David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

I take a GPS logger (I-gotU) with me on my various trips and tours and use it to determine where each photo was taken. I like the separate unit (not attached to and powered by the camera) because it avoids running down the camera battery by having to leave the camera ON all the time. (Camera-mounted units, like all GPS loggers, require time to lock on to the satellites (sometimes more than a minute) and this slows down the process of taking pictures unless the camera is left ON.) The little I-gotU device has its own battery that is good for about 15 hours--I charge it each night while downloading the GPS data to my laptop.

The disadvantage of using a separate logger is that for it to give accurate location data, the camera clock must be synchronized with World time (I use Internet time, which is close enough, and synchronize each morning). The logger records the log time as UT2 (Zulu, or Grenwich, time); the logger software allows an offset to handle different time zones. (For most trips I leave the camera clock set for my home time zone (US Central time) and don't worry about moving from zone to zone during the trip. Attempting to change time zone offsets for photos during a day would be challenging.) Synchronization needs to be pretty exact--when moving at 60mph, the platform is displaced 88 feet each second--I try to keep the time within a second or two of World time.

Ultimately, having downloaded the GPS logger data and my photographs to the same computer, I run the logger software that merges the two sources and writes the photo location into its EXIF data. The software also accesses Google Maps (if Internet available) and plots a map of the route with the photo locations displayed. From labels on the map it is usually possible to identify what the photo depicts. At the very least it will indicate the name of the town involved, and I can do an Internet search so as to match pictures (show me all "churches in Giebelstat", for example, will typically pull up a bunch of pictures and hopefully I could then identify the exact one I'd taken a shot of from the tour coach running down the highway).

I like to label my pictures on Flickr so folks know what it is they are seeing. The GPS logger data greatly assists me in this endeavor.

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

David, that sounds great and easy enough for an old guy like me to learn. May I ask which Model I-GotU do you have and what about it would you like to be different/better?

Pablo8 Loc: Nottingham UK.

Finding my way back-home.

rdarlington43 Loc: Charlotte, NC

One of my hobbies is genealogy. In my quest to find out about members on the family tree (back to 1700 at this point) I take a lot of photos of headstones, old homes, businesses, etc. These are then going into an electronic library which I am sending on a thumb drive to some 30 relatives. Hopefully if some relative down the family tree ever gets interested in genealogy and wants to visit one of those locations they will have the GPS coordinates to do so.

old johnnie

I had the Nikon GPS unit until I lost it while hiking a couple of years ago. I have just purchased a Solmeta Geotagger N3 which I plan to use on an upcoming trip to New Zealand. I find a GPS unit very useful in Lightroom map module to show exactly where I took the picture among probably 100+ per day rather than try to reconstruct the trip using time and date metadata alone.

National Park

GPS data can be helpful in litigation, showing the precise locations where photographs were taken.

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

cameraf4, answering your questions.

Back in 2008 I started with their model 110, but they are now selling 120 units and those are what I carry. I don't have Blue Tooth so don't opt for that model. The only problems I have had is that eventually they will lock up. To avoid losing location data I sometimes carry 2 of them running simultaneously. Failures are not frequent, but they do happen. The little 120s are about the size of half an art gum eraser and very easy to carry--I've carried them in a shirt pocket and even strapped to the size adjuster of my ball cap. It's only essential that the device be kept in close proximity to the camera, because it's the location of the device that is being recorded.

As I mentioned, I also have a laptop with me on my trips/tours and I download the GPS data and photos each day to the laptop. I usually go ahead and reconcile the photo locations each evening while the logger is charging. It is possible to do it all later, but more convenient to do it each day. The device will store up to about 60,000 locations, but it is typically better to avoid approaching that limit--I've found that failures seem to occur more often when a lot of points have been stored. My units have been programmed to take readings about every 10 seconds, and that would be about 5000 points over 15 hours. Of course, when I'm stationary (lunch, briefings, or just inside a structure for a while) I turn the unit off. (And sometimes forget to turn it back on, unfortunately.) Like all GPS devices, it works best when it has an open view of the sky (where the satellites are); dense forests and inside buildings will often produce scattered readings, and in the midst of tall buildings can do the same. That is a limit of GPS in general, not just of the I-gotU. It is not necessary to use a laptop or other computer to charge the I-gotU--it can be charged by any USB power source. I just like having the laptop with me.

