Archived from groups: sci.geo.satellite-nav,rec.photo.digital (More info?)

The idea is not exacly fresh, and has been discussed in both NG's.  I myself  
thought of this (and others did too) back in the late 80's before GPS had a user  
friendly constellation (or indeed before cheap receivers were available).  [Then  
the idea would have been to 'stamp' the negative/slide with the lat/long,  
similar to the date marking systems].
 
One item I think would be useful would be to add the heading (direction the  
camera is pointing) to the tags.  This would of course require a heading sensor,  
perhaps attached to the base of the camera (mag+gyro).  Or perhaps simply  
recording the GPS TRK, and the operator has to take care to move in the  
direction of the scene prior to taking the photo.  The focus distance is already  
a tagged item.
 
It occurs to me that in digital systems with serial data interfaces (USB,  
Firewire, other) a firmware upgrade would be all that is neccesary to retrofit  
the capability of Rx'ing GPS data.
 
Anyway, good reading.
 
Cheers,
Alan
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
 
December 16, 2004
Digital Bread Crumbs for Your Photos
By AARON WEISS
New York Times
 
WHEN you release the shutter on a digital camera, it records more than just Aunt  
Millie's toothy smile. With each photograph, the camera attaches descriptive  
data - information like date and time, make and model, white balance settings  
and whether the flash was used. Among the 300 or more types of data that can be  
attached are Global Positioning System coordinates, pinpointing where the  
photograph was taken.
 
Most digital cameras cannot be connected to a G.P.S. receiver, so they cannot  
automatically tag images with coordinates. But interest in the combination is  
growing.
 
When Frederik Ramm, a software engineer in Karlsruhe, Germany, strapped a  
digital camera and separate G.P.S. receiver to his car and drove around northern  
Scotland, he posted his results to the Web in the form of a geographically  
navigable travelogue.
 
"I found myself driving just because I wanted to know what a certain road would  
be like, what views it would offer," Mr. Ramm said. "I first thought of a way to  
mount the camera inside, then of shooting photos while driving."
 
Using the G.P.S. receiver, he added, "seemed like the logical next step."
 
Visitors to Mr. Ramm's site can view his photos moving in any direction, or  
watch an automated slide show retracing his journey in its original sequence.
 
Geocoding digital photos is catching on beyond fancy vacation slide shows.  
Relating pictures to precise locations has obvious applications for  
archaeologists and cartographers, but also for real estate agents compiling  
listings and law enforcement officers conducting investigations.
 
Researchers can measure population distributions of plant species with highly  
accurate photojournals, or document the changing landscape of the California  
coastline, as Kenneth and Gabrielle Adelman have done with a helicopter, a  
digital camera, a G.P.S. receiver and a laptop computer.
 
As part of an effort called the California Coastal Records Project  
(www.californiacoastline.org), Mr. Adelman has taken more than 20,000 aerial  
photographs of the coast (except for a restricted area around Vandenberg Air  
Force Base near Santa Barbara) from a helicopter flown by his wife.  
"Photographing particular parts of the coast for the Sierra Club led to the  
idea," he said. "It was the digital photography and the G.P.S. interface that  
made it practical."
 
Mr. Adelman uses a Nikon D1x digital camera, a high-end professional digital  
model and one of the few that can directly communicate with a G.P.S. receiver.  
Currently available for around $3,500 (without the receiver, which can run a  
couple of hundred dollars more), the six-megapixel D1x is not an inexpensive  
solution to combining location information with digital photography. Nor is its  
newer replacement model, the 12-megapixel Nikon D2x (at a cost expected to be  
near $5,000), which Mr. Adelman plans to evaluate when it is released early next  
year.
 
A less expensive option is the three-megapixel Ricoh Caplio Pro G3, which has an  
optional integrated G.P.S. receiver and costs $1,000 for the bundle.
 
Aside from the limited choice and high cost of G.P.S.-ready digital cameras, the  
physical tethers can also be unwieldy, complicating mobile operations. More  
often, geocoding enthusiasts favor the lower-tech solution used by Mr. Ramm -  
simply traveling with both their preferred digital camera and an inexpensive  
G.P.S. receiver, separate and unconnected.
 
Small G.P.S. receivers such as the hand-held Garmin eTrex series ($110 to $250)  
or wristwatch-based Forerunner series ($80 to $120) will record positions in a  
track log, updated at frequent intervals for up to several hours or more  
depending on the model. Because the digital camera records the date and time  
with each picture, as does the G.P.S. with each track point, the two can be  
compared later to produce G.P.S. coordinates for each photo.
 
