Photography locations-website, I need your input!

Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital

11/05/2006 09:01:16 AM · #1

Hello everyone,

I'm currently in the progress of setting up a website to collect and share locations with fellow photographers. Ofcourse I have quite some ideas myself but I'd really like some community-input to hear and see what the people here expect from such a site.

A general sketch of the idea so far:
A website based on Google Maps where you can search and add photography locations through a simple interface. You will be able to search not just by using the map, but also by using tags defining the type of photography that applies to a location. Other information like sample-pictures (either user-added or automatically added from Flickr), directions and a local weather forecast should also be available.

Some of the questions I would like answers on include:
Would you use such a site?
Would you contribute to such a site? (Assuming it's easy and fast to use.)
Are you already using or contributing to such a site? (Or otherwise, know a site that is comparable)
Is there anything you expect or would like to see that I haven't mentioned already?

Thanks for any replies already,

-Erik

Tlemetry

Olympus E-300 EVOLT

11/05/2006 09:27:40 AM · #2

That sounds interesting. I would use/contribute to a site like this.

bod

11/05/2006 10:48:30 AM · #3

Sounds great.
The Urban Exploration Resource is a similar idea, but just for urban shooting and mostly US only. The UK Urban Exploration Forums provide a similar UK service without any kind of mapping. As you can see, both of these are very much forum based.

What I would like would be a system where I could identify an area of interest and then have a gallery of photos from that area presented to me. I could then select the photos which interest me most to get more specific location details/comments/directions.
Being able to see samples from the locations would be very important to me. Directions such as where to park/where to walk would also be very useful.

If I found the site useful I would be sure to contribute.

darnok

Nikon D850

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 16-35 f/4 ED VR

11/05/2006 10:59:27 AM · #4

I would use it if there were locations in South Africa put up. It would be nice to put sample pictures up, they should include dates and times so that one would at least have an idea of how the light will be at a certain time.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

11/05/2006 11:01:06 AM · #5

Interesting project. Better make the "Cannon Beach" section extra large :-) I'd probably contribute to this if it were user-friendly enough not to make it a chore.

R.

EBJones

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

11/05/2006 11:08:13 AM · #6

Sounds ambitious. I would certainly contribute, and would love to have a resource like this to draw upon. The key thing would be to make it as user friendly as possible. I wonder if you could tie it in using the location tag on the DPC submissions?

Falc

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM

11/05/2006 11:08:58 AM · #7

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Interesting project. Better make the "Cannon Beach" section extra large :-) I'd probably contribute to this if it were user-friendly enough not to make it a chore.

R.

Is there such a place as 'Nikon Beach' where photographers of the 'other' persuasion go ?

Message edited by author 2006-11-05 11:09:10.

annasense

Olympus E-500 EVOLT

Olympus 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital ED

11/05/2006 11:14:01 AM · #8

Fantastic! It's very needed, as I've been searching all the time for a similar website. It would be so useful. I would contribute, too, and would be happy to include sample photos of locations I contribute.

One thing I wouldn't like is if it was in a forum format like other places that I've found similar information form. It would be great if it could be searched by category, such as nature/gardens, zoos, urban life, architecture, cool landscapes, great place for portraits, etc.... something like that where locations would be cross-referenced, too, if they fit into multiple categories.

Do it!!! I'll be watching this thread for an announcement of the site (don't worry, I don't expect it to be done in a week). :)

samchad

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/05/2006 11:30:36 AM · #9

If you tagged it well enough it would probably be commercially viable for movie location scouts. I thought about doing this several years ago but my programming skills weren't up to enough to make it work well. Web 2.0 didn't exist back then!
Edit: Typo.

Message edited by author 2006-11-05 11:30:59.

Sunniee

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

11/05/2006 12:07:36 PM · #10

Id have to contribute hawaii photos! awwwww shucks, guess I better go back again! :oP

dacrazyrn

Nikon D300

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

11/05/2006 12:35:14 PM · #11

Another forum I belong to (Teardrops and Tiny Travel Trailers) has a generic one set up using Frappr to put member pins and "places" pins. You can add a photo (not sure if you can add more or not) for each pin.

