P#23 Q3A: How Do You Find the Best Locations for Amazing Travel Shots?

The Web is Your Friend

Scott Stulberg: I get subscriptions to all the top photography magazines. There are quite a few of them. Many times I'll see something that will just blow me away and I'll go, "Oh my gosh, where was this?"

Hopefully it says where it was because we don't all know all of the great locations around the world, whether it's Mali or it's South Africa or it could be in the middle of Australia somewhere. When you see these images in these magazines, they can just knock your socks off, but you don't know where they are. Hopefully someone has put that information with the picture.

Many times, I'll see something and I go, "I've got to go there. I've got to get travel shots similar to this, better than this, or different but with the same tribe or architecture or the same incredible lighting," so the magazines help me tremendously.

I also go to the bookstores all the time. I go to Barnes & Noble and Borders as often as I can and I look at all the books. They are constantly getting different books in there with beautiful travel shots and information on unique places to go.

I'd have to say though, the number one place is the Web. I always tell people Google is my best friend. I use Google all the time. If I'm thinking at all about going to a beautiful spot, like I was going to visit my friend in Slovenia, I type in "Slovenia" and I type in "photography" or "photos" or "images."

Or I go to the "images" part of Google and it brings up stuff that people have already photographed. You can find some of the best shots from different photographers all over the world. You could type in "architecture Slovenia lake" or something like that and it will bring up that beautiful, beautiful church in the middle of the lake in Slovenia.

That's what I did and I went, "Oh my gosh, I have to shoot this." My friend picked me up from the airport and we drove right there. I got one of the best shots of my trip in Slovenia because I knew where I wanted to go before I went there, and that brings us up to something that you appreciated on our last interview.

One of the best ways that I told you of to take great stock photographs is another way to take great travel shots. You need to go to the two of the top stock agencies in the world which are Corbis and GettyImages, and type your keywords into the little search field.

These stock agencies represent some of the best photographers in the world, which means they have some of the best travel shots of people, places and architecture around the world.

Right now I'm getting ready to go to India, China, and Burma and I'm going to be going to Google, Corbis and Getty, and typing in "India," and different keywords to find other travel shots that have been taken there.

In Conclusion

Want to know how to find the best locations for your travel shoots so you can take pictures that will really stand out from the crowd? According to Scott Stulberg it's simply a matter of looking at what's been done and improving upon it. When Scott Stulberg begins the research for his upcoming travel shots, he turns to Google, Getty and Corbis time and time again.