Dec

Geo Tagging Your Photos - GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite

Written by Neil Galloway

Note: I am trying to win a contest for one of these. Please vote for Neil Galloway using voting form on the right side of the page at BenSpark.

Tagging photos with GPS information is becoming more and more popular with photographers and just enthusiasts with GPS. If you do not know what GPS is, it stands for Global Position System. Basically it involves a device that can detect satellites and determine the exact latitude and longitude of its location.

Digital photos contain extra information (called EXIF) in the file that includes info on the date, camera settings, and other data regarding the photo that was taken. Geo tagging means adding the GPS information into the EXIF data as well.

I have written about this in the past, but there is a new device out called the GiSTEQ^TM PhotoTrackr^TM Lite. There is a contest to win one of these right now where you basically write an article like the one I did here. You can check out the details at Win a GiSTEQ PhotoTrackr Lite.

Why Geo Tag Photos?

There have been countless times I wish my photos were geo-tagged. My wife and I have been on several trips in the past few years. As you travel through countries it would be nice to know the exact location the photo was taken when you are looking back through the photos at home. Since 2004, I have traveled through Russia, Mongolia, and China; Eastern Africa; South East Asia; Ecuador and Peru; and I will be going to New York City this March. I keep details of these in the Thoughts From My Life Travel section on my site.

Everyone of my trips in the past few years I could totally have used the GPS data for my photos.

What Can You Do With Geo Tagged Photos

First and foremost, it is a good reference to have. You can always pinpoint the coordinates on Google Earth or some other application to figure out where you were when the shot was taken.

Applications are starting to come out that take advantage of geo tagging information as well. In April of 2007 I wrote about Adding Google Maps To Your Photo Album. This is a friend of mine who has written his own photo album and web page that utilizes the Google Maps API to display his photo collection.

Check out this sample photo or go check out Scott Carmichael's Photo Album. If you click on one of the flags, it will display the highlight photo for that album. You can zoom in closer on the map and see that his photos even have the detail of where they were taken within our city.

A lot of the on-line photo sharing sites support this as well. This includes Flickr, locr, and even sites like Google Earth.

How Can I Geo Tag My Photos?

There are devices on the market now that will let you do this. One of the blogs I frequent is called The Ben Spark and he has recently done a review for the PhotoTrackr. This device is made by GiSTEQ.

Basically, it is small lightweight GPS unit that also has an internal clock. Whenever you are traveling, make sure your camera's time and the PhotoTrackr's time are the same. When you upload your photos to your computer, you can then use the PhotoTrackr to add the GPS information into all your photograph. It looks at the date information for the photo and inserts the corresponding GPS information.

I haven't personally used this device, but I will definitely put it on the Christmas wish list. This device looks pretty nifty and has a few features I like in particular.

It uses AA batteries. Easy to find almost anywhere in the world and you don't need to carry another charger just for this.
The battery life is 14 hours. This isn't great, but it's not bad. If you turn it on when you are in photography mode and turn it off all the other times it should last you a little while. It also includes a vibration sensor for automatic powering on and off. It would suck if you forgot to turn it on.
They have their own software which lets you manage your photos. View them on one side of the screen and see the map location on the other side. You can view your photos based on the day you took them and you can give them titles and descriptions as well. There is even a trip route playback feature. Basically gives you a whole new way to look over your photos.
It is compact. A necessity.

For some more information, you can check out the product sheet for it: PhotoTrackr^TM Lite.

The cost is reasonable as well. The price on it is about US$100 brand new and you find a list of retailers for GiSTEQ on their site.

There is also a video review you can check out below for the PhotoTrackr. If any of you have used it and have some opinions on it, please post a comment. If I don't win this, I seriously think I might just pony up and buy one.

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Category: Photography

3 Comments

Drew Says:
2007-12-01 20:31:27
Excellent post. Wow that was amazing and with so many great details. I have the version with the rechargeable battery and it can be charged through the usb port. That is really useful there is also a Pro version of the software with support for Raw data.

Drew Says:
2007-12-16 07:20:30
Voting polls have opened as of 8:00am this morning. You may vote once a day until December 30, 2007 at 12:00noon. Direct your readers to www.benspark.com, the voting widget is on the right sidebar. Also please thank the prize sponsor GiSTEQ Corp. www.gisteq.com with some linky love. Thanks for participating in the contest.

Dan Says:
2007-12-16 10:28:49
Neil - I just wanted to stop by and wish you luck for this contest!