Location & shoot research
Find locations and get a head start by identifying possible compositions before you even leave the house
Two of the best online sources of maps and satellite views of very restricted areas of the Earth are OS Maps online and Google Maps. There are, of course, other mapping sites available, but these two are the most popular, and for good reason. These services can provide a wealth of detailed visual information that enables you to do a ‘virtual recce’ of locations before visiting, and help you find features in the landscape that may act as focal points in your landscape shots.
Advantages of OS Maps include the ability to plot routes and to print maps from the website, while advantages of Google Maps include the ability to see user images of some locations, to measure distances between points to estimate walking time, and if you have the Google Maps app on your phone, to follow directions even to off-road locations. For this, it’s recommended that you download offline maps in case you experience a loss of data connection in remote areas.
OS Maps has route functionality through its app if you have a data connection, or using downloaded routes that can be loaded into maps (GPX files), but to download offline maps you need to have an online subscription to OS Maps. Owners of traditional paper OS maps that were purchased in recent years, meanwhile, can download digital versions of those maps to the app using a code that comes with the paper versions.
Using at least two online mapping and satellite imaging services such as OS Maps and Google Maps is beneficial because the satellite imagery can differ between the two. In the case of New Brighton Lighthouse/Perch Rock Lighthouse, Google shows the location at high tide, while OS Maps shows it at low tide. Low to mid tide is the most popular time for shooting at this location, but as you’ll see in the main image here, high tide certainly shouldn’t be discounted, and this detail was confirmed using online maps before visiting the location to shoot.