A helpful Guide on how to plan and find Landscape Photography Locations
I often get asked how I find my photography locations and how I plan my shootings, so I thought, why not write a blog post about it.
Landscape photography is not just about pressing the button on your camera. There is so much more behind it.
Everything depends on the location and, of course, how you shoot it. Lots of planning is involved in getting to the right places at the right time of day.
Even the best composition looks mostly dull when the subject you're photographing is nothing special.
Here is a short list of my favorite resources and which tools I like to use to plan my photoshoots.
I'm sure you guys already know many of them, but there are tons of different ways to use the information you get on the internet. So let's get started.
Spy social media platforms - be a Sherlock
Checking other people's work is a big part of getting better in photography.
There are countless fantastic landscape photographers out there.
You can learn so much from them by just looking at their photos and of course you often also find out where they were taken.
So if you like the work of another photographer and the location he visited, check where the photo was taken and go there by yourself.
It's that simple!
Often it’s a more hidden location, so that, of course, involves more planning.
We will talk about that a little bit further down. Right now I’m talking about popular locations, so simply check the photographers work and figure out what you like about it and then try for yourself.
I'm not talking about copying other compositions, but you should definitely use them as an inspiration!
It's always been like this in art and photography in general. Creatives inspire each other, and that's one of the best ways to get better.
I like to use Instagram to find excellent images. But there are also other platforms like 500px, Flickr and 1x.com (hands down) which work fine as well.
They're also perfect sites to search for photography locations like northern Norway, or Iceland for example.
Watch what other folks have done, so you know what to expect and to get inspired.
Google Pictures - How simple is that!?
Another easy method to find out what pictures other people have taken from a specific location is to simply "google" it.
You will be surprised how much you can find in Google pictures. Everything is linked there! Whether it’s a photography blog, a travel story, some images of another photographer's website, and so on.
You can find a ton of photos this way, and it helps to get inspired and to get a first overview of what's possible.
I again encourage you to take it with a grain of salt because it's not the goal to simply copy other people's work (I have done it myself), but it's crucial to find out what you like about their photos and then try to do it by yourself.
And that’s just the first page
Google pictures are also a potent resource when you want to visit a less accessible location.
Landscape photographers tend to go to the same spot over and over again - which I love to do as well (guilty). I'm talking about Iceland, Norway, the Dolomites, for example.
Of course, they do it for a good reason, but when you want to visit a country that is less popular under us crazy photographers, Google pictures are a convenient resource.
So many other people who already visited that country might have also uploaded their travel memories.
You might not get perfect fine-art images as an inspiration, but you can sure get a first look at how the landscape looks over there.
Don't underestimate first insights!
Google Earth - Yes, of course!
Probably the most powerful tool to scout for photography locations is Google-Earth.
When you see a picture of a specific landscape, and you can't find out where it is, then it's, of course, a lot more work to research.
Often you know the country at least, and then it needs some experience about how specific places on our Earth look from above.
So let's talk about how I do it!
For example, when you see a massive mountain with a big glacier on it and it's in the US. Now we need to make a guess.
Let's first do some research on Google where the volcanos are located. It has to be in the Pacific Northwest because that's where most of them are.
I know, that's a region which is photographed countless times, so I'm sure it's easy to find photography locations over there, but that's just an example.
Now go to Google Earth and check the area where such a mountain could be.
Investigate if you find one with a similar shape to the one you saw on a photograph.
The good thing about Google Earth is that people often already have uploaded pictures from the places around it.
You can simply click on them and see how the Landscape looks over there.
The little icons are photos which other people have uploaded.
Once you’ve found out where the mountain is, you have an almost 100% chance to find the composition you were hoping to find.
It's so easy nowadays to do all the research from our computer at home!
You don't need a complicated map or connections to travel agencies. Just type it into Google, and you will get the information served right in front of you.
Google Maps - Not to forget!
So once you figured out where that specific mountain is, you also need to find a way to get there, and Google Maps is a perfect partner for that.
Just type in the name of the location, and it will tell you know how long it takes to get there (so easy I know!).
You can also find out what kind of roads are over there and if it's accessible by car.
It seems simple, but trust me, Google Maps is one of the most used tools in my landscape photography.
When I'm at a place where I have no Internet connection, I download the map, which I need, at my hotel Wi-Fi before I start heading out.
It's a perfect addition to your toolbox to get to the locations you want to photograph.
Photopills - Hands down!
