-light, plan to shoot in the late afternoon. “Our breathtaking location is a big reason why our workshops attract thousands of photographers,” says Reid Callanan, director of Santa Fe Photographic workshops. “The deep blue sky, the earth-tone adobe, then-bam!-there’s a fire-engine red portico or a turquoise gate with a sun-bleached cow’s skull hanging on it.”Ī mix of great scenery and a vibrant arts community has made Santa Fe a hub for internationally renowned photography organizations like the nonprofit group CENTER and Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. “The color is what strikes you first about Santa Fe,” says reader Caprice Nuss. The overall number-one destination from our reader survey is Santa Fe, New Mexico, where photographers can capture not only a slice of modern life in the American Southwest but also enjoy easy access to incredible desert landscapes. Read on to see if your top picks made our Top 25 list. Not surprisingly, many of our U.S.-based readers prefer to maximize their time and budgets by exploring destinations close to home, but others also find photo ops in exotic destinations, from the mountains of Peru to the ancient cities of Italy and Israel. We not only discovered your overall favorite spots for photography, but we also learned your top picks for specific genres such as street photography, landscapes, architecture, and portraits. Each person who took the survey selected five destinations they had traveled to in order to photograph, and rated them on a 10-point scale across 14 different categories. We got in touch by email, through our website, and via social media, and heard from more than 3,000 readers who rated nearly 250 destinations. This year we decided to find out where you, our readers, traveled to make your best pictures. Click through to find out what places made our Top 25 List Popular PhotographyĮach year, Popular Photography ranks the world’s travel destinations from the photographer’s perspective. Share yours by adding the hashtag #PopPhotoPlaces to your travel pics. These are some of our favorite Instagram images from the 25 most popular places.