When it comes to contributing on Google Maps and the Local Guides community, one of my biggest passions is showcasing the beautiful public parks and nature areas I’ve encountered while exploring both my home region of southeast Michigan and the world at large! I believe parks are some of the most beautiful and relaxing places to go to in any given community, and my goal from early on in my Google Maps contributions has been to take photos (particularly 360 photos, but also regular ones) at these parks to share with the world at large! Combined with adding parks to the map that did not have a location tag previously, I am trying to shine a spotlight on the parks and recreational areas available to the public, and showcase some of the awesome beauty contained within that some may not be aware of. This park-loving effort is actually what sparked my involvement with contributing to Google Maps in the first place!
Back in 2015, I discovered that one could utilize their cell phone to take 360 imagery using what was then the “Photo Sphere” app (since replaced by the more streamlined “Street View” app we see today). As soon as I tried it out for myself, I was hooked! I immediately thought of all the different things I could photograph in this way, the places that did not have StreetView imagery of their own but that I knew people would love to see if it were put out there. The first thing to come to mind was a nearby park I had grown up around and lived near almost my entire life - Pulaski Park in Wyandotte, Michigan. I knew that this park didn’t have any special StreetView photography showing the inside of it, only some driving StreetView imagery from the streets around the perimeter. This became my first place to create some 360 images of my own and share with the world, and from there I kept going until I had covered every park in Wyandotte, expanding outward to nearby communities and taking this passion on the road anytime I found myself in a different city, state, or country. In the years since those nostalgic May 2015 days walking through and photographing my childhood park, I have since contributed 360 photos from parks and nature areas in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Jersey, Florida, and other U.S. states, as well as abroad in Germany, China, the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, and more.
While I have had great pleasure in capturing other places of interest as well, such as buildings, downtown city walks, and inside of arenas, I will always have a soft spot for the parks I can contribute to on Google Maps. I think they are a great aspect of our society, a place worth exploring and spending time in, a place to relax and feel at peace in your community, and I feel that if more people are aware of what parks are in their area, what they look like, and what unique experiences they have to offer inside, then more people may be encouraged to go to these and explore for themselves. Indeed I have had many people come up to me over the years and mention that they’ve seen my contributions to the parks on Google Maps, and really enjoyed virtually walking through them on rainy days or days where they were away, intending to go check it out for themselves when they have the chance. Some of them even made new discoveries of things they did not know were inside, which warms my heart to hear as it tells me people have an interest in exploring these places of their communities and finding out more. I plan to continue contributing to the parks and nature areas of the world, and have had great fun in bringing these places to light, many for the first time when it comes to capturing with 360 imagery. There are bountiful parks to choose from, I don’t think I’ll be running out of new places to explore and share on Google Maps anytime soon!
