How I Find and Photograph Hidden Gems While Traveling

I take one or two trips a year — far fewer than I'd like. Before each one, I spend hours hunting for stunning photographs of my destinations, hoping to track down those exact spots myself. Thanks to modern technology, I can easily bookmark 100+ locations on Google Maps for each trip.

That said, these bookmarks are just a starting point. I can't realistically visit all of them, and honestly, once I arrive, I rarely even glance at the list. My first priority is to enjoy the vacation. So I explore like a tourist first — and those popular spots often turn out to be great photography locations too. Plenty of talented photographers have already shot them beautifully, so visiting them is really about getting the obvious shots out of my system. When I do plan to visit a specific spot, I'll check whether any bookmarked locations are nearby and tack them on as a detour.

Ideally, I'd move efficiently from one location to the next, almost like a photo assignment. But I've never really worked that way — and I don't want to. I want a personal connection to my photos. When I look back at them, I want to remember the whole day: where I'd been, what I ate, how far into the trip I was.

What actually happens is that my bookmarked spots work more like anchors. They get me into an area, and then I wander. More often than not, there's something even more interesting just around the corner — something that never showed up in my research back home. I'd say about half the time, I stumble onto something just as compelling nearby. And those surprise finds are the photos I feel most connected to, because I was fully present in the moment of discovery.