Message edited by author 2006-11-05 12:35:37.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

11/05/2006 12:44:32 PM · #12

Originally posted by Falc:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:
Interesting project. Better make the "Cannon Beach" section extra large :-) I'd probably contribute to this if it were user-friendly enough not to make it a chore.

R.

Is there such a place as 'Nikon Beach' where photographers of the 'other' persuasion go ?

Canon people shoot scenics; Nikon people shoot indoors, often at the Nickelodeon :-)

R.

11/05/2006 12:50:20 PM · #13

First of all, already thanks for all reactions. It already is more than I counted on.
On the topic of locations: if you want to find locations in your area it's actually easiest to just promote the website yourself and contribute. It's like the famous snowball effect. Adding content will draw more people that will add more content.

@bod
Great examples. Urban exploring is a category of photography that can benefit a lot from sites like these. Locations usually aren't easy to find.
What you suggest would very much depend on the amount and quality of pictures people are adding. So even if I'd add such a thing, I think it would be hard to rely on. What is very possible tho is to show items with similar tags to the one you're viewing. Or to view other items submitted by the same person. I will consider your suggestion tho, thanks a lot.
It shouldn't be too hard to encourage people to add parking information.

@raziel
Great idea, if enough samples are available you can also see changes in the seasons. Can be quite important for certain landscape-sites.

@EBJones
Integration of 2 websites requires the cooperation of 2 sides. In theory it's possible but everybody finds a different way to describe a location, so it's probably very hard to tie in as it stands now.

@annasense
No forum format. The interface should be mostly map-based. Maybe that each location would have it's own page but the map should bind it all together. Instead of sticking locations into categories, they will have tags. So 1 location could contain several like: nature, landscape, autumn, trees, lake, ancient architecture... whatever you feel applies can be added in the form of a tag. And additional explanations can be fit into a description. And seeing this is a one-man show for now with lots to learn... I don't expect anything within a week either ;)

@samchad
This could be incorporated or be a standalone site. I have no knowledge of movie locations nor howmany people would be interested in something like that.

@dacrazyrn
The link you gave is also map-based (and quite slow here), but what I'm thinking of should be bigger and specifically made for photography. I did bookmark it. Could probably learn something from it.

11/09/2006 04:51:42 AM · #14

Well I'm slowly progressing here, but I'm stuck on a name for the English version. English version? Yes, I'm working in Dutch first. And the Dutch version roughly translates to look/shoothere. But it's a sort of pun so I can't really translate.
So far I've thought of "takeashot" or "haveashot". Any other suggestions? Lame puns score bonuspoints with me :p

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

11/17/2006 07:36:52 AM · #15

Just a small bump.

I am currently pretty much done with the layout. Lots of php, js and mysql work is still to be done but I expect a big leap next week. Even tho my current test-version is Dutch, maybe some of you would like to have a look and comment the looks.
//www.k4rp.nl/kiekhiereens/test001.htm

Thank again.

rjkstesch

Nikon D700

11/17/2006 07:56:04 AM · #16

I like it alot. Simple to navigate. I don't know Dutch and still found it easy. The detail is available easily. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Becky

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/21/2006 08:03:47 AM · #17

Originally posted by rjkstesch:

I like it alot. Simple to navigate. I don't know Dutch and still found it easy. The detail is available easily. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Becky

Me neither, haha.

yann

11/21/2006 08:28:00 AM · #18

I'm really interested in seeing what you can do with this idea, keep it up!

gloda

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

11/21/2006 08:43:02 AM · #19

Wow, it seems as if this was going to be really cool. If input is going to be easy, I would definately contribute. To the site.
I don't know whether this is on your bugfix list, but the mouse scrolling for zooming which I really like on google maps doesn't work on your site.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this evolves.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

11/21/2006 09:30:03 AM · #20

Originally posted by gloda:

I just looked into that for you but even tho it's a function on the official site, it is not included in the package Google gives the developers. So there was no quick way to add it before this reply but I will keep this in mind. (And probably add the zoomfunction as well ofcourse)

gloda

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

11/23/2006 06:30:09 PM · #21

Anything new yet? I think this is gonna be fun.