First draft – 28 March 2009 – v1.00
Incomplete article
Graphics to follow
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Geostamping Photographs
(At the end of this article, there is a glossary explaining the terms, initials or phrases that may be unfamiliar to some readers.)
Have you ever taken a photo and then some time later cannot recall where it was taken? The author certainly has! Having travelled extensively round Europe, Middle East, Singapore, America, Australia & New Zealand, he has some 45,000 plus photos in his library. Up to recent times, trying to keep track of the exact location of a photograph has been almost impossible without keeping copious notes.
Fortunately it is now possible to automatically record the exact location every photograph taken with a digital camera. This accuracy is possible thanks to the GPS System. Some top end cameras have the GPS facilities built in but they are usually very expensive. However, the good news is that virtually all digital cameras can be used and have the GPS coordinates added. This includes any camera that records the date and time when the photo is taken. The author does not know of any digital camera that does not record the date & time. Even some phone cameras record the that date & time with the photos
The way to do it is to use a small inexpensive GPS tracking or logging receiver in conjunction with your camera. The technique is simple in theory and simple in practise.
1) As you venture out to take some photos, switch on the GPS tracker. That will make a record of your location every few seconds.
2) Go forth and take your photographs. The camera records the date & time when you press the shutter release.
3) Upload the photographs onto the computer.
4) Upload the GPS tracker data with the software supplied with the tracker.
5) This is the clever bit: with the software, add the directory of where the photographs are on the computer and press ‘Go’. The software compares the date and time of the photograph with the date & time on the tracker log. It then selects the GPS coordinates for that time & date and adds them to the EXIF data on the photograph file. Job done.
For example, the author took wife & daughter out for a drive in the countryside and to take daughter back to her home. Doing 200 miles on the round trip. They stopped at various locations to sightsee and take photos. Visiting some pretty villages, picnic by a quiet stream etc. Returning home with 185 photos, the next day uploading the photos took a couple of minutes. Uploading the tracker log of the entire round trip took another couple of minutes. Adding the GPS coordinates on to all 185 photos took about 15 seconds.
If, for example you were able to automatically record where you are while you are out taking photographs, it would be a simple task of looking at the date and time of the photograph. Then compare where you where at that particular date and time. Sounds complicated but it is not. With the right software the adding of the GPS coordinates is virtually automatic.
Adding your photos on Google Earth – {details to be added}
[images]
(The author was on a boat following the yacht!)
KML [details to be added]
KMZ [details to be added]
GPS Geostamping software {details to come}
GPSdash2 – Travel Recorder –
Using a Pocket PC as a tracker/logger {details to come}
Online Tutorials – {details to come}
Pros & cons of different GPS units/logging/battery type and life {details to be added}
Referring to the exact location does not mean just the
general area like “Eiffel Tower, Paris” or Odcombe, Somerset or Bridlington, East Yorkshire. It means “
30 yards to the left of the NE leg of the Eiffel Tower”, or at the “
entrance gate of Odcombe Church”, or the “
half way along the South Pier, Bridlington”. Etc...
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Glossary:
GPS = Global Positioning System. A series of satellites that cover every inch of the planet Earth.
Coordinates = the location recorded as Latitude & Longitude
GPS Receiver = A device that detects the radio signals from the satellites and decodes/translates the signals into location coordinates.
GPS Tracker or Logger = Same as GPS receiver but also has the ability to record its exact location at predefined times in its own memory. Usually at 1, 5 or 10 second intervals.
SatNav = Satellite Navigation Unit/Software. A method of navigation utilising GPS data in real time to identify the exact location of the user. This in turn allows the user to plot a course to another location or series of locations. (Waypoint or waypoints)
Waypoint = a precise location or point of reference. A simple explanation of waypoints is to imagine a journey from home to a friend a few streets away. You have to turn left out of the door and take the second turning on the right into the road where he lives:
* The first waypoint will be your home
* Second waypoint is the first turning on the right where you have to continue straight ahead.
* Third waypoint is the second turning on the right where you have to turn right.
* The fourth waypoint will be your friend’s house.
POI = Point of Interest. A special waypoint of a location of particular interest. For example; the location of a petrol/gas station, a hospital, a police station, a destination an airport and or friend’s houses, etc.
EXIF = EXIF stands for
Exchangeable Image File Format, and is a standard for storing interchange information in image files, especially those using JPEG compression. Most digital cameras now use the EXIF format.
This is extra data recorded in the file of a digital photograph. This information usually holds the date and time of when the photo was taken. The shutter speed, the aperture size of the lens and the lens focal length. The EXIF can hold a multitude of data including such mundane info as the camera make and serial number.
This shows the GPS coordinated added to the file.
If you fire up Google Earth and feed in the latitude & longitude, you will see the exact spot the author was standing when he took the photograph.