When Photographers Use Google Earth

Chelsea Road, Essex, VT
© Google Earth

It’s an old phenomenon, I know, but the other day I rediscovered the wonders of Google Earth.

Pictured above is an aerial view of one of the houses I grew up in. It’s really quite amazing how the satellite image has improved since the first release. I remember the area around this neighborhood as being filled with patches of green, unrendered space on the map. Now the details, right down to the mailbox and trampoline, are there. This makes me wonder about the possibilities of this type of imaging. Apparently, I’m not alone; The fun blog Google Sightseeing has been entertaining this idea for a while now, highlighting oddities and landmarks visible with the online version of the technology, Google Maps.

Still fixated on the possibilities of the zoom feature, I searched for the location where I’m currently living and couldn’t help but notice an area nearby where, recently, I had made a photograph.

Strolling, Jamaica Plain, MA, 2007 and “Day St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130”
© Shane Lavalette & Google Earth

Having the ability to see, from above, a place where a moment happened is remarkable (this reminds me of a few photographers that I’ve recently mentioned). With a red dot, I’ve pointed out exactly where the photograph was made – notice the houses situated in the background.

I thought it’d be interesting to ask some other photographer bloggers to un-Earth some of the places in their photographs. Pair one of your images with the Google Earth map and, if you know how, mark the exact location.

Download and get started. Tip: Mac users hit Command + Option + 3 to save a screenshot to your desktop.

And, of course, show me what you come up with.