Today, while I was doing some scouting for a wedding that I am shooting next weekend, I thought I would really give the GPS Tracker App for my iPhone a test. The app works along side a web site called InstaMapper. What it does is set the iPhone to track your position using the same satellites that a “normal” GPS unit would use. The iPhone 3G has a GPS receiver built into it. This allows you to upload in real-time your exact position (well within the accuracy of the GPS unit, usually with in 50 to 200 feet) to the InstaMapper website. You may be asking yourself why in the heck anyone would want to do this. Well, the answer is this: I drove all over Green Bay today to try and find some cool places to shoot the couple next weekend. How in the heck can I expect to remember where I was? Well, one of the features of this solution is to be able to download all this data in a format that can then be added to the EXIF data in the photos I took today. Using this technology, I can open a link right in Lightroom that will bring me to a Google Map showing me pretty close to where I was when I took the picture. Then I can simply look back through my location phots and easily get the GPS coordinates and a map right back to that spot. The picture in this post was taken at a location I knew about, but if it had been some place new to me, I feel confident that I would be able to find it again to take more pictures.

There are some down falls to this app however. First, it can be the only application running, so I couldn’t listen to Pandroa and have this going at the same time. you could start the iPod and then turn this on. You also can get calls, but when you do, you have to turn it back on and you don’t get any data tracked while you are on the phone. Also, having the GPS running and the data being constantly uploaded eats the battery pretty quick. I kept mine charging in the car while driving, and took it out with me while walking and I had no problems with battery life though.

For what this app does, it is an amazing addition to the photographers tool bag! Best of all, it is FREE so it doesn’t hurt to try it out!

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 6:27 pm and is filed under Apple, Photography, iPhone. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.