We protect photo spots | Location sharing is caring

We protect photo spots.

Nature protection with VIEWFINDR

New photo spots in VIEWFINDR are checked by our community for their nature conservation. Before a photo spot is made available to all users of VIEWFINDR, it appears in the local newsfeed. Through our review process, the entire community of nature photographers gets to decide whether a photo spot should be made available to all. Over time, we sort out questionable photo spots and only present photo spots in VIEWFINDR that can be accessed without destroying nature. Photo spots in nature reserves where every visit causes nature destruction are immediately removed from VIEWFINDR.

VIEWFINDR is the first and only location sharing app that checks and moderates photo spots for conservation content.

How it works: Evaluate natural impact

Photo spots in cities, on paved roads and paths in nature are completely harmless and can be visited by any photographer. As soon as paved paths are left for the photo, local nature is polluted or even destroyed. In VIEWFINDR, photo spots can be rated as follows:

5: Cities, paved roads, beach without nature protection
4: Cultivated meadow, unpaved paths
3: Leave path without damage, no nature conservation
2: Path is abandoned, high load from visitors
1: Destruction of local nature takes place, animals are disturbed
Report View: Use the "Report" function to report a photo spot immediately.

Nature and conservation vary enormously from photo spot to photo spot! These are only hints for a possible classification of a certain photo spot. VIEWFINDR needs your help as a local photographer to be able to classify the photo spots!

99% of all photo spots can be visited without hesitation. VIEWFINDR sorts out the 1% of problematic nature reserves and overrun hotspots for carefree landscape photography without environmental degradation.

The problem: Destroyed photo spots

Most photographers are not aware that they are actively destroying nature when they enter certain photo spots. In the scene of nature and landscape photographers, there is no platform or contact point where information about this is easily accessible. Doing your own research on official nature conservation platforms is tedious, an effort that almost no one makes.

One approach is to keep photo spots under lock and key. However, this approach does not work, at some point every photo spot becomes known. Why doesn’t every known photo spot become a “hotspot”? The reasons are complex: infrastructure and accessibility, beauty and aesthetics play a major role. We at VIEWFINDR claim: 99% of the beautiful places that are suitable as photo spots never become a “hotspot”.

Hotspots are questionable when the number of visitors destroys the local nature. Hotspots in cities can be condemned as photographers, but they are not a problem for nature. Hotspots are self-perpetuating due to the lack of alternatives. A search for photo spots in popular regions shows: Every blog, every photographer and every travel website shows the same 10 places.
How is a layman supposed to find alternatives to the hotspots that he can enter without problems for nature and the environment?

Our solution: nature conservation!

In VIEWFINDR, we only offer photo spots that have been verified by our community and where there is no destruction of nature. We offer such a large number of photo spots that no photographer can photograph them in a lifetime. Therefore, there is always the possibility to photograph at a photo spot that is harmless to nature.

Each of these photo spots is harmless to nature and the environment. Photo spots in nature reserves that can be accessed via paths are specially marked. We offer rules of conduct for dealing with nature and the photo spots.

With our community rules we educate about how correct behaviour in nature and the environment works in order to preserve photo spots and nature for future generations.

With the planning tools for weather and light, VIEWFINDR offers the possibility to visit each photo spot specifically. Unnecessary car journeys are avoided and amazing nature photographs can also be taken in one’s own surroundings, because even small inconspicuous photo spots look great in the right light!

Correct behaviour in nature

1. Stay on path

Any abandonment of the paths harms nature. Even inconspicuous mosses and lichens on otherwise empty rocks are valuable nature. Assess the situation on site to see if you are leaving any permanent damage.

2. Be quiet

Landscape photographers are often out and about at night and twilight. During this time it is especially important not to disturb the animals. Avoid noise and minimise conversations.

3. Lights out!

Nocturnal and crepuscular animals have particularly sensitive eyes. Avoid unnecessarily bright torches and headlamps. Try to point them at the path in front of you and not into the forest.

4. do not walk through the middle of the forest

Einmal quer durch den Wald laufen ist besonders problematisch für die Natur. Dein Geruch haftet im Wald, Tiere ändern dadurch ihr Verhalten. Der empfindliche Bewuchs im Unterholz wird zerstört. Im Winter kannst Du Tiere aufschrecken, die durch die kalte Witterung auf Sparflamme leben und wertvolle Energie verbrauchen.

5. observe local nature conservation rules

We would have liked to integrate nature reserves and local codes of conduct into VIEWFINDR. However, there is no platform that provides this data. Therefore, before your photo tour, check whether you are violating nature conservation locally. A few examples: Rock closures during the breeding season of certain birds, ban on entering alpine meadows in certain months. There is not a sign everywhere where nature protection applies!

M.Sc. Stefan Engel

Founder, developer

B.Sc. Bastian Werner

Founder, CEO

Dipl. Met. J. Lang

Founder, meteorologist