It's not only about finding a location. You also need to plan your shooting session.
I'm talking about the position of the sun so which angle it has during sunrise, sunset, golden hour, and maybe also during the day.
The light makes all the difference in our photographs!
When you have the right angle, let's say some beautiful sidelight you will most likely get good pictures.
We're so lucky to have tools nowadays to support us in this regard.
Photopills is one of those tools! I simply can't live without it anymore.
I talked about the angle of the sun before, but Photopills can do so much more than that!
The orange and yellow lines show the angle of the sun at sunrise/sunset. The white dots are the milky way and the blue lines indicate the moonrise/moonset.
You can also check where the moon rises/sets and not to forget one of the best things of this app - the Milky Way!
It tells you the position of the galactic core on the horizon and if it's visible at all! You see when it rises and also at which time of the year is the best to shoot it.
It's so intuitive and definitely one of the most powerful tools out there for modern landscape photography.
I can't stress enough how good it is. Imagine you spend thousands of dollars to go to a location without some proper research just to find out that the sun sets behind a mountain which you intended to shoot with some beautiful alpenglow on it.
I don't have to say much more, I guess?
Magicseaweed, such good stuff!
Even though I love shooting mountains, I also have a strong desire to be on the coast.
Seascapes are another level of planning, in my opinion! It's not just about the light, the weather, and your composition; it's also about the tide.
When you are at a beautiful beach, and you want some rock formations in your foreground, you, of course, need to watch out what the waves are doing.
If the tide is too high, it can get quite dangerous to be close to the water.
Not just for yourself but also for your expensive gear.
Saltwater can be like acid when you don't clean it off your camera/lenses, so that's the reason why I check the tides regularly.
Yes I am prepared perfectly. Always!
I like to have a better overview of what's possible to shoot at that time of day. Magicseaweed is one of those apps you want to use to check the tide because it's so simple and also free to download in the App Store and Google Play Store.
You can also check the surf, which is also crucial because high waves are often better to get dramatic seascape images.
I marked the important info for you. Very professional!
But there're also other cases where you specificly don't want them. Let's say you want to capture a calm, lovely golden hour sunset to evoke a relaxed holiday feeling in your viewer's eyes.
Huge waves are the wrong thing to include in your shots then, but that's just one example.
The app has a lot of locations built-in, so you simply type in where you want to shoot, for instance, Unstad Beach on the Lofoten islands.
It tells you precisely how the tide is over there and on what time of day you can expect high or low water levels.
When it doesn't show you the spot you're looking for try to search a place close by, because the tide will be almost the same (at the least the time, height can vary though).
It sure does take some experience to guess what kind of tide level you need to get the photo. Sometimes medium water levels are already enough to cover a beautiful beach that you wanted to walk on.
In this case, you have to come back on another day in low tide.
Experience is everything when it's about seascapes!
The Curse of the Weather Apps
Of course, you also need to know how the weather will be - who said landscape photography was easy? So much needs to be considered.
Imagine you are on a big road trip through the US, and you just go to a location without checking the weatherand you get only rain, which is terrible in most cases.
It's always good to have a plan "B" to get the most out of your trip.
So you have to check the weather! It's that simple.
I don't have any fancy apps for that, though. In my experience, the weather is never like it's forecasted.
As a landscape photographer, it's not essential to know if it will be a sunny day in general.
It's crucial to be aware of the edges of the day, and that's the tough part about it.
It's difficult for the weather forecast to predict how many clouds you will have at 8 p.m. for sunset.
You always need to be prepared to get disappointed!
If you suddenly get a plane sky even when the forecast predicted 50% high clouds cover, don’t be frustrated (at least try).
I like to use the Weather Channel to simply get a quick overlook of the weather during the day or at sunrise/sunset. The rest is all about luck.
Many other landscape photographers might see it different, and that's totally fine! It's just my opinion.
I got disappointed a lot already because I relied on fancy apps that show you cloud cover, wind, moisture, and so on to only find out that everything ended up in the complete opposite.
In the end, it's always about being outside in nature, so enjoy what you get even when it's just beautiful memories and not a dramatic burning sky.
Alright, these are my tips about planning and finding locations for your landscape photography. It's not that hard, but it has to be done! It is only one part of the big puzzle.
So what are your favorite tools and strategies to plan your shootings?
Do you have any magical tricks? If so, feel free to let me know down in the comments, and if you have questions, I'm always there to help.
Good light to you, and take care!
Daniel