Finding clues to geolocate an image

Fiete Stegers
Nov 8 · 3 min read
Still the search goes on (Screenshot of tweet from David Hasselhoff)

A famous landmark in the background — that’s of course a give-away when you are trying to identify the location where a photo or video was shot. Most of the times, it’s not as easy as that, of course. Yet there might be lots of clues hidden in image to help you in geolocating it. And who could be more suitable to teach you about this than …. David Hasselhoff?

At least I like to use this seemingly spontaneous tweet of David Hasselhoff when teaching geolocation/verification/OSINT in classes or workshops. While the former Knight Rider actor was asking for his trusted steed to help him out when he was stuck in a traffic-jam on a German highway, we want to know where exactly Hasselhoff set foot upon the concrete of the Autobahn. So which clues can you make out in the picture — and which other ways to research it can think of?

Actually, there are quite a lot of visual clues that might help you to pinpoint the location of this picture:

Clues in the picture

  • weather (which German region would it fit?)
  • shadows (if you assume that this photo was taken shortly before posting it, you get an idea of the the general direction of this stretch of highway.)
  • German license-plates (but remember, vehicles are movable objects)
  • long traffic-jam — can you backtrack the traffic situation of the day?
  • general geography (hilly terrain, lined by trees)
  • three-lane highway, oncoming traffic is not visible, but there might be a slip road on the right (see the white truck?). Also, note the type of concrete.
  • the bridge itself — you might want to try a visual search for related-keywords. Or check out https://brueckenweb.de, a database for close to 100.000 bridges in Germany (there’s a database for almost everything on the internet, oftentimes maintained by enthusiastic volunteers).
  • There are traffic signs right before the bridge.
  • On the picture it’s tiny, but there’s a large sign on a pole behind the bridge. As it is situated next to a German autobahn, it very likely indicates a road-stop / gas station. And if you look closely enough (be sure to download the large version of the image), you can see that is a giant yellow M you might be family with. And there’s actually only a limited number of McDonald’s locations right next to the autobahn.

Beyond the image

In addition to the picture itself, you mind find useful clues at other places on the web:

  • Read the replies (yes, you should!): Maybe someone has already posted the location there? In fact, in this case there were comments saying the area reminded them of certain autobahn which gave a head start for further research. If you are not that lucky, always check if the a person has posted the same or similar contents on other platforms. Maybe you find our information there.
  • Also, check Hasselhoff’s official web page and social media pages, ticket data bases etc. on his schedule. Where did he appear last publicly, where next? This may give you an idea of his itinerary.
  • Did anyone else post on David Hasselhoff posing on the autobahn?

Any other ideas for possible clues? Please add them in the comment section. Or check out this past #Fridayquiz which also offers a lot of different clues.

Quiztime

Write-ups from the team behind Quiztime that describe solutions to past Quiztime challenges, contain tips about geolocation and verification and will go deeper into the hints that sometimes can be found in a simple photo. For journalists, OSINT researchers and everyone else.

Fiete Stegers

Written by

Journalist | Researcher | Trainer | #FridayQuiz @quiztime | www.netzjournalismus.de

Quiztime

Quiztime

Write-ups from the team behind Quiztime that describe solutions to past Quiztime challenges, contain tips about geolocation and verification and will go deeper into the hints that sometimes can be found in a simple photo. For journalists, OSINT researchers and everyone else.

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