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ofthearth
01-12-2009, 14:29
Will anybody be at the ruck that is familiar with geo-tagging? I've read about it and some people have sent me some good links (thanks) but I need a more hands on approach. Sorta like getting my gear discussed at the last ruck.:rolleyes:


tia

Bulldawg
01-12-2009, 20:37
I've done some Geo-Caching, but what is Geo Tagging?

ofthearth
01-12-2009, 23:14
I've done some Geo-Caching, but what is Geo Tagging?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geotagging

Geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification metadata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metadata) to various media such as photographs, video, websites, or RSS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_%28file_format%29) feeds and is a form of geospatial metadata. This data usually consists of latitude (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latitude) and longitude (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude) coordinates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinates), though it can also include altitude (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude), bearing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearing_%28navigation%29), accuracy data, and place names.

In plain english I think (hope ) that means linking your photos to a location on a map. A gps stores lat and lon with the time. Your camera stores the time of the photo. A program can merge the two. And I've got a lot of questions about the nuts and bolts of the process.

Sly
01-12-2009, 23:58
Haven't had any geo-tagging but I did have geo-caching a couple years. I was surprised on how well the few that did it, did. Since it was the 1st time I hid anything, I'm surprised they were even found. Plus, I thought I stashed them pretty good

Powder River
01-14-2009, 04:23
Are you looking to geotag your journal or your photos, or both? Geotagging a journal entry is actually pretty straightforward, as you can insert the latitude and longitude into your posts, and a journal site like postholer.com can translate those posts onto a map for you. I did not actually carry a gps device to do this, but just a printed list of the gps coordinates for every shelter. For any other locations you find yourself at, such as random campsites or road crossings, just make note of where that is and you can actually pinpoint your location with a really close inspection of the map at the higest zoom level. If you want this done while you are on the trail, it essential to have someone at home doing this for you.

Another great tool that I just discovered is Google's MyMaps. While not exactly a traditional journal site, with someone at home editing for you, you could have a very nice map-driven journal. Their interface is really easy to add journal entries, links, pictures and even video, along with custom icons. From there, you can have this embedded into a blog, such as a wordpress or blogger.com site. It will allow you to choose the dimensions and center point of the embedded map, and give you the html code to copy and paste into your blog entry. See the Katahdin post on my site (below in the signature) for an example of this. My challenge with Google's Mymaps has been to get it to upload a .KML file of the entire trail. That is, the data points that make up the big red or blue line to mark the trail. Aparrently, Google only allows each "track" (what will show up at one time) to be around 400 points, which is not even close to enough to show the entire trail. So you end up with short sections of the trail on the map, which is not the desired effect.

As for photos, see my post at http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=44934 for a discussion on this. The first challenge is getting a device that will GPS code your pictures (there are a few links in there to such devices), as Nikon's solution is only for heavy DSLRs and there are not too many other manufacturers that will embed the GPS data directly to the pictures, as each shot is taken. So you are left with using any camera of your choice, and using one of these gadgets to record gps data for you, to be synced later to your photos. The problem I see with this is it makes live geotagging almost impossible during a long hike, since you need to sync the photos to the device via special software, and then post them onto a map.

Sooo, in short there are still a lot of challenges with it, but I think it is totally worth it. I had a lot of people following my journal while I hiked, and every one of them said they loved the maps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

ofthearth
01-14-2009, 21:18
Thanks for the reply. Breaking your post into bits and pieces so I can better deal with the questions.

"Are you looking to geotag your journal or your photos, or both? "

Trying to accomplish/merge a number of diverse ideas/things at the same time. I think what I'm looking for is a photo journal linked to a map. So I see the steps as understanding:

gps for lat/lon tags
software to merge the timestamps of the gps and the photos
how to map/display the material
where to display/store the material (maps, photos, etc)
how much of this can be done while hiking so as to not have a pile of photos etc at the end of a hike

Thought about a journal but not great at the art (or actual process) of writing. Hard to read my own writing/notes. Had even looked into a typing devise to get around the legibility issue and seemed liked an ideal situation to upload the material from the trail. Idea did not pan out. Then saw a friends journal - many photos! Liked the idea. I have a camera (small digital - water /shock rest.). Problem has always been what to do with the photos - how to keep up with them - organize etc. Then saw some of the journals with map links and seemed like the way to go. I thought doing photos would also help with creating more interest in the surroundings when hiking and slowing the hike down.

