debcook

2008-08-13 20:36:59 

Snapping interesting digital photos is one of my favorite pastimes. Memories are revived each time I look at them. There is always at least a 2GB SD card in my camera because I never know how many shots I will want to take at any one time. There is no time to make room by deleting selected digital photos when in a hurry.

A few months ago I made an early morning run to my local Wal-Mart. I had just pulled into the parking lot and the most beautiful sunrise spread across the sky. I pulled my camera out of my bag and snapped away.

Every once and a while after heavy rains parts of my hometown floods. I try to capture photos that will give friends and family recognizable landmarks. Different angles and different lighting lets the water tell its own story.

Several years ago while driving to Phoenix there was a herd of large deer crossing the road. I was so surprised as we rounded the bend in the road that I fumbled to get my camera out of my bag. Notice a trend here? I was able to take numerous very interesting photos.

After an ice storm last winter I took multiple photos of damaged property. Trees, limbs high line wires and collapsed roofs were everywhere. My backyard fence was crushed for the third time by a neighbor’s tree. Those are not photos I care to remember but they are handy when filing insurance claims.

There is something that will make these photos more fun and in some cases more valuable. Geotagging makes it possible to show the exact location that the photo was taken. Some cameras have this feature built in but most do not. Instead a small GPS logger device is used in combination with a digital camera.

To keep it simple – the date and time on the digital camera is synced with the date and time on the GPS logger. The GPS logger is set to register location data at preset intervals. Later software is used to match those photos to the location data in the GPS logger. These Geotagged digital photos can be mapped with Google Maps. This is an amazing tool.

My next vacation gadget bag will include a Geotagger. Then when I get a group together and offer to show off my vacation photos they will actually be interested.