Add geotagging to any camera for free
Ever since I got my DSLR, I’ve wanted to geotag my photos. Unfortunately, the GPS module for the Nikon D7000 is expensive, bulky, and has mixed reviews. Instead of using the bulky Nikon GPS unit, you can use your cell phone. This works for any brand of camera, even point and shoot models.
Synchronize the date/time
The first step is to make sure your cell phone and camera are set to the same date, time, and time zone. Syncing the time on the two devices will ensure your photos are tagged correctly.
Log your photo shoot
Before starting your photo shoot, start a GPS recording app, such as the free My Tracks. Wait to get a good GPS signal. Leave the app running during your entire shoot. This will track where you are with your camera.
When you are done taking photos, save your GPS track to your computer. My Tracks makes this easy by syncing with your Google Drive. Sometimes this doesn’t work automatically and you need to choose the Export option. Open your Google Drive and download the file.
Convert your .kml to .gpx
My Tracks exports kml files. Most software expects a gpx file. To quickly and easily convert your kml to gpx, use the GPS Visualizer converter page.
Apply your track to your photos
I like to use Adobe Lightroom. If you don’t have Lightroom, you can use Pictomio for free.
In Lightroom, select the photos from your shoot in the Library section.
Go to the Map section, then load your gpx file by going to Map→Tracklog→Load Tracklog….
Click the tracklog icon and select Auto-Tag Selected Photo.
BAM! Your photos are now geotagged and you didn’t even have to buy anything! Yay!
Read MoreSingle Point-AF on the Nikon D7000
I love soft fuzzy backgrounds in images. I think they look awesome. In the past I’ve set the lens wide open (f/1.8 on my Nikkor 35mm), let the camera handle everything else, and took a pile of photos with the hope of a few being properly focused and exposed. This isn’t very effective and has caused me to loose a lot of good shots. I decided to finally put the effort into learning how to do this better. I think the results are pretty good:
So, mainly for my own future reference, this is what I did: First, I set the camera to Aperture priority. I turned the ISO down to a reasonable level (lower is better) and set the aperture to f/1.8. I let the camera handle the shutter speed for me. I then set the camera to Single Point-AF by holding the button on the AF/M switch next to the lens while scrolling the front wheel until a single dot appeared on the top LCD (as opposed to the normal group of dots and AUTO). This is the key to everything!
What this does it turns off the cameras attempts at figuring out what it should focus on. Instead, you half press the shutter release button (and release), or tap the button on the AF/M switch, then use the directional arrows to move the single point of focus. You will be able to see the focus point moving through the viewfinder. Wherever you set the focus point is what the camera will focus on. For people, you’ll generally want to focus on the eyes (or as close as you can get).
Anyways, I got half a dozen great shots in just a few minutes, and a dozen or more good shots. Only a few shots had to be tossed because they were a little blurry or Anna had her arm in front of her face. Not bad! I’ve set this up as U1 on my camera for quick and easy Anna photographing.
Read MoreBokeh shapes
I’ve been having some fun with my camera, little pieces of cardboard, and a hole punch. I followed the instructions here, but went a little more ghetto (because I was in a rush and just wanted to see if I could get it to work).
My first try was a simple “plus” or “x” cut in the cardboard. I used my daughter’s Elmo toy in the foreground so at least something in the photo would be in focus, and our tiny Christmas tree in the background with the x’s:
Next, my wife cut a heart in a piece of cardboard. Elmo mysteriously vanished while I was fiddling with attaching the heart to my camera, so I used a giraffe instead (nicknamed Dap by my daughter). This turned out really well I think:
This was incredibly easy to do, hard to mess up, and created a fun effect. There is a fair amount of vignetting because I didn’t cut the shapes large enough, but I think it adds to the appearance of the photo.
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