The Roving Photographer - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

04/11/2009 09:15:56 PM · #1

Ever head out somewhere new and wonder where you should visit while you're there? Threads asking for location recommendations appear on the front page each week. But how about a website dedicated to those places, an index broken down geographically? Up to now, there hasn't been one.

The Roving Photographer - my latest project, an index of destinations for photographers, by photographers. I'm in the process of adding my favorite locations to the list and I'd be thrilled if DPCers would like to add their favorites as well. The format for the entries is available on the "Submit" page. Individual locations can be emailed to the address provided. Right now it's sparse, but hopefully over time it will grow.

If anyone would like to become a regularly contributing user, I'd be happy to create a user account for them so they can post directly.

I'm hoping this will really take off. Ideally, I'd like to get locations from across the US, so that when we all head out, we know where to go and what to see. I've already found out about places I live near that I didn't know about, and I'm sure there are more yet to be discovered.

Feel free to send me a PM or email if you're interested!

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

04/12/2009 02:08:19 AM · #2

Very neat idea and worth a bump!

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

04/12/2009 02:21:52 AM · #3

Nice idea. I've bookmarked it and I'd be happy to contribute to the list. I see you have nothing in Texas yet. I'll see about sending you something for it tomorrow.

Message edited by author 2009-04-12 02:32:28.

LindaLee

Canon EOS-40D

04/12/2009 09:25:47 AM · #4

Love the idea, and the site. Every time we travel, I spend loads of time trying to find photos ops by researching online, and by talking to people - a resource like this would be invaluable. I'll look through my photos when I return to VA next week and see what I've got from different places we've been.

Thanks!

smudgeSMJ

Apple iPhone 6

Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 E-mount

04/12/2009 09:48:09 AM · #5

Wonderful idea! Bookmarked and will contribute whenever I stumble across anything worthwhile and interesting :)

see

Canon PowerShot S95

04/12/2009 10:26:39 AM · #6

Bookmark added, I live in southern Utah near Zion, Grand canyon north rim, Snow canyon.

LindaLee

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

04/12/2009 11:42:38 AM · #7

Had some time this morning and sent you two possiblities. I'm having difficulty with the GPS thing though - all I can find is numbers listed like this - 35.809989, -78.705524 - (or sometimes the reverse) - and I don't know which is N and which is W. I've got to figure this out so it makes sense to me, and so I get it right!

jettyimages

Nikon D700

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

04/12/2009 11:57:08 AM · #8

Great idea, are you only covering the USA though?

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

04/12/2009 12:04:09 PM · #9

It seems to me it would make more sense to have each location on its own page, rather than the continuous scroll you have now. Eventually you'll have to break it into more manageable chunks ... it doesn't look like the map/state links are active yet.

I see you want submissions by email -- will you eventually make a submission form so people can fill in fields which will be automatically formatted?

What about those who don't have access to GPS data? Also, unless this is restricted to North American sites, you may need to allow GPS listings for the southern and eastern hemispheres.

You might consider adding a link to a map of the site, and/or including driving/transit directions from the nearest large city.

Overall, it looks great, and is going to be a helpful guide for many. It could get huge ...

04/12/2009 12:08:52 PM · #10

I expect I should be able to easily get the GPS info from Mapquest or Google maps.

04/12/2009 06:01:27 PM · #11

Originally posted by LindaLee:

The 35 is N and the 78 is W. There are several formats for coordinates; it can be tricky to figure out!

04/12/2009 06:01:56 PM · #12

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

I expect I should be able to easily get the GPS info from Mapquest or Google maps.

I get mine from Google Maps - there's a plugin called "Position Finder" that will tell you the coordinates anywhere you click.

Message edited by author 2009-04-12 18:17:38.

04/12/2009 06:17:18 PM · #13

Originally posted by GeneralE:

The overall layout may be a bit confusing at first. The home page shows the most recently added locations. It's the "Index" page that breaks them all down. They are broken down by state (right now, only the states that have entries work as active links). Within each state the entries are listed in the form of links that take you to the specific post for that location. The state locations are listed alphabetically by place name (I'll likely be adjusting the way the listings look in the near future, as I don't like the order I have the data in now: currently it's Place Name - County - City/Town. I'm thinking that I should change it to City/Town - County - Place Name.)

I'm using the WordPress framework for the site; unfortunately, they don't allow forms in their coding for security purposes, according to their support pages. So there won't be an online form. If anyone has a large number of places they'd like to add, I'm willing to create a contributor account for them that lets them add posts right into the site. Once I approved them, they'd go live.

As for GPS coordinates, you can get them from Google Maps; there's a plug-in you can find under "My Maps" called "Position Finder" that will give you coordinates for any location you click on. Also, this is not required info, although I strongly encourage people to provide it, so that others can find the location without depending on traditional directions, which can get too long-winded and confusing. Also, once the GPS coordinates are there, you can use Google Maps to find the location they designate simply by copying and pasting them into the search bar. Once found, you can get directions to and from that location, which eliminates the need to hot-link to a map page.

Right now locations are limited to the United States. If things really take off and the site gets a lot of interest/use, I'm willing to expand that. But that's off in the future yet :-)

It may well get huge - in fact, I'm rather hoping it will.

I have given thought to different ways of sorting the index when needed. For instance, each post gets a category (always the state) and several tags. The tags are listed on the submit page, and make the posts searchable by simple criteria. For example, you can look for remote, rural, or urban sites; you can search for national, state, or county parks, or other areas; you can look for sites that are best in a specific season; you can search for sites that have a river/stream, forest, mountain, lake/pond, etc.

The big challenge will be keeping the database manageable and easily searched. To this extent, on the state pages, I'm listing by the nearest city/town of any real consequence, but also by county. Anyone who wants to find locations in the index will ideally still have a map next to them, and will have identified a range they are willing to travel to from their "home city." They'll need to know the names of cities/towns within that range so they can match them to the index.

As I'm saying all this now, I'm thinking that I'll need to add some of it to the website directly, in the form of a simple instructions page.

Thank you all for the interest and support so far! I'll be checking the submission email after the holiday and will begin adding locations as quickly as possible.

04/12/2009 10:06:44 PM · #14

Originally posted by OdysseyF22:

I get mine from Google Maps - there's a plugin called "Position Finder" that will tell you the coordinates anywhere you click.

I was just about to post asking the easiest way to get that. I'll go find it. I got the position for my first submission from the Flickr location tagging function that I had already used on one of my shots.

Can't seem to find it. Got a link?

Message edited by author 2009-04-12 22:13:02.

04/13/2009 06:12:28 AM · #15

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

Originally posted by OdysseyF22:
I get mine from Google Maps - there's a plugin called "Position Finder" that will tell you the coordinates anywhere you click.

I was just about to post asking the easiest way to get that. I'll go find it. I got the position for my first submission from the Flickr location tagging function that I had already used on one of my shots.

Can't seem to find it. Got a link?

Position Finder - this is the one that I use.
GPS Location - this one looks like it does the same thing

I'll be adding those links to the "How To" page on the site as well. Thanks!