"Geotagging a journal entry is actually pretty straightforward, as you can insert the latitude and longitude into your posts, and a journal site like postholer.com can translate those posts onto a map for you. "

Questions here - just not sure what yet :rolleyes:

"I did not actually carry a gps device to do this, but just a printed list of the gps coordinates for every shelter. For any other locations you find yourself at, such as random campsites or road crossings, just make note of where that is and you can actually pinpoint your location with a really close inspection of the map at the higest zoom level. If you want this done while you are on the trail, it essential to have someone at home doing this for you. "

Trying to figure the whole gps thing out and thinking there will be people at the ruck that can answer a number of questions such as battery life, type of file used/written, etc. Have been looking at a SPOT and wondering if this would lend itself to geotagging.

"Another great tool that I just discovered is Google's MyMaps."

Have looked at MyMaps and was comparing it to some of the other things people have done and even the different way MM ( MyMaps ) has been used.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=101676448421891067806.0004463d74c4c5a735721&t=p&ll=36.332828,-82.125549&spn=1.327556,2.032471&z=9&source=embed
http://www.fivemillionsteps.com/trackus.php
http://www.thetrailwiki.org/

Trying to figure out which has the best display. And then of course yours - that just blew me away. Did not realize that was you. Far more than I would attempt. I was an Art major (ceramics ) and did a little webbie stuff with kids and teachers - not a lot of design stuff.

The thought of beginning able to see the location and even a picture of the shelters is something - not sure what. Maybe unnerving.

"While not exactly a traditional journal site, with someone at home editing for you, you could have a very nice map-driven journal."

Wife said she edited enough papers when I got a masters. :eek:

"Their interface is really easy to add journal entries, links, pictures and even video, along with custom icons."

Have I got questions for you!:)

"From there, you can have this embedded into a blog, such as a wordpress or blogger.com site. It will allow you to choose the dimensions and center point of the embedded map, and give you the html code to copy and paste into your blog entry. See the Katahdin post on my site (below in the signature) for an example of this. My challenge with Google's Mymaps has been to get it to upload a .KML file of the entire trail. That is, the data points that make up the big red or blue line to mark the trail. Aparrently, Google only allows each "track" (what will show up at one time) to be around 400 points, which is not even close to enough to show the entire trail. So you end up with short sections of the trail on the map, which is not the desired effect."

Maybe someone with the other maps has some ideas though it did seem like there were limited points or short sections as you said.

"As for photos, see my post at http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=44934 for a discussion on this. "

"The first challenge is getting a device that will GPS code your pictures (there are a few links in there to such devices), as Nikon's solution is only for heavy DSLRs and there are not too many other manufacturers that will embed the GPS data directly to the pictures, as each shot is taken. So you are left with using any camera of your choice, and using one of these gadgets to record gps data for you, to be synced later to your photos. The problem I see with this is it makes live geotagging almost impossible during a long hike, since you need to sync the photos to the device via special software, and then post them onto a map."

Live geotagging. Good term. The trail challenge. That's one of the questions I've with the gps devises. Seems the Spot can be controlled when it sets a point but not sure how the data is accessed. I don't think it is easily downloadable. Have found someone with a Spot and I going to see if I can borrow it.

"Sooo, in short there are still a lot of challenges with it, but I think it is totally worth it. I had a lot of people following my journal while I hiked, and every one of them said they loved the maps. Let me know if you have any more questions."

How many questions? ;) As you can see I'm still trying to form the questions. Someone once told me defining the question was half way to finding the answer. I'll check out your link to photos and see what other questions I can come up with.
Thanks again.

BR360
01-14-2009, 22:32
I was snooping around at some of the newer digicams, and found this:

Nikon Coolpix P6000, with GPS receiver built in, wide angle lens (28mm equiv.), shoots RAW, and price is about $430.

Here's the review I read on it:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408enthusiastgroup/page5.asp

Looks like a probable.

Ricoh also has a camera that will embed GPS data into the EXIF header. Don't know much about it, as I heard it is more expensive >$800??

Manwich
01-15-2009, 11:50
w00t! Thanks for the plug oftheearth!

Yeah I'm working on a system where one can zoom in (based on either recognizing the area, or using coordinates) and "place" their picture on my master-map (using GoogleMaps) along the Appalachian Trail.

Unfortunately I'm no computer genius therefore I'm at an impasse when it comes to coding, so as I learn I update my site with more features.

As it stands, one can go to my main page (http://www.thetrailwiki.org/Main_Page) and zoom in to where a photo is (one example is at Cat Rocks, about 2mi north of the NJ/NY Border, just south of the WildCat Shelter) and at Zoom Level 10 a little icon appears. When you click said icon, it shows a balloon with a link to the image.

Eventually, I'd like to see many AT-Enthusiasts posting their pictures to my page in this manner, it offers the ability to edit things openly, write detailed and unrestricted descriptions, link to other information and place precisely where these images were taken (either through coordinates or manual manipulation.) Also, eventually a thumbnail of the image will occur instead of a link. (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/member.php?u=15122)