"Place" or "Site"?

Question

I'm looking for the most appropriate term to refer to places/sites where you can do something specific. In my case it's going out for taking photos. Which of these two words would best suit that use? From a dictionary I've found that a site is more of a real estate or premises whereas a place is more neutrally a locality of anything. Or is there another word to use?

I'd like to avoid the term "location", too, because it's already part of the title. A subtitle would probably use another word for that to avoid repetition.

Answer 1

My choice would be "site". "Place" is a neutral word; it would mostly be a spatial reference in this case. A site is rather a place that you think of in a physical sense; it includes an impression of the surrounding landscape or something like that. A construction site is the physical plot of land where the building is being constructed, including piles of sand and such; the place of a building makes me think of its place in the sense of coordinates or on a map.

For photography, the landscape and the surroundings are said to be important, so that "site" would seem a good choice.

Note that the distinction is by no means clear cut or strict, and that both words have some related but different connotations as well.

Answer 2

Be careful about using "site" if there's any chance that people could become confused about whether or not you mean "website." If context will make it clear that it's not an online place, then I prefer site for the same reasons as @cerberus.

Answer 3

You might also consider spot, which I've often seen in this context.

Spot, or point, might work well if you are using a map.