Geotagging Photos

Ever since I first heard about geotagging photos, I have been intrigued with the idea.  This was especially so after being on sites like flickr that allow you to associate each photo or a series of photos with a position on a map (geotagging).  The thing is, this association was being done manually by selecting a series of photos, and then placing a link on a map position.

I kept reading that eventually, cameras would have built-in GPS units capable of doing this geotagging automatically.  In addition, I found that the EXIF data that is available in most jpg files include longitude and latitude, although most are blank because this information isn't available unless the EXIF is manually edited.

Well, I recently bought a Amod AGL3080 GPS Data Logger.  This little device is only a couple of inches in size.  It's light and inexpensive.  I clip it to my camera bag, but some photographers clip it to their belt.  It is a GPS unit without any screen or read-out capability.  It merely makes a GPS log that can be later retrieved via a USB interface, to get the logs onto your computer.  Then with the help of some software provided with the unit, the photos will be matched up to the longitude and latitudes from the log, via their timestamps; this works if you make sure to set the time in your camera within reasonable accuracy.  The software will make a reasonable approximation and match with the GPS log.

I read about the process and figured that it was too good to be true, but it isn't.  It actually works and it's pretty seamless.  The only thing that would be simpler is if it were built in and plugged the EXIF inside the camera.  Until that day, this process is working fine for me.