I was talking last week that when I visit a new place, I generally try to figure out where the best place to photograph it is, based on pictures and maps. Well, when I went to Charlotte, NC recently for work, I stumbled on a photographer’s gold mine! Thanks to the very hard work of a guy named James Willamor, who has tediously mapped out all the best places to photograph Charlotte, complete with a picture of what the view looks like, it couldn’t be easier! You just load this map into your phone, browse the locations until you find the view / angle you’re after, and then use your navigation to get there. I’ve seriously never seen anything like it! If you use it, make sure to pop on Twitter and tell him thanks! I can’t even imagine how much time he’s got tied up in that, but its seriously awesome.

While I was in Charlotte I took the opportunity to explore a few of the locations on his map, and my favorite ended up being the view from the American Legion Memorial Stadium parking garage, which is where this week’s Picture of the Week was taken. From the very top you’ve got an excellent view of the city, with nice spacing between all the buildings. There wasn’t a game going on at the stadium when I was there, so the parking garage was totally empty and the bottom part was free parking. You may want to scope it out beforehand to make sure there are no events going on. It was a little later than I meant for it to be when I got there, so the sky was totally black instead of in the blue hour, which is when I prefer to shoot skylines… BUT… that just gives me a reason to go back! 🙂 Another cool spot I found from James’ map was the little city park across from the intersection of E 24th St and Yadkin Ave. The buildings are grouped tighter from this angle, and you’ll need a longer lens to really dial it in from there, but it’s a pretty spot!

–Dan Thompson