Explorest iOS app helps photographers find new locations to shoot

Nice! Just tap the coordinates into the drone, send it off and sip a beer while waiting for it to get back. Well I really should not diss the concept since I bought an excellent book titled "Photographing Yellowstone". We can still learn from the advice and select our own spots to shoot, after the selfie crowd has moved on.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

RGBCMYK

He truly was forward thinking when he wrote this. This was included with a print that was purchased from John Sexton and the piece of paper is titled Darkroom Editions 1992 / Sandstone Narrows. "This image was made in a remote, remarkably beautiful and extremely fragile location. Not a believer in professional "secrets," it has become painfully clear to me that to preserve and protect certain special areas, lacking adequate protection, it is necessary to safeguard the geographic locations of these sensitive sites. Some areas cannot survive heavy visitation, even by careful visitors, and need to be protected in a sacred trust. Each of us has a responsibility to care for our planet, including asserting protection against damage caused by ignorance, carelessness or vandalism. I do hope you enjoy this image, and come away with feelings of your own about the sacred and unique qualities of the land." John Sexton. 1992!!!

Jul 25, 2017permalink

RGBCMYK

Why not get out there and explore? It reminds me of watching people taking photographs of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

HRC2016

The app doesn't provide new places to shoot. It provides already well-known places to shoot.

I'd like an app that provides unphotographed locations ... but till then I will rely on maps and my imagination.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

WillWeaverRVA

I do my best photography in Frebuary.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

I'm becoming increasingly uninterested in photography because there are so many photos out there that it's becoming cheapened and frankly, it's very difficult to shoot anything that looks even slightly unique these days.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

psiz925

Then shoot portrait, infinite possibilities

Jul 25, 2017permalink

@psiz925 - But even those all start to look the same. I'm getting depressed.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

SDreamer

It can be good and bad. There's so many photos out there that many people tend to stop even looking at them. I've noticed that. Instagram and what not flood the channels. We see it once and off it goes. I print the photos I really like that I take, and it stays hung for a while, and brings added value so when people come over they see it and focus on it because that is the set of photos around it. Photography was very meh for me before I started printing myself. No one does albums or photo books much anymore, but when you bring something to a tangible form, it's value becomes something else.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

@Stevo23 - I find that attending a great photo workshop can renew my inspiration.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

AK_hiker

What did Yogi Berra say
"Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded"
I too no longer give my fav places out.

This app worldwide and drones take the work out of finding unique spots.
Perfect for this enabled generation of photogs.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

Edmond Leung

The result is further pollute our world. Bad!

Jul 25, 2017permalink

It's beyond my why anyone would create such an app. It's like giving up all your good fishing holes. The the world. Stupid.

Jul 25, 2017*permalink

Bob Tullis

I used to want to share locations of lovely places I've visited. 15 years later and I return to many of these locations to find them overwhelmed with people and the garbage that has been left behind. The worst are edges of bodies of water where old bait containers, fishing line, and worse are to be found littered about.

At this point I limit my sharing of locations to specific individuals rather than invite the world (mainly, where it relates to rural locations).

Jul 25, 2017permalink

Exactly. I guess the upside to this is that certain places will be crowded and we can tell what to avoid.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

FasterQuieter

The idea of a place having been photographed many times by a community of people would put me off doing so myself. Though I may just be a miserable sort.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

My thought was the same. If someone did an astonishing picture, why try to reproduce it? Instead get inspired by the pictures and the effects used and then find and apply it your own motive.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

@Fasterquiter - I did Grand Prismatic Lake in a "new" way a couple of years ago and I am going again in August. Knowing literally millions have photographed a spot does not put me off. I record my own experience and thus my pictures carry a special meaning .

Jul 25, 2017permalink

dialstatic

For the same reason I did my math homework in school: to learn techniques, understand why they work by applying them to known problems, so that I can move on and apply them elsewhere later. I doubt my teacher would have been happy with me saying: "Look, you clearly already worked this problem out beforehand. Also, the whole class is doing it now. I'ma work on something else instead."

Jul 27, 2017permalink

So after reading the article we see that it is Singapore only. You should put that in LINE ONE!!!

Jul 25, 2017permalink

But the intent is for it to go beyond that. How utterly depressing.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

@stevo23, You know that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, right?

This could be newsworthy on this site IF it ever expands to a larger part of the world.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

@Eske - Apparently it was newsworthy on this site. So much so that you commented on it.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

@EskeRahn: it actually makes sense to put Singapore in the app: lots of people have stopovers and little time there, myself included. I could see the usefullness of this app to tourists.

Jul 25, 2017permalink

@stevo23, had it said in line one that it was Singapore only, I would have stopped reading, and thus not commented....

I don't like when a site try to con people into reading stuff, it reduces their credibility as a serous site IMHO...

Jul 26, 2017permalink

@Hasa, Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the app being Singapore only. The issue is that the article put this vital info at the very end like fine prints on an insurance form....

Optimally the header would have been like
"Explorest iOS app helps photographers find new locations to shoot in Singapore"
This way anyone visiting Singapore could read it, and those of us that will not, could just skip it...

Jul 26, 2017*permalink