The I-gotU devices are inexpensive enough that I recommend having at least 2 of them, especially if going to be traveling a long time (2 weeks or more). That way it isn't necessary to clear the units until after the trip is over (I like having the data always available until I'm home.) The software with the unit has the ability to save the downloaded data to a GPX file, and those can be loaded back into the software later to do the synchronization with the photos. It can also be uploaded into Google Maps or other mapping software to display the track. For convenience and backup, I usually create a new GPX file for each day's travel and store them in a specific folder for the trip. That way, if the unit does fail, I've not lost the ability to get to the prior days' data.

The only thing I'd like to see them improve is the instruction manual. It isn't really very friendly. Fortunately, the device is pretty easy to use (there are only 2 lights and one button) and the software is fairly intuitive. When preparing to merge the GPS and photo data, I recommend loading the photos to a folder in the computer first, because when you download the GPS data it will ask if you want to geotag photos as part of the process, and you just need to tell it where you've stored the pictures for it to begin work. It's much easier that way.

I became a user of the I-gotU devices following a tour of Alaska in 2007. In my travels there I was constantly pestering the guide/coach driver to tell me where we were. After I got home from the trip, she sent me an e-mail with an ad for the I-gotU device attached and said "You need to get one of these!"--so I did. Back then there was no US outlet for them--I had to order it from Canada. Now there are US outlets that sell them (and they are less expensive).

anotherview Loc: California

Note that in the fine print for the map application you may find that Google collects these photographs and then uses them in its business model but with no compensation to the photographer.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

To guide me to a location, not necessarily to a photo spot.

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

I am aware of that. I'm not a professional and don't sell photographs so it's not a problem for me. I upload my photos to Flickr and have its settings such that copy/download is disabled; however, any photo that can be viewed on a computer can be captured, no matter the settings. One of my photos has been used as a book cover--I was made aware of it by a friend--but it's a book that I approve of and am even mentioned in, so it wasn't a big issue with me. I would have liked attribution, but there was none. I don't think the independent publisher even knew where the photo was found--probably discovered via a web search.

jkoar Loc: The Gunks, NY

I use it to geotag grave markers for Find A Grave and Billion Graves. Also, if I go on a trip it can be useful on a few photos to have that data for possible future use.

anotherview Loc: California

You speak for yourself, of course. Others may find offense in Google collecting their photographs via map applications and then using these photographs to suit its business model yet with no compensation to photographers. I am not sure what copyright law says about this activity. An expert may comment on it.

JohnFrim Loc: Somewhere in the Great White North.

As a travel photographer it is absolutely essential to provide correct information about a photograph. Having GPS data for each image is very helpful in identifying the main subject matter. I often take snapshots of descriptive signs to help as well, but if I shoot a landscape scene of a town in the distance that I might not visit it helps to know where I am standing for the shot.

I use the gps4cam app on my cellphone to record the GPS data every minute. Note that this app will run on a phone even when I have no cellphone service (e.g., airplane mode to avoid roaming charges). I also never worry anymore about changing time on the camera; as long as the time on the camera is not changed during a trip gps4cam will handle it all. The phone will easily run all day on a single charge.

At the end of each day I "export" the GPS data from the phone. This generates a QR code(s) on the phone screen that I photograph with the camera. These QR code images are downloaded into the same file folder on my computer as the images I have shot on the trip. The companion desktop/laptop gps4cam computer program then recognizes the QR code images and extracts the trip data. The camera time (which may be incorrect) is in the EXIF data of all images including the QR code shots, but the satellite time of that QR code image is in the GPS data. The software calculates the time correction between the camera EXIF timestamp and the actual time in the QR code, and then updates the date/time stamp of the photo as it inserts the GPS coordinates into the EXIF data of all the images shot during the trip.

When I view the image on the computer I can call up the location on a map (note that the desktop gps4cam program generates a GPX file for each trip as well). I use Google Maps satellite view, and even street view when available for the location, to confirm the content of my image. The biggest challenge with street view is reconciling the wide angle view of the Google camera with the perspective as shot in my image.

While this might sound complicated, it really is VERY easy to do. BTW, the Lite/free version of the app only records GPS data for 30 minutes, so you will have to shell out a few dollars (just over $5) for the pro version.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

I use it sometimes, to remind me where it was taken.... Use light houses for example.... A lot of them look alike, so I use it to remind me which one it was. The coordinates can show on Google and pin point to actually show the light house and name of it. Works for anything. I also use it in national and state parks, churches a etc. It can be a great asset.

HamB

I use a phone with GPS to "lock in" the location, when home, I sort the photos by date and use the info to title my camera shots.
On river cruises all the towns look alike and labeling is handy.

Same with church interiors