I’ve started becoming interested in the more peripheral uses of a GPS. One is GeoTagging. GeoTagging involves storing the lat/lon where a picture was taken in the JPG (or RWA) header. You can then look at photos that were take in similar places.
Sites like Flickr and SmugMug take good advantage of this. You can zoom in on a map and see pictures taken in that area. (try Flickr)
So, how do you get the GeoTagging info into your images. Well, you can do it manually. Photoshop allows you to edit the meta tags directly. You can look up the lat/lon on a map and type it in. But, that doesn’t sound very fun.
You could also try the PhotoFinder from ATP. This is a small device that you can hang on the outside of your camera bag. It receives the GPS signals and tracks where you are at each minute.
After you’ve taken your photos, you insert the memory card into the PhotoFinder. The PhotoFinder then matches the time stamp on each image with your location at that time and updates the file header with the location. Perty slick. Currently, it only works with JPG. You RAW shooters will have to wait. It’s compatible with Compact Flash, SD and Memory Stick. Another plus…you don’t need a computer to tag the files.
Learn more at http://photofinder.atpinc.com/
Update: Expect this product to cost about $100. It seems to be available in several other countries, hopefully the US will come soon.
There are two other products that offer similar features…but they’ll be covered in another article.