Hi!,
Finding and scouting your own locations is one of the main activities in landscape photography. So I wonder what tools everyone uses?
So far I've found that a combination of google maps, photopills and some note taking app works. Is there anything better?
I'm curious about what other people do and see how I could improve my process of logging and keeping track of locations.
In the field I use topographic paper maps, a handheld Garmin GPS and a compass (in case I run out of power). At home I found, in addition to the maps Google Earth being quite helpful.
I use Google Calendar:
You can have a Title
It can be color coded: Water Blue, Forest Green. Desert Yellow, et cetera
Location can be mapped with Google
The Add description section: I don't know the maximum amount of text but I just tested 1,000 characters of random text and without any issue.
You can add a Link to a website or Shared Folder of photos.
Search works great for finding all the locations with the name in the Title: Cerro Torre, Aletsch Glacier-Switzerland and such.
It is good because it is available across multiple platforms and as long as you have an Internet connection you are good to go.
That's very creative.
Do you have them in the calendar scheduled for the days you want to visit those places or is there a way to just have a list of all the locations you created?
Most of the time it is in the future and added information upon arrival and or post visit.
Currently I have a Coast visit next week, August is a visit to Stonehenge on the Columbia (Astro), September some Wetlands are on the schedule while October I will be visiting the coast for Sea Stacks and Astro if the weather holds.
I can search my Calendar as far back as my first use.
Of course there are always Last Minute opportunities.
My photos generally are not as organized my file structure is Year/Month/Location/Camera-Model/File-Type.
I really need to is Tag for faster access. As a hobbyist...while I can take my time, it forces me to rely on memory to recall When, as I usually know What.
Thanks for the interesting question and comments! My 5 cents:
Topographical maps + google earth + a visit + looking for photos taken there. Plus app 'planit' to see direction of sun, moon their height, milky way etc.
And I note them in a list of 'interesting points' with a note on my idea what to shoot there. Then I can quickly filter it and check according whaleather conditions for example.
Keeping track
1st answer the question what I want to achieve there?
Then I see more the when, depending on the season, distance to home, sun, moon clouds and time of day.
I like the idea of the calendar entry!
I also use Google Street View for location scouting at home.
From this:
https://www.google.com/maps/@46.186332,-123.848839,3a,75y,351.42h,76.49t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sF4ZQJT02grWBAR7PHZ-3CQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu
I got this photo
I’ve been using Google Maps and Street View for a few years now. I set up lists based on type (waterfall, scenic view, lighthouse, etc), trip, state and so on. I will put a location into as many lists as applicable
It allows you to add notes, I use these to note best time of day to shoot, is it a location I want to shoot again, etc.
Then, I have the option of just showing the locations on a specific list.
Is it perfect? No. I wish it had the option to allow me to set the icon based the list it’s in. I wish it had the ability for friends to import them into their google maps
So I decided to make a web app to do just this.
Basically add locations, put them on a map, add notes and tagging. So far it seems pretty useful.
If anyone wants to try, I'm opening it to a limited number of users https://myphotolocations.com
It's still basic and lacks some features, but let me know what you think.
Thank you. I'll give it a try when available.
That's great. I've enabled access to people who subscribed, you should've received an email (or maybe it's in spam?). Hope it can be useful.
Cheers
No email, yet. Nothing in SPAM/Trash
That's strange. Maybe there was a typo in your email address. If you try with your email again on the main page it should work: https://myphotolocations.com
Auto fill, so...tried again. Thank you.