Tuesday, October 13, 2015

GPS Tracks

Wildlife Photography Tips


Keeping track of subject locations in wildlife photography can be challenging, but GPS devices and Adobe can provide a solution.

The question is why you would want to keep track of locations?

- For you own records. Just looking at an image years later might not provide the
necessary visuals to pin point the exact location where the images were captured.
GPS records on images will assist in building your own wildlife atlas for future use.

- There might be scientific reason for this. Species, especially birds,
images of birds seldom found in a specific game reserve might be useful for research.

Some camera manufacturers sell GPS units that can connect directly to your camera. Some models even have built-in GPS modules, and in both cases GPS co-ordinates automatically get added to the image metadata.

For cameras without GPS modules there is a cheaper way to capture GPS co-ordinates and tag images. Lightroom does an excellent job in tagging images with GPS co-ordinates. Adobe Lightroom has the ability to use gpx files (GPS tracks) and tag images by adding GPS Co-ordinates to the image metadata.

Lightroom provides a variety of ways you can add photos to the map module. This is just one way to accomplish GPS image tagging.

Numerous devices on the market can capture GPS co-ordinates and produce an output file. The device most photographers have available is a SmartPhone. SmartPhones can be used in conjunction with the correct software to provide the required GPS tracks, and provide a cheaper alternative.

The application I find useful is "My Tracks". This application records your tracks, and can export the data to a gpx (GPS Exchange Format) output file for use in Lightroom.

All you have to do is ensure that your Smartphone is fully charged, and start recording your tracks. You also need to ensure that your camera date and time match the date and time on your Smartphone to ensure that tracks match images accurately.



Visual Sample of "My Tracks" Data captured
Distance - 32.7 KM
Total Time - 2:30:30



In Lightroom you need to go to the Map section in order to tag images with GPS data.

Select all the images you need to Tag.

Load the matching GPS co-ordinates file downloaded from your smartphone, using the Load Tracklog option. Next, you need to select Auto-Tag Photos option to tag all images with the appropriate GPS co-ordinates.



Selected images highlighted in orange tag



Helmeted Guineafowl

GPS - 25°54'1" S 28°16'35" E

Altitude - 1569.5 m



Selected images highlighted in orange tag



Pearl-spotted Owlet

GPS - 25°14'2" S 31°53'18" E

Altitude - 272.0 m




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