Today’s Question: Sometimes when I’m viewing the map in Lightroom I want to locate a photo I took in a particular area. I can click on the pins on the map to view the images, but sometimes it is difficult to locate the right photo because there are so many images on the filmstrip. Is there a better way to locate photos based on their location on the map in Lightroom?
Tim’s Quick Answer: You can actually apply the “Visible on Map” filter so that the filmstrip will only present images that have a location tag for the current map area in Lightroom’s Map module.
More Detail: I also find it can be helpful to locate images using the map in Lightroom. In many cases, for example, browsing around the map will remind me of a photo that I’d like to work with. It can be challenging at times, however, to actually locate the correct image based on a map location. The “Visible on Map” filter can help.
If you know exactly which folder contains the image you’re looking for, you could select that folder in the Library module. Otherwise, you can choose the “All Photographs” collection from the Catalog section of the left panel. Then go to the Map module and navigate to the area on the map where you captured the photograph you’re looking. You can zoom in and pan around to focus on only the area of the map you want to search within.
Then, on the toolbar above the map, click the “Visible on Map” option. If the filter bar isn’t visible above the map, press the backslash key (\) to reveal it. Choosing “Visible on Map” will filter your photos to display only those with embedded location information that falls within the current map area. This provides a quick way to locate specific photos based on where they appear on the map.