This Just Popped Into My Head: Many times people post asking about off the beaten path things to photograph and other questions about the locations they are going to visit. Wouldn’t...

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Many times people post asking about off the beaten path things to photograph and other questions about the locations they are going to visit. Wouldn’t contacting that city’s Chamber of Commerce and/or Visitors Bureau be a good idea? Better to get ideas from people who live there, than from someone who has only visited there?
The same with visiting foreign countries. Wouldn’t contacting the US Embassy in that country be a good way of getting well informed ideas, information and suggestions?

User ID

Mac wrote:

Many times people post asking about off the beaten path things to photograph and other questions about the locations they are going to visit. Wouldn’t contacting that city’s Chamber of Commerce and/or Visitors Bureau be a good idea? Better to get ideas from people who live there, than from someone who has only visited there?
The same with visiting foreign countries. Wouldn’t contacting the US Embassy in that country be a good way of getting well informed ideas, information and suggestions?

Try asking the Chamber and the Bureau about what lenses to bring, making sure they consider any crop factor and use of image stabilization.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Mac wrote:

...Better to get ideas from people who live there, than from someone who has only visited there?....

Both are capable of providing useful input. A local will be more familiar with the "off the beaten track" stuff but a visitor will have seen the place with fresh eyes and may have noticed things that a local person may have been blinded to by familiarity.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

And of course it depends on one's interests.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

User ID wrote:

Try asking the Chamber and the Bureau about what lenses to bring, making sure they consider any crop factor and use of image stabilization.

I guess I was taking it for granted that the asker would have enough knowledge to know what lenses to bring based on the information provided, and understand crop factor and image stabilization already. Maybe not.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

Longshadow wrote:

And of course it depends on one's interests.

Hopefully the asker would be able to pick out what interests them from the information provided. Of courser it would make sense for the asker to include interests in the query.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

R.G. wrote:

Both are capable of providing useful input. A local will be more familiar with the "off the beaten track" stuff but a visitor will have seen the place with fresh eyes and may have noticed things that a local person may have been blinded to by familiarity.

Yes of course. I wasn’t suggesting the the asker should not ask on UHH, only trying to offer additional avenues of information gathering.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Mac wrote:

Hopefully the asker would be able to pick out what interests them from the information provided. Of courser it would make sense for the asker to include interests in the query.

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

No and here is why. We travel a LOT in a motorhome. We have sent to each state and they send vacation guides etc. Many Citys do the same .
What you see in those brochures is interesting and fun things to do.
When you ask here , very often you will get a response from someone that lives there.
They will tell you about things and places those brochures never would.
Example I live on an island. We get thousands of visitors every year . The city puts out all kinds of pamphlets . They never tell you of a cute little park , free to enter, free to park, and lots of native animals. IN the big national park they never tell you of a cool little used side trail that takes you to a really cool pond. You'll only get that info from me or others that live there . So yes asking here is a GREAT idea.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

bdk wrote:

No and here is why. We travel a LOT in a motorhom... (show quote)

I never said it should not be asked here. First you say, “No”, governmental and civic authorities should not be asked, then you the brochures contain interesting and fun things to do. That makes absolutely zero sense.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Mac wrote:

Many times people post asking about off the beaten path things to photograph and other questions about the locations they are going to visit. Wouldn’t contacting that city’s Chamber of Commerce and/or Visitors Bureau be a good idea? Better to get ideas from people who live there, than from someone who has only visited there?
The same with visiting foreign countries. Wouldn’t contacting the US Embassy in that country be a good way of getting well informed ideas, information and suggestions?

TripAdvisor is the first place I look. Then I drill down from there.

jcboy3

Mac wrote:

Many times people post asking about off the beaten path things to photograph and other questions about the locations they are going to visit. Wouldn’t contacting that city’s Chamber of Commerce and/or Visitors Bureau be a good idea? Better to get ideas from people who live there, than from someone who has only visited there?
The same with visiting foreign countries. Wouldn’t contacting the US Embassy in that country be a good way of getting well informed ideas, information and suggestions?

Yes, checking with whatever tourist info is available is a good idea. But not likely to result in "off the beaten path".

Why not take a multi-pronged approach? Search the web, ask on forums, stop at tourist info locations.

Also, take a look at https://www.shothotspot.com.

george19

Mac wrote:

Many times people post asking about off the beaten path things to photograph and other questions about the locations they are going to visit. Wouldn’t contacting that city’s Chamber of Commerce and/or Visitors Bureau be a good idea? Better to get ideas from people who live there, than from someone who has only visited there?
The same with visiting foreign countries. Wouldn’t contacting the US Embassy in that country be a good way of getting well informed ideas, information and suggestions?

Several years ago we were taking the seaplane from St. Croix to St. Thomas for the rest of our trip to USVI. My wife glances at her tourism brochure and then at the guy across the aisle to her left. ‘You’re the governor’ she asks, and we get a really nice list of places to see and eat.

Any source of reliable information is worth your time.

mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA

Mac wrote:

Many times people post asking about off the beaten path things to photograph and other questions about the locations they are going to visit. Wouldn’t contacting that city’s Chamber of Commerce and/or Visitors Bureau be a good idea? Better to get ideas from people who live there, than from someone who has only visited there?
The same with visiting foreign countries. Wouldn’t contacting the US Embassy in that country be a good way of getting well informed ideas, information and suggestions?

I happen to work for our CVB. Our resources plus Trip Advisor would provide you with more than you could photograph in a month. Chamber of Commerce, not so much, unless you like photographing bank buildings and real estate offices. I think anywhere you can gather info is useful. Just don’t have paralysis from analysis!
And that said, I invite anyone following this post to come visit our area, with plenty of wonderful off the path photo chances.
https://www.lafayettetravel.com/things-to-do/trip-ideas/

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

R.G. wrote:

Both are capable of providing useful input. A local will be more familiar with the "off the beaten track" stuff but a visitor will have seen the place with fresh eyes and may have noticed things that a local person may have been blinded to by familiarity.

Yeah, I often find that many of the people that live in an area know less than visitors. My brother said he loves it when I visit him in Oregon because it makes him go out and do things he might otherwise miss. It’s easy to ignore doing something when it’s always there for the doing.