How to you pick your locations?

How to choose locations? I usually do similar to Mr Drizz and start with either an OS map (if in the UK and I have the relevant pink or orange map) or Google Earth if I don't have a decent map of the area. Google Earth has the advantage of showing a few photos around a possible location so I can get a hint of what's actually there. Once I've chosen an area, I'll have a play in TPE to see when the light might be falling "just so" on a scene and will try to get myself into a suitable position at a suitable time if possible.

Having said the above, if I'm out and about, I'll usually have some means of capturing a scene and will often take snaps on my phone as reminders to revisit with a proper camera when possible and practicable.



Dunno but it's generally reckoned to be too high for Twitbook:eek:

Double figures then?! :p

This was yesterday!
On a tripod but so gloomy that a long shutter speed was needed. Wind was blowing a hoolie. Difficult to stand up at times.

View attachment 95053

Like a still day near Vik then!
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How to choose locations? I usually do similar to Mr Drizz and start with either an OS map (if in the UK and I have the relevant pink or orange map) or Google Earth if I don't have a decent map of the area
Bing maps has the OS overlay for the whole of the UK, and it's free.
 
I'm a tighta*5e and don't use my phone for data other than via wifi! The OS overlay on Bing maps is also rather basic compared to pink and orange OS sheets. Having a bit of a map fetish, I'll sometimes us a projected trip as an excuse to get a new OS map (or 2!)
 
Whisky Tango Foxtrot is going on in Capel Curig? Ellis Brigham is up for sale. Pinnacle cafe is closed. Joe Brown is still going but looks tired. Perhaps being next to the car park is saving him.


Joe Brown was the original but now there are far too many outdoor shops in the area, although to be fair most of them are in Betws. Bit of a pity about the Pinnacle, but the provisions prices in there were shocking. It was probably the coming of the new cafe (Siabod??) just down the road, which seems to be quite popular, that put paid to the Pinnacle as a cafe, The Siabod is the base/home of Nick Livesey who posts his (rather good) mountain photographs on here from time to time, and he has a gallery there. The coffee is good too!

IIRC it costs 20 bleedin* pee to use the toilet at Capel Curig car park now. God knows how much it costs to park a car.
 
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Didn't Joe Brown have the shop where Ellis Brigham now is? I'm going back into the late 60s or early 70s so I may be wrong. He's now next to the car park so can catch all the passing trade....if they are prepared to pay the extortionate fees. Makes Pen y Pass seem reasonable.
Siabod cafe is aimed at grockles who want guacamole etc., where Pinnacle was aimed at climbers wanting a fry up. Plus they have a big car park so the result was almost inevitable.
Provision prices were shocking but as the man said...they are the cheapest in the village!
 
Didn't Joe Brown have the shop where Ellis Brigham now is? I'm going back into the late 60s or early 70s so I may be wrong. He's now next to the car park so can catch all the passing trade....if they are prepared to pay the extortionate fees. Makes Pen y Pass seem reasonable.
Siabod cafe is aimed at grockles who want guacamole etc., where Pinnacle was aimed at climbers wanting a fry up. Plus they have a big car park so the result was almost inevitable.
Provision prices were shocking but as the man said...they are the cheapest in the village!


No I think Joe Brown has always been there, going back to the 1980's. They also have (did have?) a shop in Llanberis as well. I don't really understand that Ellis Brigham shop. I don't think it's ever been a proper shop, only selling cheap end-of-the-range and sale items, like Cotswold Rock Bottom in Betws, but not as good, and not always/ very rarely open. Whenever I've been in to Siabod cafe there's been plenty of climbers having fry-ups!
 
Joe Brown's first shop was in Llanberis and was something of a Mecca in days of yore. Still there. Opened up in mid 60s and the Capel shop a couple of years later. There wasn't much competition in those days. In fact the equipment was positively archaic compared to what's available now. You didn't go into the hills and expect to be warm, dry and comfortable.
Men were men back then!!!!!
 
Personally I don't think you can beat OS maps - 1:50,000 for general location finding and 1;25,000 for detailed route-finding in the field.

One useful thing to remember is that the sun rises due east and sets due west at the equinox (March 21st/September 21st) . It moves around at 15 degrees every hour, so you can work out in which direction it will be at any time of the day. Photographers Ephemeris might be useful but knowing the movement of the sun I've never needed it!
 
Joe Brown's first shop was in Llanberis and was something of a Mecca in days of yore. Still there. Opened up in mid 60s and the Capel shop a couple of years later. There wasn't much competition in those days. In fact the equipment was positively archaic compared to what's available now. You didn't go into the hills and expect to be warm, dry and comfortable.
Men were men back then!!!!!

By heck they were.....
 
Weather should be good in Snowdonia tomorrow. Trouble is - we're not going that far. Llanfairfechan is the limit of our aspirations. Why you might ask? Good question!
 
im new to landscape photography and just curious how do people go about picking a location for the next shooting session?

What do you look for?

Sorry if it's a common thread if there's an open one please could someone link it.

Danny
I am a great believer in serendipity and Bestbeloved is a keen birder. That means that I go where the interesting birds are and then have a look around. Means I do not get to all the obvious photographic locations but get to many other landscape photographers miss.
 
I have a huge list of places I want to photograph, some I have already visited in the past, and others I have never visited. I add to the list all the time. In some cases I have a particular season that I want to visit. Then when I have time to make a trip I refer to my list.
 
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