Later this month I'm taking a group of photographers to Peru for a photography workshop. Part of our preparation has been a little high-tech scouting using the internet.

Google's been busy the last couple of years buying and/or developing applications that they've then offered for free. One of those is Google Earth (www.earth.google.com). The base application is a free version, available for Windows, Mac and Linux. A version with more features, Google Earth Pro, is available for purchase. The program combines satellite images, maps, terrain and sometimes buildings and third-party photos in a very slick interface. You can start from an outer-space view of our planet and then zoom in to almost anyplace.

One of the folks going to Peru with us, Wes Edwards, mentioned he'd been using Google Earth to look at all the places we'll be going. It's a great way to scout a spot you haven't been before. Zooming in on Peru we can look at Lima, where we'll start and end the trip from. From there we can go to the Amazon and see what an incredibly small part of it we'll be visiting while at the jungle lodge. A highlight of the trip will be the two days we spend in Machu Picchu, and Google Earth does a great job of showing how it's nestled high in the Andes. We can even zoom in on the town of Aguas Calientes where we'll stay when visiting Machu Picchu, and see the town square and the route our bus will take to the ruins.

The trip ends with an excursion to Lake Titicaca, and a visit to the reed islands and the people that live on them. Google Earth even has photos that visitors have submitted from some of those spots, including one of the reed boats they use there.

As a photographer, I'm a big fan of planning ahead. That means making sure I have the right equipment and that it's all in working order. As always, I'll continue to do my research and read about the place I'm planning to visit. And now it also means I'll drop in on that spot with Google Earth, and be even better prepared to make the most of my time there.