Garret Bonnema

In preparation for my trip to Utah in a couple of days, I purchased a GPS photography system to encode location data into each photograph taken with my camera. I got the idea from my boss who has a similar system. EXIF data in the image file typically includes information about the photograph such as:

• Camera Type
• Exposure
• Aperture
• Focal Length
• ISO Speed

An example of EXIF data for one of my photos can be seen on my Flickr site.
With this new system, I can include location data, such as latitude, longitude, and elevation, in the photo’s EXIF data.

My system consists of two components – a GPS datalogger and a Bluetooth camera adapter. There are a variety of Bluetooth-enabled GPS devices. I specifically looked at the Holux M-241 and the Freedom Keychain GPS. These $70 devices broadcast their GPS coordinates using Bluetooth. This Bluetooth broadcast is then used to embed location data into the photo’s EXIF data.

The Freedom keychain looks slick but I ended up choosing the Holux as it has the capability to record the GPS data in internal memory. My whereabouts can be downloaded later using a USB cable. The Holux M-241 can record up to 130,000 data points. There are a lot of settings you can change to customize your device. This includes how often you log the GPS data, such as every second, every ten seconds, etc.

The other component of this GPS system is a Bluetooth adapter called Blue2Can from Red Hen Systems. This minuscule device acquires the GPS-data via a Bluetooth connection and adapts that data to be stored in the photo’s EXIF data. It plugs into one of the connectors in the front of my camera, the Nikon D300.

The whole system has worked perfectly in some of the trial photos I’ve taken. I just plug in the Blue2Can and allow the GPS datalogger to acquire the GPS satelites. Once the receiver has a lock on the satellites, everything is ready to go and GPS data is embedded in each image subsequently captured by the camera.

I hope to use this in my trip to Utah. I will then be able to map out my route and show you where each image was taken.

Yeah! Technology!