Spot for Skate Photography in Lisbon

Recently I discovered a great spot for shooting street skate action photos.

It’s right in the center of the city of Lisbon, in a great plaza called “Praça da Figueira”. There’s a big statue and a view to a medieval castle which makes the spot so great to shoot.

At first I was uneasy at pointing my camera at the skaters there because I didn’t know how they would react, but it turned out ok – they didn’t care I was there.

If you are coming to Lisbon and you like skate photography then be sure to visit – here’s the exact location on Google maps.

Below are two skate sequences captured on the same spot – enjoy!

 

 

How to Hunt for Interesting Photo Spots

Sometimes I feel like discovering new places to photograph but I don’t have the time and the money to travel far away from home.

So, I developed a simple method for finding potentially interesting places near home, and the best part is I don’t have to spend much time or money to get there.

If you are like me, you’ll be surprised to find very interesting places that are new to you and at the same time very near where you live. Somehow, I had the impression that I knew every place which is near me – this is not true and you’ll be very surprised.

What You’ll Need

For  the planning phase you’ll need:

• Google maps – http://maps.google.com
• GPS coordinates for Google maps

For the execution phase you’ll need:

• A GPS device
• A car
• Your camera
• Friends with cameras, if you want company

How to do It

1. Go to Google maps
Go to Google maps (http://maps.google.com) and install GPS coordinates plugin. You’ll need this plugin later for inserting the spot location into your GPS device.

2. Start hunting
In Google maps, start by locating where you live and switch to Satellite view. Zoom in and out searching for interesting spots.

In my case, I live near Lisbon, Portugal, and I was looking for an industrial setting. After some hunting, this spot stood-out:

3. Get GPS coordinates
Use GPS coordinates plugin to get the coordinates – you must install it to Google maps by clicking the Add it to Maps button. Once you have the coordinates, save them for later.

4. Repeat
Depending on the time you have available, you may want to repeat this process (steps 2 and 3) to get some more interesting places. For example, the spot I choose turned out to be a private property of a company, if I hadn’t any alternative spots my trip there would have been disappointing.

5. Have fun
Once you have all the places you want to visit, insert the GPS coordinates into your GPS device and you’re ready to go! Grab your photo gear, your friends and start the fun!

The Results

Here are some photos I recently shoot as a result of my last photo hunting trip:

Big, old and rusty construction truck - HDR

Power Plant

Industrial Pipes

Enjoy and have fun!