Making Better Memories With GPS Tracking

Most people have a love/hate relationship with vacation photos. They want to remember what they’ve seen and where they’ve been, but when they go back and look at those photos a year later, they often find themselves thinking “Which beach was that again?” or “Where was that building?” That’s why many photographers have begun relying on GPS tracking devices to help them organize their memories.

By keeping a tracklog of your locations, you can remember exactly where you were when you took that picture of the kids in front of the horse statue. Then, that information can be added to the picture itself, creating a permanent record of your travels.

Some cameras have GPS tracking devices built into them. They do the work for you by writing the location information directly to the picture file. These tend to be pricey, however, and casual photographers may not want to plunk down the extra dollars it will cost them. But not to worry. There are still ways you can record your travels without the expense of a GPS-enabled camera.

One way is to use your smart phone. When you snap the picture, your phone records the location for you. Beware of privacy concerns, however. If you’re using a geo-tagging app like Instagram, it’s a good idea to think twice before announcing your location to the world, especially if you’re on vacation and your home will be uninhabited for a while. You can also use your phone to take one reference photo at each location you visit and then use your regular camera for the rest of the photos at that location.

Another way to capture your location is to use a GPS tracking app or an external tracking device. The app or device will create a log of your locations at regular intervals, and you can import that data into a photo management program such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom or Apple Aperture. These programs allow you to tag pictures with locations using the data from the GPS tracking device.

Tagging your photos with location data from GPS tracking devices is a great way to organize files and keep better tabs on the hodgepodge of photos cluttering up your hard drive. It’s one less thing you have to store in your brain, which frees up space in there for memories of the epic tickle fight or your girlfriend’s karaoke debut—things that can’t be captured on film.

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Making Better Memories With GPS Tracking