I think this may be one of the problem most peoples faced. I am not so sure about other people’s brain but my brain doesn’t work very well on remembering where those pictures were taken after some time. e.g. After we returned from our Shanghai’s trip couple of years ago, we originally still able to remember most of the places since we have to repetitively explaining to our friends and relatives but after a while.. we started to forget where those pictures taken. So, all these happen many time especially both Sock Peng and myself will easily return home with few thousand of pictures for every long trip.
Many may think that GPS is only useful for Navigation aids, for hikers, explorers and etc. but it can be use for Geotaging. With the technologies of GPS started to made cheap for the consumers, the solution of Geotaging seems cheap and available not only for the professional photographers but to normal consumers, blogger.
So, what so big deal about Geotaging ? Basically, it is to embed the GPS’s geographical coordinates into the EXIF data within the JPG format we usually used. I have previously tried to use my HTC phone for GPS Logging but it is still not a good solution if I am to continuous log for long trip. After doing some basic research, i ended up buying another dedicated BT GPS Receiver with Standalone Data Logging features. The criteria of my selections are
– Must be designed on High Sensitive GPS Chipset either MTK or SiRF Star III
– Able to log for long trip of about 7 to 10 days with average of 16 hours per day.
– Uses AA or AAA batteries
– Able to configured with different logging mode like flexible time interval or by distant or auto mode.
There are not many choices out in the market that uses AA / AAA batteries.. so, it is pretty easy for me to narrow down to the one i got now. The 3 models i was looking at were ATP PhotoFinder, Amod AGL3080 and Holux M-241. There are too many reviews out there on the web.. so, i am not going to do any reviews on it. So far, i am quite happy with the M-241, the Rocky Mountain trip was the first trip using it / testing it and I am able to log for more then 12 hours with only 1 x 2500mAh rechargable NiMh AA. The only headache is to figure out a nice working work flows for the photo tagging. Took me few days for the solution I am using now and still have to further testing and refine from now on.
In summary, my current work flows are
1. Turn on the data logger during the trip.
2. Using BT747 or Holux Utility to download the RAW file.
3. Using BT747 to converts for the GPX and KML format.
4. Using Grazer or pixGPS for the tagging.
5. Using Picasa as the management tools / web upload and KML output.
6. Saving and tidy up the KML from Picasa in Google Earth as separated trip / gallery.
7. Enjoy the trip playback, photo location on the google earth and keep all the memories.
This is how it will look like on Picasa web by Google. Click on the picture to look at the album , you will have a choice to locates the picture on the map.. to view them on Google map.. or to download the KML and view it on your own Google Earth.
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