A variety of software packages can download the track log from the G.P.S.  
receiver and apply the G.P.S. coordinates to the photo metadata - in effect  
retroactively tagging the pictures just as the expensive cameras do in real  
time. Free software such as StuffWare Photo Studio, World Wide Media Exchange  
Utilities, and OziPhotoTool can all update photo tags with track logs from  
popular G.P.S. receivers.
 
Once G.P.S. data has been tagged to digital photos, commercial software like  
G.P.S. Photo-Link ($229) and TopoFusion ($40) can generate maps using  
topographic or aerial data. With a photo record superimposed on a world map, you  
can quickly and easily relive a travel journey, see the distribution of photo  
subjects or visualize a historical record.
 
In the near future, more digital cameras will come with wireless Bluetooth  
capability, allowing them to communicate directly with Bluetooth-enabled G.P.S.  
receivers for instant geocoding with no wires.
 
Mr. Ramm predicts the trend will evolve both "from the bottom end of image  
quality, driven by mobile phones that are already commonly equipped with a  
camera and sometimes with G.P.S.," and "from the top of the quality scale, where  
digital cameras will be hooked to notebooks for immediate image processing."
 
Indeed, Mr. Adelman is already considering replacing his current setup with a  
higher-quality medium-format camera without direct G.P.S. input. But with it he  
plans to have a computer that can later match the G.P.S. data against the time  
stamps in the images.
 
END

Archived from groups: sci.geo.satellite-nav,rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreeLunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
 
> One item I think would be useful would be to add the heading
> (direction the camera is pointing) to the tags.  This would of course
> require a heading sensor, perhaps attached to the base of the camera
> (mag+gyro).
 
I've had the same idea some time ago. With exact position and heading  
added to the pictures, and a large enough collection of pictures of a  
certain area (taken from different angles), you could easily build a 3-
dimensional model of that area.
 
I've once tested a software that allowed you to manually match several  
pictures to a 3-dimensional model ("Canoma", IIRC, BICBW), but it would  
be much easier if all the position data would be in the pictures.
 
Juergen Nieveler
--  
Officer: 'Why did you shoot that terrorist 27 times?'  
SAS Trooper's reply: 'I ran out of bullets, sir'

Archived from groups: sci.geo.satellite-nav,rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Alan Browne" <alan.browne@FreeLunchVideotron.ca> wrote
 
> The idea is not exacly fresh, and has been discussed in both NG's.
I myself
> thought of this (and others did too) back in the late 80's before
GPS had a user
> friendly constellation (or indeed before cheap receivers were
available).  [Then
> the idea would have been to 'stamp' the negative/slide with the
lat/long,
> similar to the date marking systems].
 
I already do this.  I have recently taken many pictures of my local
village and the W.W.II local airfield.
 
I use my eMap and Casio watch built-in compass to mark position and
direction.  Slow but a much better historical record.
 
Reg.

Archived from groups: sci.geo.satellite-nav,rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I just recently used my GPS...to do something similar. The model I use
Garmin Vista...has a built in compass...and therefore if you ARE standing
stationary...it will still give you data on what direction you are
pointing...or the camera if it was attached to it.
 
"Juergen Nieveler" <juergen.nieveler.nospam@arcor.de> wrote in message
news:Xns95C1E715D4F97juergennieveler@nieveler.org...
> Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreeLunchVideotron.ca> wrote:
>
> > One item I think would be useful would be to add the heading
> > (direction the camera is pointing) to the tags.  This would of course
> > require a heading sensor, perhaps attached to the base of the camera
> > (mag+gyro).
>
> I've had the same idea some time ago. With exact position and heading
> added to the pictures, and a large enough collection of pictures of a
> certain area (taken from different angles), you could easily build a 3-
> dimensional model of that area.
>
> I've once tested a software that allowed you to manually match several
> pictures to a 3-dimensional model ("Canoma", IIRC, BICBW), but it would
> be much easier if all the position data would be in the pictures.
>
> Juergen Nieveler
> --  
> Officer: 'Why did you shoot that terrorist 27 times?'
> SAS Trooper's reply: 'I ran out of bullets, sir'

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

imagine the security issue though. as many pics are shared/published
online knowingly or not, we need to make sure that the photographer and
the subjects knows that their location is being recorded.
 
"look, this guy has a nice stereo system." "oh yeah, they are located
in xxx.xxxx, let's drive the truck over."
 
 
--  
btooth
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