Hi Ben get yourself a b/w Garman handheld ! Battles last ages work with os maps can also overlay on google maps - also works as speedo on bike plus you can set a button to start point ( ie Car) at any time press again it will give distance & time back to car. You can slso mark exact photo locations to return to. Its a great tool For about £177. Links to about 12 + satalites so no worries about signal( & that's free) Enjoy ! Pete
Traditionally I'd use my sense of direction and adventure, though this would always mean I'd end up having to climb at least one or two fences when off the beaten track. A Garmin Femix watch will give you "hot spots" on the map, represented by a purple lines on my watch. It's where other Garmin users have been, so can be used to see where others go, or to navigate towards when properly lost in farmland, or woods etc. I find getting lost fun as it creates a challenge!
Hi Rick, thanks for sharing how you navigate the land, and yes I agree getting lost does create a fun challenge and could make for more interesting videos perhaps?!? The issue I have is that I fit photography around my family and work life, so I generally have to be back to breakfast or in time to start work - unless I am lucky enough to have blocked out an entire morning to explore a location (which is rare for me). Other full time landscape photographers would be able to take this approach though and perhaps yield better results.
@@benharveyphotography I fully understand you have to work around your commitments, which you do very well considering the quality of your videos. Maybe, rather than heading out in an area you may get lost in, how about asking for something to photograph which you then have to try and find an area where you may be able to complete the challenge? Just as an example, shoot a lone oak tree with a sunrise behind it etc? You'd have to then find the shot!
Hola from Costa Rica, I really enjoyed this video Ben, I can’t believe I have a hankering for home now I have seen this. I still feel fairly new to this area so I am yet to go totally off piste more than a mile or so. Loved your Edburton hill shots with that cracking light. 💥
Hola! That view at Edburton is an interesting one, it still hasn’t been harvested but I visited there this week and it is now beige, surrounded by beige. Worked way better when it had greens. I got really lucky with that light, I was packing up!
The bike is also better for your health! I am no hard-core expert, but my technique is offline maps on my phone. Lots of dead air here I have most of the Mojave Desert downloaded at this point. I always have a battery bank and extra water with me. My buddy who climbs mountains like Denali has a Garmin. The offline maps technique hasn't let me down. GPS is ubiquitous. Happy trails! BTW, I just visited a London Bridge I bet you never crossed: Lake Havasu City, Arizona, USA. The Colorado River is not the Thames, cheers!
Cheers Brian, in comparison to me getting lost in a woods, your potential for getting lost in the dessert is a bit more serious! I have always been a cyclist, I rack up about 80 miles a week with my work commute, but some of the hills where I live!!! I might borrow an e-bike, I know it is cheating, but I could get further.
I struggle to find my way out of my own house, I need all the help I can get. 😂 I use the OS app and also carry a very basic Garmin GPS with a 'breadcrumbs' feature so i can back track if I get totally lost. Great videos Ben!
Used to have the OS map app few years back and thought it was reasonable value for the annual subscription cost. Was wondering if a separate device like a Garmin would be a good option for you as you still have you phone as a back up and not having to worry about battery life too if you ever forget to charge your phone before hand
and I, I took the one less travelled by. The places you go to, I probably would not, knowing what's there. There are two places I like to go: Home, where I grew up starting in the 40s. Inland, where there's nothing to see. If I did happen to go to your locations, I like to think that you wouldn't recognise some of my scenes. If I go into the bush, I need to take a compass bearing for N/S and a GPS tag to know which way to go when I find the road. I think you would struggle here.
Hi Ben I do use the OS map on my Android phone but it's been very glitchy recently and unable to load the map even when it's been downloaded. I don't think there are any other decent map maps so hopefully it'll improve on the next update. I keep saying I'm going to try and find new locations in The Peak District which is just over an hour's drive away but I keep coming back to the same locations......maybe next year. I love the rolling hills that you have on the South Downs
It can be a bit daunting, just heading out without an end destination in mind. Just exploring. For me anyway. That’s why I like to join forces with other photographers. We all share locations and that way we get to explore new places and there is an efficiency in not having to recce them all!
Generally I'll use Google Maps and Google earth. If I could be so cheeky to suggest, when you talked about woodland photography, have you been to Kingley Vale yew tree wood just north of Chichester? Amazing old, old trees there!
