If you're planning on taking your camera gear out for photography to somewhere you're not familiar with, it pays to plan ahead.
I've lived in and around the Medway Towns for 25 years, but there are still corners of the area I don't really know. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, though, and a certain well-known search engine's mapping service, I can now pay a visit from the comfort of my office chair.
Google's Streetview is a real boon to the photographer, as is the Ordnance Survey option in MultiMap. I'm planning on photographing the Medway Towns over the summer for the
Britstock Photo library, as well as a potential trip up to Coventry later in the year. Using the various online mapping web sites I can scope out the areas I'm interested in, find out where likely parking spaces are, check out some of the unusual buildings and views and so on. It saves on fuel - especially at the current prices - and shoe leather, while letting me decide the best places to visit when I'm out.
Once I've worked out where I want to go, I can then use the internet again to check out the weather forecast, sunrise and sunset times, tide tables, and all manner of other useful information about the area I'm going to visit.
How did we ever manage without the internet?