An application of a locally optimized control method developed in our laboratory to photochemical reaction dynamics of simple molecules is reviewed after a short summary of a general optimal control method for quantum control. The locally optimized control method is based on the nonperturbative treatment, and is applicable to reaction dynamics in cases of strong laser field which induces a high yield of the reaction products. Three examples of photochemical reactions are considered. The first case is a pump-dump control of a double-well potential system which is a typical model for cis-trans isomerization. The second example is a nonadiabatic reaction of NaI. Here, two different targets are taken into account: one is to directly control the nonadiabatic coupling between the ground and the first excited state of NaI, and the other is to control the neutral product of a nonadiabatic reaction as much as possible within a cycle of nuclear vibration. The third example is a control of hydrogen migration of HCN by using two linearly polarized laser pulses. The results of these reaction dynamics are analyzed in terms of nuclear wavepacket propagation under the condition of optimized laser pulses.