Waveneyavenue

I had previously touched on this subject before , but since then I have had a bit more time to play with the idea. The following is what I have gleaned. There are many ways to geotag your photos, and many things you can do with them once you have added this meta-data. Which method you use depends on whether or not you have a GPS unit.

If you own a GPS

You will need

• A camera obviously, any digital will do. I’m currently using a Canon EOS 400D
• Said GPS unit, again any unit will do. I have done this with both the Garmin Etrex and the Garmin 60CSx
• Access to a computer and the Internet, obviously, more specifically to certain on-line tools and open-source software.

The method

1. Go for a hike somewhere in the wilderness with your GPS activated and recording a track-log
2. Take some beautiful photos.
3. Upload said photos to your flickr account.
4. Download you track-log from your GPS unit in .gpx format. You will need some kind of cable to access the data on your unit. If you don’t have one you can buy them on-line, so go ask Google. If your unit doesn’t store track-logs in this format you can use GPSBabel which is open source freeware or the on-line version at GPS Visualiser, to convert any GPS data you may have into the required format.
5. Upload this .gpx file to the GPSTagr service and follow the 3 easy steps to geotag your photos. Really the instructions are very simple, even my parents could follow them and they are serious technophobes.
6. That’s it you are done. Click on the view on flickr map link on the final page of the GPSTagr service and admire your photos positioned on the map, using data from your GPS unit.
7. You can also view your track-log in Google earth and Google maps. GPS Visualizers Google earth converter tool can be used. This form will import your GPS data file, or plain-text data (tab-delimited or CSV), and create a KML file that you can view in the Google Earth application. I use GPS Trackmaker which will open your GPX data file directly in both Google maps and Google earth.

The walk itself

• The track-log as seen on Google maps
• The track-log as viewed on Google earth (via Google earth forums, click the link to view on Google earth if you have it installed)

The photos taken on the walk

• All photos taken on the walk displayed on my flickr map
• Photos taken on a part of the walk ( Carn) displayed on flickr places
• Photos taken on a different walk, just so you get the idea!
• Photos taken on a Causeway Coastal Walk
• Photos taken on a hike in the mournes
• Photos taken on a hike around Rathlin Island May 2008

If you do not own a GPS

You will need

• A camera obviously, any digital will do.
• Access to a computer and the Internet, obviously, more specifically to certain on-line tools and open-source software.

The method

1. Go for a hike somewhere not in the wilderness and take a note of the address or postcode where you are.
2. Take some beautiful photos
3. Upload said photos to your flickr account
4. Using one of these services, Input from GPS coordinates or Input from postcode or address obtain some geo codes to add as machine tags to your flick photo.
5. Enter the resulting latitude and longitude data in the following format [geo:lat=47.620628, geo:long=-122.349329]
6. Here is an example of one of my photos with geo machine tags
   

That’s it. Have fun. I hope this was useful. If you need any more pointers or have any questions feel free to leave a comment.

UPDATE

I have noticed on the bottom of my flickr photo page where it says, subscribe to waveneyavenue’s photos, there are options for geofeed and KML (google earth file) . I assume this will happen to you too if you geotag your photos using either of these methods.

Subscribe to waveneyavenue’s photos – Latest | geoFeed | KML

The photos taken on a different walk

Another walk I have geotagged