GPS Photography
John Goswell 
June
2008

This is the text from the Powerpoint presentation given.

Digital Photography
•	Is here to stay
•	Has won the battle over film
•	Can be reviewed on the spot
•	Poor photos discarded at essentially no cost
•	Not dependant on the developer

Film Photography
•	Has lost some of its advantages, but
•	Can write notes on the back of the photo

Digital Photography
•	Also records shutter speed, ISO setting, aperture setting, whether flash fired, etc.
•	Can also be used to record latitude, longitude and elevation

Exif
•	Most digital image files store information about the photograph itself (called metadata).
•	This is stored in the Exif data 
•	Exif data is encoded inside JPEG and TIFF (rev. 6) files, but not PNG, JPEG 2000 or GIF
•	Exif = EXchangeable Image File Format.

Exif
Exif data may include:
•	Date and time
•	Camera information (aperture, ISO, shutter speed, focal length, metering mode)
•	A thumbnail image
and
Exif
Exif data may also include:
•	GPS (Global Positioning System) data including latitude, longitude and altitude.
•	Descriptions and copyright information
•	Maker notes (this is used by manufacturers to encode extra information). 

Viewing Exif Data
•	There are dedicated, stand-alone Exif viewers such as:
–	Opanda IExif ( http://www.opanda.com/en/iexif )
•	There are add-ons for Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer, which provide Exif data on right-clicking over the image. Two of these are:
–	Exif Viewer (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3905 )
–	Kuso Exif Viewer (http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/KUSO-Exif-Viewer-Download-52677.html )
•	Mac users (10.4 and above) have access to Exif data through Finder (Get info/More info).

GPS Units
•	Standard GPS unit can be used if it records a tracklog with time as well as co-ordinates, eg Garmin
Or
•	Use a dedicated GPS datalogger

GPS Dataloggers
Eg….. Sony CS1KA
•	Small
•	Light
•	Simple

GPS Dataloggers
EG….  GiSTEQ
•	Small
•	Light
•	Simple
•	Rechargeable
•	Auto off
•	Configurable
•	Robust
How Do Dataloggers Work
•	Record a tracklog

How to Use a Datalogger
•	Synchronize Time
•	Adjust Settings
Record the Data
•	Turn on unit
•	Go bushwalking
•	Note:  
–	May lose satellite contact in forest
–	No signal in buildings
–	May be OK on car dashboard
•	When finished attach to computer

GisTEQ
•	Download Trip Record
•	Add GPS Data to EXIF
•	Warns if there is not a close match

Mapping the Tracklog
•	View on satellite image
•	Shows Location of Photos
•	Higher resolution
•	Clicking on tag

View Location of a Single Photo
•	One can use Google Earth or similar mapping to view where the photo was taken
•	Either as a street map, or satellite image

Accuracy?
•	Of GPS unit - 5m %0%, 9m 90%
•	GPS sampling time, eg 15s
•	Speed of GPS unit – 60kph = 250m every15s
•	Speed of GPS unit – 0.6kph = 2.5m every 15s
•	However it usually takes more than 15s to take a photo!
•	I set the datalogger to record every 5s.

Other Options
Ricoh Caplio 500SE
•	GlobalSat BC-337 SiRFStarIII Compact Flash GPS receiver and the GPS-Ready Pro G3 Digital imaging camera
•	Nikon make GPS enabled cameras
•	Solmeta DP- GPSN1 made as a plug in unit
Nikon
•	Some handheld GPS units can be plugged in via a separately purchased cable, ad mounted via an adapter
•	Some specialized equipment for industry, eg surveying