Locations

This section contains an area-by-area summary of good photographic locations. However, the world is so large, complex and dynamic that the lists can never be complete or aligned with the views of every photographer. An element of personal opinion is inevitably incorporated - who is to decide whether one national park is preferable to another? Nevertheless, every effort has been made to provide information that should prove useful to those planning visits to specified areas.

The locations information is presented on an area-by-area basis. The areas vary enormously in size because most are defined by the borders of independent nations. Other criteria have been adopted where national boundaries are inappropriate or do not exist. Travelling photographers might, for instance, regard the Hawaiian Islands as a quite different location to the 48 contiguous states of the USA. They are therefore listed separately. Similarly, Madeira is listed separately from Portugal, and Svalbard separately from Norway.  In the case of Antarctica, where no national boundaries exist, only the most accessible Antarctic Peninsula (Grahamland) region has been listed.

The information for each area has been broadly divided into three categories, interesting areas, photographic opportunities, and locations not to be missed. Even this basic subdivision is difficult in some instances, so readers may find a degree of overlap between categories.

Finally, a general recommendation is given for the best period of the year for a photographic visit. The usefulness of this inevitably depends upon the photographic objectives. For instance, in the case of India, the recommended period avoids the monsoon. Clearly the dates are not applicable if the rain is your photographic objective.