Lightroom: Geotag Photos with a Smartwatch

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Lightroom: Geotag Photos with a Smartwatch

The map module in Lightroom is one of the most time-consuming ways to organize your photos manually. Learn how to organize your photos by location by using GPS-Supported Smartwatch like a Fitbit or an Apple Watch.

You will need:

A Smartwatch with GPS or Connected GPS support
A Strava account connected to your device (Optional if your device supports .GPX export)
Correct date/time on your camera

Step 1: Connect your device to Strava

Head on over to https://strava.com/ and create an account, and download the app for your smartphone. Once it’s created head into the app Settings and choose “Link Other Services”. In the Other Services menu, tap “Connect a device to Strava” and find your device. Once that is done all activities with GPS information will be synced to your Strava account.

Step 2: Activate a GPS activity from your watch

Most watches let you create shortcuts to start an activity like “Walking”, “Run” or “Hike”, which will track the GPS data from the device, or synchronize with the postional data from the phone.

Once you’re done photographing, end the activity and you should see your activity on Strava.

Step 3: Extract the GPS data from Strava

On the web version of Strava there is an option to export the data as a GPX format which includes the tracking data and shows your exact route minute by minute. This will later be synced up in Lightroom to images taken at a matching date.

Go to https://strava.com/dashboard and click on your event. Then simply hit the Wrench icon to the top left and choose the Export GPX option. Save this in an easily accessible folder on your computer.

Step 4: Import the data in Lightroom

Open up Lightroom and locate the pictures you took during your activity in the Library Tab, and head into the Map panel by hitting CTRL+ALT+3, or hit Map on the top right. In the bottom panel you should see a road-shaped icon. Hit that and choose “Load Tracklog…” and import the .GPX file from earlier. You should now see the tracking data appear on the map in Lightroom.

Now that your tracklog is imported, simply select all your images using CTRL+A or CMD+A on a Mac, and hit the road icon again. This time choose “Auto Tag X Selected Photos”. Once that’s complete you should see your images appear along the track in yellow squares, and you’re done! You will now be able to more easily browse your photos using the map tab.

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