My 4-Step Process For Scouting Photography Locations Online

by | Mar 30, 2018 | Recommendations | 0 comments

You don’t have to be a full-time photographer to find great places to take great pictures! But it does help to follow a process.

So, here’s my process.

In this particular video—scouting around for schoolhouses while visiting a friend in Connecticut—I happened to be able to do all 4 steps in one morning (with the video deceptively making it feel like I can do it in 6 minutes!). But most the time, figuring out great places to take great is something I do a little bit here and there over time.

Going on a family vacation? Traveling someplace with the family? Visiting a friend? Here’s how I do my online location scouting to be able to make the most of wherever I happen to be.

 

  

Behind the Scenes Insights

  • Anytime I’m using the Internet, I always make sure to use sort of ad-blocking or accountability filter. You just never know what sort of things might pop up online, especially when researching photography and searching for images of specific places. Here are some articles about how to install and use Adblock Plus, and if you haven’t already hear of Covenant Eyes, well, it’s worth checking out if you don’t already have something equivalent to it!
  • The list of schoolhouses I just happened to stumble across at http://oneroomschoolhousecenter.weebly.com/americas-one-rooms.html. I doubt it’s comprehensive, but at least it’s a good start!
  • To create your own map of potential locations ike I did, points like I did, just go to mymaps.google.com. You’ll need to have a Google account which isn’t hard to set up.
  • Once your map is created, you can make it visible in Google Maps on a desktop or mobile device! Since I use Google Maps for all of my normal GPS navigation and travel research, this is super helpful!
  • Since my location was right on the border of Massachusetts and close to New York, I mapped out schoolhouses in both of those states too to see if there were any close to me as part of Step 3.
  • Step 4, trying to find more information about a location on the Internet is always the most difficult step. Either there’s no information or pictures at all, or there is so much information it’s overwhelming!
  • Special thanks to Ziesemer Family Publishers for letting me use the happy background music in the video! It’s from their fun CD, Promenades from the Past.

Now that you know how to scout for old schoolhouses, it’s time for you to go out and shoot for the soon-ending Photo Assignment Old Schoolhouses in Winter! (Is winter over where you live? Don’t worry! Still go out and shoot….I may announce an “Old Schoolhouses in Spring” assignment soon!)

Oh, and by the way….since I was so late in getting this video posted, I postponed this winter schoolhouse assignment from March 31 to April 7! Think there might be one last snowfall the first week of April? Smile

 

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  1. My Obsession With Old Schoolhouses - Lenspiration - […] last schoolhouses I photographed were in the winter, in Connecticut. The videos My 4-Step Process for Scouting Photography Locations…

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