+GrateBear Posted April 20 Posted April 20 Have a mystery cache where you have to figure out where the picture was taken. The cache is at the spot where the picture was taken from. Is there an app or something can determine where what's in the picture is? Thanks.
+MNTA Posted April 20 Posted April 20 I've seen a couple where a unique street sign is the goal. For these google maps street view.
RuideAlmeida Posted April 20 Posted April 20 2 hours ago, GrateBear said: Is there an app or something can determine where what's in the picture is? Thanks. Maybe this one?...
+barefootjeff Posted April 21 Posted April 21 2 hours ago, RuideAlmeida said: 5 hours ago, GrateBear said: Is there an app or something can determine where what's in the picture is? Thanks. Maybe this one?... According to the web page, that one just uses EXIF coordinates in the image, but all EXIF data is stripped out of images uploaded to the geocaching website so that's unlikely to be of use here. A mystery cache has to be within 2 miles of its listed coordinates, so you should be able to use satellite images to look for possible places that might fit what's in the photo (bushland, suburbia or whatever), then Streetview to take a closer look at likely locations. 3
+van der Decken Posted April 21 Posted April 21 If there's any recognizable landmarks in the image, try submitting it to Google Images and see what it comes back with. I've had remarkable luck doing that. And if it doesn't work, it didn't take long or cost anything. 1
+DarkZen_EvilCowPie Posted April 21 Posted April 21 (edited) I thought one of the requirements of a cache was that it requires the use of a GPS device? Edit: I submitted a cache similar to what the OP is suggesting, and was denied due the the reason above. Edited April 21 by DarkZen_EvilCowPie adding on 2
+ecanderson Posted April 22 Posted April 22 6 hours ago, DarkZen_EvilCowPie said: I thought one of the requirements of a cache was that it requires the use of a GPS device? Edit: I submitted a cache similar to what the OP is suggesting, and was denied due the the reason above. The OP is creating clues to obtain the final position with his pictures. Once the coordinates to the final are figured out, a GPS is used to find the final. I'm guessing your idea didn't use the earlier sites to provide clues to coordinates to be found using a GPS. 1 1
+GrateBear Posted April 22 Author Posted April 22 13 hours ago, ecanderson said: The OP is creating clues to obtain the final position with his pictures. Once the coordinates to the final are figured out, a GPS is used to find the final. I'm guessing your idea didn't use the earlier sites to provide clues to coordinates to be found using a GPS. The response above about needing to use a GPS is interesting. For this cache, the hint says " The cache is located from where the picture was taken, NOT at a location in the photo." So, no need to use a GPS.
+GrateBear Posted April 22 Author Posted April 22 On 4/20/2025 at 7:21 PM, barefootjeff said: According to the web page, that one just uses EXIF coordinates in the image, but all EXIF data is stripped out of images uploaded to the geocaching website so that's unlikely to be of use here. A mystery cache has to be within 2 miles of its listed coordinates, so you should be able to use satellite images to look for possible places that might fit what's in the photo (bushland, suburbia or whatever), then Streetview to take a closer look at likely locations. Just tried that--no data in the picture to identify the location.
+GrateBear Posted April 22 Author Posted April 22 On 4/20/2025 at 7:48 PM, van der Decken said: If there's any recognizable landmarks in the image, try submitting it to Google Images and see what it comes back with. I've had remarkable luck doing that. And if it doesn't work, it didn't take long or cost anything. Came up with close images, but all were well more than 2 miles away.
+The A-Team Posted April 22 Posted April 22 3 hours ago, GrateBear said: The response above about needing to use a GPS is interesting. For this cache, the hint says " The cache is located from where the picture was taken, NOT at a location in the photo." So, no need to use a GPS. There's a cache like that in my area. Though it has 5 photos taken in different directions FROM GZ, it still doesn't require GPS use. It was hidden in 2005, so likely pre-dates the guideline requiring GPS use. I'm thinking yours may be an older one too. If it is, then it could also pre-date the 2-mile-Mystery guideline and could be farther away. The one here is a little over 4 miles from the posted coordinates. This could open up some possible areas you had previously dismissed. 1
+van der Decken Posted April 22 Posted April 22 (edited) I'm going to make a few assumptions. I'm going to assume I know which puzzle cache you're wondering about. And that it's been published in the last couple of months. I'm presuming you are local, and recognize the mountain in the background. So you know which way the photographer was facing. You've also seen the large metal power pole and the electrical lines running left to right, which might imply a road. You've seen the black roofed houses in the subdivision behind the road running left to right that you can also infer from the stop side and street signs on the left hand side. You're seen the reddish metal roofed buildings in front of the road. The one in the center looks like a small barn or large storage shed. The one on the right looks more like a house. But it definitely predates the subdivision. You've seen the barren field in the foreground. You've figured out that the photographer used a very long lens to get the mountain to appear that big in the background. You have used all the information that's been made available on or near the cache page. With all that, and knowing it has to be within 2 miles of the posted, you ought to be able to pin down the location close enough to battleship the exact coordinates. I did. It took a few tries, but I got the thumbs up from the checker; look for yourself. Keep at it; it can be done! Edited April 22 by van der Decken missed a word; argh, wrong word! 1
+MartyBartfast Posted April 23 Posted April 23 I found one like this years ago, the picture from GZ showed my office window in the distance and we happened to have a telescope in the office so I spent some time reverse engineering the picture with the scope until I could identify the spot it was taken from, I then jumped on the tube and went out to grab it. It was only after I'd logged the find that I noticed the photo had the GPS co-ords in the exif data! But I think my way was more fun 1 1
+ecanderson Posted April 24 Posted April 24 On 4/22/2025 at 12:49 PM, GrateBear said: The response above about needing to use a GPS is interesting. For this cache, the hint says " The cache is located from where the picture was taken, NOT at a location in the photo." So, no need to use a GPS. Provided you can get the perspective and (important) the distance right based upon the photo, then maybe. Zoom/magnification is a powerful enemy here! I can take a picture of Pike's Peak with a telephoto lens from anywhere along a line about 50 miles long, and by adjusting the zoom, you'd have a real hard time figuring out WHERE on that line i was standing.
+van der Decken Posted April 24 Posted April 24 I'll just say that in this particular instance, there is a way to determine roughly (within a handful of metres) where the picture on the cache page was taken from. As Yoda once said, "there is another"...
geoawareUSA9 Posted April 24 Posted April 24 One of the things we ask folks not to do is get help with specific cache puzzles or give specific solutions away. So, let's stop here. 1 2
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