I shall look it up, I dint believe I have. I was at Midhurst for sunrise yesterday shooting Heathland, and will be there over the coming weeks. Probably won’t be making a video on it though. Is Kingley Vale open to the public or a national trust paid entrance location?
@@benharveyphotography It's open to the public. Can park at at West Stoke car park which is pay and display, or you can do like my sister when she's walking the dog and just park on the road outside the car park 😀 From the car park it's about 3/4 mile north, all flat and well marked. Some of those trees there are meant to be 500 years old!
I have have a pretty marginal sense of direction. Sometimes I’ll wander aimlessly trying to figure out where I need to be…and that’s before I’ve left the house.😁 For many years I used to a Garmin GPS, always thought they were more reliable, however I typically have a paper map somewhere I can get to it.
Hi Ben, the South Downs National Park has public rights of way running through them, and you can wander off the path enough, providing that you don’t jump fences or scare off live stock. This is kind of my point with using this or another app, as they provide you with the reassurance that you are not tresspassing - all of their public routes are clearly indicated.
Thanks Jimmy, that sounds easy enough! Does it indicate where all of the public footpaths are, I am trying to avoid tresspassing!?! I know that it navigates using public footpaths but does it indicate where they are like the OS maps (solid green lines) to make the routes clear? Thanks.
@@benharveyphotography hmm no, I don’t think it does actually. I’ve been looking for a OS maps-similar app for here in Sweden actually, it seem better 👍
I think I must of been a homing pigeon in a past life. I just go out, sometimes I drive 100 miles from where I live to scout out a location I just get to the general area and go wandering. I’ve never lost my car, I have gone to where I thought I left it to find I’m a few miles out but I have always found it. Maybe one day I’ll come unstuck.
Lucky you. That sounds like an awesome skill to have! And that level of confidence would allow you to genuinely find new places that have not been photographed before.
Hi Ben get yourself a b/w Garman handheld ! Battles last ages work with os maps can also overlay on google maps - also works as speedo on bike plus you can set a button to start point ( ie Car) at any time press again it will give distance & time back to car.
You can slso mark exact photo locations to return to. Its a great tool For about £177. Links to about 12 + satalites so no worries about signal( & that's free) Enjoy !
Pete
Thanks Pete, this sounds interesting - i shall research it. Much appreciated
Traditionally I'd use my sense of direction and adventure, though this would always mean I'd end up having to climb at least one or two fences when off the beaten track. A Garmin Femix watch will give you "hot spots" on the map, represented by a purple lines on my watch. It's where other Garmin users have been, so can be used to see where others go, or to navigate towards when properly lost in farmland, or woods etc. I find getting lost fun as it creates a challenge!
Hi Rick, thanks for sharing how you navigate the land, and yes I agree getting lost does create a fun challenge and could make for more interesting videos perhaps?!? The issue I have is that I fit photography around my family and work life, so I generally have to be back to breakfast or in time to start work - unless I am lucky enough to have blocked out an entire morning to explore a location (which is rare for me). Other full time landscape photographers would be able to take this approach though and perhaps yield better results.
@@benharveyphotography I fully understand you have to work around your commitments, which you do very well considering the quality of your videos. Maybe, rather than heading out in an area you may get lost in, how about asking for something to photograph which you then have to try and find an area where you may be able to complete the challenge? Just as an example, shoot a lone oak tree with a sunrise behind it etc? You'd have to then find the shot!
I think getting lost is the fun part of looking for new locations!
Hola from Costa Rica, I really enjoyed this video Ben, I can’t believe I have a hankering for home now I have seen this.
I still feel fairly new to this area so I am yet to go totally off piste more than a mile or so.
Loved your Edburton hill shots with that cracking light. 💥
Hola! That view at Edburton is an interesting one, it still hasn’t been harvested but I visited there this week and it is now beige, surrounded by beige. Worked way better when it had greens.
I got really lucky with that light, I was packing up!
The bike is also better for your health! I am no hard-core expert, but my technique is offline maps on my phone. Lots of dead air here I have most of the Mojave Desert downloaded at this point. I always have a battery bank and extra water with me. My buddy who climbs mountains like Denali has a Garmin. The offline maps technique hasn't let me down. GPS is ubiquitous. Happy trails! BTW, I just visited a London Bridge I bet you never crossed: Lake Havasu City, Arizona, USA. The Colorado River is not the Thames, cheers!
