Landscape Photography
& Environmental Impact:
The Invisible Footprint

In the last newsletter, I asked you a question: do you think about your environmental impact when you photograph? The answers surprised me. Many of you do — but almost nobody really knows where to start. This article is my attempt to lay the foundations of an honest reflection, free from guilt-tripping and greenwashing.

The Landscape Photographer’s Paradox

There is a paradox at the heart of our practice: we are drawn to the most fragile spaces — wind-battered cliffs, isolated moorlands, still-intact coastlines — precisely because they seem untouchable. And it is this illusion of untouchability that sometimes makes us careless.

In Brittany as on the Isle of Skye, the most photographed sites in the world are under growing pressure. Trails widen, vegetation retreats, nesting birds are disturbed during key hours. This is not the work of a single photographer. It is the cumulative effect of thousands of people who each thought they were “just passing through”.

The Four Dimensions of Our Impact

1. Travel

By far the largest contributor in terms of carbon footprint. A return journey by car to reach a location 200 km away can represent between 50 and 80 kg of CO₂ — the equivalent of running a computer continuously for several weeks. A flight to Scotland or the Faroe Islands easily exceeds 400 kg per journey.

This is not a reason to stop travelling. It is a reason to travel differently: stay longer, combine destinations, take the train when possible, share journeys. Even though I sometimes plan outings solely for photography, I try to combine my outings with time spent with family.

2. Field Presence

Walking off marked trails, disturbing wildlife during sensitive periods (nesting, rutting, wintering), removing vegetation to clear a framing, nocturnal access to unmarked areas… Each of these actions, repeated by dozens of photographers on the same site, can permanently degrade what we sought to celebrate. In recent years, hikers have taken to piling up stones to “honor” the sites. This is a mistake that disturbs insects and substantially alters ecosystems.

3. Digital Equipment

Manufacturing a mirrorless camera body represents between 40 and 80 kg of CO₂ equivalent according to available studies, not counting the rare metals extracted under often problematic conditions. The question of equipment longevity — keeping it, repairing it, buying second-hand — is therefore directly linked to our environmental balance.

4. Digital Distribution

A rarely discussed aspect: storing and distributing our images online has a real energy cost. One terabyte of data stored in the cloud represents approximately 0.2 kWh per month. At the scale of an active photographer’s Lightroom library, the figures add up. YouTube video streaming accounts for a significant share of global digital emissions.

What Photographers Are (and Aren’t) Doing

The photography community is gradually taking up this subject. Initiatives like Leave No Trace (originally from hiking) have been adapted to outdoor photography. Photographers such as members of the Wild & Ethical Photography collective propose codes of good conduct in the field. Some geotags are deliberately removed from publications to protect sensitive sites. Not sharing precisely the locations where we take our pictures is not an elitist approach, but simply allows us to preserve these landscapes that we wish to protect.

The subject remains surprisingly absent from training courses, podcasts and YouTube channels dedicated to landscape photography. This is precisely why I believe there is something to build here, together.

The Checklist: 35 Questions to Ask Yourself

This checklist is designed to cover all dimensions of your practice. It is not a judgement — it is a mirror. Tick what you already do, identify what you can improve.

What This List Really Reveals

If you ticked honestly, you probably scored between 8 and 20 out of 35. This is the case for the vast majority of photographers who are engaged in their practice — neither negligent nor perfect. And this is precisely where the reflection becomes useful.

The areas with the greatest impact (travel, equipment, field behaviour) are also those offering the largest room for improvement. There is no need to change everything at once. Choosing one or two concrete actions per year is enough to significantly evolve your balance over time.

What I Will Do, Concretely

In the next episode of my YouTube channel, I will revisit this checklist on video, point by point, with examples drawn from my sessions in Finistère and on Skye. I will also share my own contradictions — because honesty on this subject seems more useful to me than grand declarations.

Share your own answers in the comments: what do you already do? What seems hardest to put in place? This will form the basis of the discussion in the video.