My wife says that I’m a “techie”. Judging from some of the things that I buy, she’s right.
My latest aquisition is the Photo Trackr. This gadget is a miniature GPS device, just slightly larger than a 35mm film canister (do you remember what this is?). Turn it on while you’re picturetaking and it records your location to flash memory as you move from place to place. Later, after you download your images to the computer, simply add the location data from the Photo Trackr and you’ll have a recorded diary of your shooting itinerary. Pretty nifty!
It seems to me that many photographers are also a little on the techie side. And so I’ve taken the liberty of jotting down my short experience with this gadget in case you think it may be useful on your picturetaking excursions.
My local camera store does not stock the Photo Trackr so I order it via the Internet from Adorama. It’s made by Gisteq , a German company. The price is fairly reasonable, just over $90 including shipping from New York to Grand Rapids. I wait only two days from ordering until it arrives by UPS.
After I open the package, I install the Photo Trackr software from the included CD-ROM. During installation, I am asked to sign up for a free Google Earth API account. This is required so that you can later display your shooting locations visually, on a map using Google Earth. Installation is quick and flawless. I’m now ready to test this new techie device. The only other must do is to synchronize the camera timestamp with the PhotoTrackr so that the GPS location data can later be matched to the photos. Note: I have synchonized five of my DLRS to the PhotoTrackr so that I can add location data to photos from all.
Here’s a rundown of my first shooting session. I attach the Photo Trackr to my belt loop using the small, included caribiner. When I reach my first shooting location, I press the single button on the Photo Trackr to start it up. After about 30 seconds, the device’s green light starts flashing, indicating that it is ready to record. I start shooting with my camera. I move around in a small area, perhaps within a 75 feet radius of my starting position. A short time later, I drive to a second location and start shooting again. When I complete my session, I press the button to turn the Photo Trackr off.
Back in the office, I transfer the photos to my computer as usual. Next I connect the included USB cable between the Photo Trackr and my computer. This automatically starts the Photo Trackr software. I click on the Trip Records icon to transfer the GPS location data from the Photo Trackr device to the computer. Next I use the Photo Management feature to add the new photos to the database. The software adds the geographic coordinates to image metadata by matching the timestamp of the photo with the location data. This is also known as geotagging the images.
Afterwards, you can click on an updated photo to see the Google Map location on the screen, provided that you are connected to the Internet. The software can also upload your new photos to Flickr, Picassa and SmugMug complete with location data. A red pushpin on the map indicates the location of one of the photos.
I plan to upload this photo of a bird in a pine tree directly to my Flickr account. You can see that the additional data displayed beneath the picture includes the latitude, longitude and altitude as well as the approximate location (address). Of course, I’m not going to geotag every sparrow in the city of Grand Rapids, but you can imagine how useful the location information can be for nature and outdoor photographers.
In this final photo, I’ve clicked on one of Google Earth’s option to superimpose the satellite imagery instead of the mapping imagery.
The Photo Trackr software is quite robust and entertaining to use. For each photo, it displays the basic camera exposure information - useful for reference. You can group your photos using your own labels, for example “Trip to the Beach” or “Yellowstone Vacation”. As you travel, if you have the device powered on, you can plot the path of your trip on a map. Gisteq makes this software perform seemlessly with Google Earth. All in all, I found the location data to be accurate, not perfect, but certainly up to my expectations. However if for some reason, you find that the location is not accurate, you can manually set the location for a photo.
Wrap Up
Besides snapshots of the family, my main photographic interest is taking landscapes and wildlife. As such, I am an ardent visitor to many of the National Parks. The Photo Trackr will now enable me to add location data to all of my outdoor photos. So far, it looks as if it will fit the bill.
If you’re interested, you can find more information about the Photo Trackr at the Gisteq website.