Cheers Brian, in comparison to me getting lost in a woods, your potential for getting lost in the dessert is a bit more serious! I have always been a cyclist, I rack up about 80 miles a week with my work commute, but some of the hills where I live!!! I might borrow an e-bike, I know it is cheating, but I could get further.
I struggle to find my way out of my own house, I need all the help I can get. 😂
I use the OS app and also carry a very basic Garmin GPS with a 'breadcrumbs' feature so i can back track if I get totally lost.
Great videos Ben!
Used to have the OS map app few years back and thought it was reasonable value for the annual subscription cost. Was wondering if a separate device like a Garmin would be a good option for you as you still have you phone as a back up and not having to worry about battery life too if you ever forget to charge your phone before hand
and I,
I took the one less travelled by.
The places you go to, I probably would not, knowing what's there.
There are two places I like to go:
Home, where I grew up starting in the 40s.
Inland, where there's nothing to see.
If I did happen to go to your locations, I like to think that you wouldn't recognise some of my scenes.
If I go into the bush, I need to take a compass bearing for N/S and a GPS tag to know which way to go when I find the road.
I think you would struggle here.
Hi Ben I do use the OS map on my Android phone but it's been very glitchy recently and unable to load the map even when it's been downloaded. I don't think there are any other decent map maps so hopefully it'll improve on the next update. I keep saying I'm going to try and find new locations in The Peak District which is just over an hour's drive away but I keep coming back to the same locations......maybe next year. I love the rolling hills that you have on the South Downs
It can be a bit daunting, just heading out without an end destination in mind. Just exploring. For me anyway. That’s why I like to join forces with other photographers. We all share locations and that way we get to explore new places and there is an efficiency in not having to recce them all!
Generally I'll use Google Maps and Google earth.
If I could be so cheeky to suggest, when you talked about woodland photography, have you been to Kingley Vale yew tree wood just north of Chichester? Amazing old, old trees there!
I shall look it up, I dint believe I have. I was at Midhurst for sunrise yesterday shooting Heathland, and will be there over the coming weeks. Probably won’t be making a video on it though. Is Kingley Vale open to the public or a national trust paid entrance location?
@@benharveyphotography It's open to the public. Can park at at West Stoke car park which is pay and display, or you can do like my sister when she's walking the dog and just park on the road outside the car park 😀 From the car park it's about 3/4 mile north, all flat and well marked. Some of those trees there are meant to be 500 years old!
@MrEnglishgolfer Thank you - I shall check it out!
I have have a pretty marginal sense of direction. Sometimes I’ll wander aimlessly trying to figure out where I need to be…and that’s before I’ve left the house.😁 For many years I used to a Garmin GPS, always thought they were more reliable, however I typically have a paper map somewhere I can get to it.
Haha. I sometimes get lost in the east wing of my castle before I can find my Jag! 😂
Not a fan of a Garmin then…
I use the OS app
How do you obtain permission to traverse all the land you photograph? In the US, most land near me is privately owned.
Hi Ben, the South Downs National Park has public rights of way running through them, and you can wander off the path enough, providing that you don’t jump fences or scare off live stock. This is kind of my point with using this or another app, as they provide you with the reassurance that you are not tresspassing - all of their public routes are clearly indicated.
Okay, so, I usually download an offline map for Google Maps, never had an issue 😅
Thanks Jimmy, that sounds easy enough! Does it indicate where all of the public footpaths are, I am trying to avoid tresspassing!?! I know that it navigates using public footpaths but does it indicate where they are like the OS maps (solid green lines) to make the routes clear? Thanks.
@@benharveyphotography hmm no, I don’t think it does actually. I’ve been looking for a OS maps-similar app for here in Sweden actually, it seem better 👍
I think I must of been a homing pigeon in a past life. I just go out, sometimes I drive 100 miles from where I live to scout out a location I just get to the general area and go wandering. I’ve never lost my car, I have gone to where I thought I left it to find I’m a few miles out but I have always found it. Maybe one day I’ll come unstuck.
Lucky you. That sounds like an awesome skill to have! And that level of confidence would allow you to genuinely find new places that have not been photographed before.
@@benharveyphotography
I appreciate we are all different but why fear getting lost? Are we ever actually lost?