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I really wanted to start placing my photos onto maps so interested travelers can see where I saw, what I saw.  But I found it difficult to figure out how to make Google maps with my geotagged photos.  Most of the search results told me how to geotag my photos using Google Earth/Maps or through flickr, which was of no help to me, as I already had them geotagged.  Other results directed me to other sites that either no longer existed or just mentioned what programs they used or showed the final result, nothing about what steps to follow.  I believe that I cannot embed dynamic maps into my free wordpress blog (you can through self-hosting), so I can only generate links that should be able to update themselves as I add more photos.  I could take a screenshot and use that image as a link, but the image would be obsolete as soon as I add another photo.  Using the following steps, I was able to make maps with my geotagged flickr photos.  You can see those links under the “Photo map” tab at the top of this blog (next to the “about” tab).

1. Find your flickr geoFeed.  You should see it at the bottom of your photostream.  Copy the URL.  Click the photos for embiggened version.

2. Go to http://maps.google.com and paste your geoFeed URL into the search bar.  You should see a map of your most recent 200 geotagged photos.

3. Click “Link” in the upper right of the map and copy the URL from the “Paste link in email or IM” line.

4. You’re done!  That URL is now your Google Map with your geotagged photos.  Share it as you like.  If you’re logged into your Google account, you can save it to “My maps” for an easy way to find that URL again (under “Link”).

But wait!  What if you only want to share a specific group/set of photos? Then it will depend on how well you tag your photos.  Let’s say I want to make a map of only my Boston trip photos, so the map can concentrate on the Boston area.  That way, you won’t have to zoom in yourself because my “all photos” map includes Australia photos and you see a fully zoomed-out Earth.  We need simply to modify step two.

1. Find your flickr geoFeed.  You should see it at the bottom of your photostream.  Copy the URL.

2a. Go to http://maps.google.com, paste your geoFeed URL into the search bar and add “&tags=” to the end of it with one tag belonging only to the photos you want to display.  For example, my “all photos” geoFeed URL is

http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/geo/?id=35057286@N00&lang=en-us&format=rss_200

for only my geotagged Boston photos, it would look like this

http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/geo/?id=35057286@N00&lang=en-us&format=rss_200&tags=boston

3. Click “Link” in the upper right of the map and copy the URL from the “Paste link in email or IM” line.

Simple, no?  I haven’t been able to figure out how to use multiple tags yet.  For example, I made my first trip to Boston last year, so all those photos are tagged “Boston” and “2009″.  If I visit again this year, those new photos will be tagged “Boston” and “2010″.  I would want to make separate maps for my Boston 2009 and Boston 2010 trips.  If you know how, please let me know.

But what if none of my flickr photos are geotagged?  How do I add geotag data to individual photos?  Good question.  I bought a GPS data logger a couple of months ago, and I have used it to add geotags to a batch of photos taken while using the data logger.  My older flickr photos with geotags were done differently.  I recommend  http://loc.alize.us for its ease of use, but you have to tag each photo one at a time.  Under “Create” in the blue bar, you will see a link to the Localize Bookmarklet, which you add to your bookmark/favorites list.  Next, go to the flickr photo you want to geotag and open the Localize Bookmarklet.  You’ll get a Google map you can search and zoom and click to best place the pink arrow at the location of your photo.  “Save location”, and your photo is now geotagged (it will even add “geotagged” to your list of tags).

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