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Surfing for Great Locations

From discovering specific locations through online databases of images to finding the perfect scout on the ground, the Internet offers photographers a wealth of avenues for improving location scouting efficiency. The following Web sites are good resources to help you on your way.

This is a hyperlinked version of the “Net Scouting” article that ran in the Spring 2005 issue of the ASMP Bulletin.

A good starting place is ProductionHUB, Inc., one of the leading online resource and industry directory sites for film, television, video and digital media production. Developed as a tool for people to locate production products, services and professionals, ProductionHUB has a very robust search engine. Select Location Scouts/Management/Managers from the Pre-Production category, and then search by state or province in United States and Canada. Here you will find links to practically every city Film Commission office in North America. Most have brochure-type Web sites, providing information on the area, permits, local services and a photo gallery. Some film commission Web sites break their galleries into general categories such as cities and towns, industrial, residential, roads, parks and water sites.

Film studios have always relied on the annually published, one-stop 411 directory “bibles” for production planning. Now online, these 411 planners are a great resource for finding listings for location libraries, management services and local scouts for hire. In New York it’s www.newyork411.com and for Los Angeles try www.LA411.com.

Through the 411 directories or Google searches for “location libraries” you’ll find resources like www.allpicturesmedia.com and www.imagelocations.com, which allow viewers to search through photos of available properties. Once you’ve identified potential sites, contact the administrators to arrange for either on-site tours or over-the-phone bookings.

Location Resources is based in Florida, but claims it can find locations worldwide. They have digitized their location photo archive and developed a searchable site; the majority of images are in Florida and the Caribbean. You must register before you can review their location inventory. The site also provides a “control panel” to manage projects.

Click on the block letter “L” on the newly revised site, Resource Advantage, and you’ll find listings for location scouts and services inside Manhattan and beyond, but there aren’t many to choose from.

For locations in Manhattan and Los Angeles, try Stock Locations. You can contact Stock Locations directly with your specific needs or start by looking through their database of photos for houses, lofts and studios available to rent. While the information is strongly focused on NYC and L.A., site is adding more studios and locations in major cities including Chicago, Detroit, London, Paris and Milan. If you need other production services on location, like catering, vehicles and up-to-date weather reports, Stock Locations can also handle the arrangements.

Another mainly East Coast resource is Debbie Regan Locations. Whether it is mansions, lofts, schools or rural settings, her site provides listings and photos of more than 2,000 properties in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, as well as other areas by request.

“You provide the place, we make the connection,” is the premise behind Hollywood Locations. The site’s drop-down “Search Locations” lists provide a bounty of sites — everything from basketball courts, bullpens, mansions and raw spaces to nightclubs, kitchens, lobbies and hospitals.

Affiliate ASMP member and location scout pro Richard Hobbs has worked diligently to perfect the process of finding a location for photographers. His site, with more than 2,000 key-worded locations, gives photographers plenty of options and is easy to navigate right out of the gate. There is even a Weather Stat link on his home page. Hobbs is also affiliated with Locamundo, a European based location service.

To browse through images for location ideas, try destination-based stock photo agencies such as Robert Harding Picture Library and Lonely Planet Images. You might also try searches on Workbook Stock or Beateworks to view styles of more private and upscale sites. Just keep in mind that the location depicted may not be available for commercial shoots, and the caption needs to reveal enough identifiable specifics so you can find the place. Then, it’s likely you’ll need to hire a local location scout to work out the details.