Photos Workbench is a companion to Apple Photos on macOS. It helps you organize, name, and compare your photos.
Tag: Location
Non-Recursive Search: Find Top-Level Files Only
HoudahSpot searches “recursively” descend into subfolders: results will include files from the folder where you are searching as well as files from folders nested within that folder.
In HoudahSpot you can list folders where you want to search. You can also exclude folders (and their subfolders) from the search: just drag the folder from the breadcrumb path at the bottom of the HoudahSpot window to the Locations/Exclude list.
In most cases, you want search results to include nested items. You have organized your files in a folder hierarchy and are using a search tool to find files anywhere in a folder tree of related files.
Sometimes you want to see only results from the top-level folder. You can repeat the above procedure to exclude more folders. Excluding all subfolders, one by one would be tedious. We will use a filter instead. Continue reading Non-Recursive Search: Find Top-Level Files Only
Efficient File Searches using Filters
HoudahSpot uses the Spotlight index maintained by macOS. This allows for lightning-fast file searches and enables HoudahSpot to find all kinds of files by name, text content, and metadata.
Spotlight does have its limitations. Some of these affect HoudahSpot. While HoudahSpot lets you combine any number of search criteria to hone in on specific files, you however cannot find or exclude files by their path.
You can, of course, use HoudahSpot to search in multiple folders at once. HoudahSpot also allows you to exclude folders from your search.
You do, however, need to list the folders you want to search or exclude. Since the Spotlight index does not know about file paths, you cannot set up a criterion on file paths.
For example, you cannot configure a search to ignore all files where some parent folder is named Temporary. You’d need to explicitly list all such Temporary folders.
Fortunately, HoudahSpot can filter search results to hide unwanted results. A single filter can prevent all Temporary files from cluttering up your file search.
What’s New in HoudahGeo 6.1?
HoudahGeo 6.1 builds upon last year’s HoudahGeo 6 release to bring you the most comprehensive photo geocoding and geotagging solution for Mac.
KESTREL Weather Log Files
HoudahGeo 6 can add weather information – ambient temperature, air pressure, and humidity – to your photos. Such data can be recorded using KESTREL Drop devices. HoudahGeo 6.1 adds support for more variants of the KESTREL CSV log file format.
Weather Data From GPX Files
Some GPS devices can record weather information along with tracklogs. HoudahGeo 6.1 can now read weather data from GPX files that use the Garmin TrackPointExtension format to store such data.
Scuba Dive Data From GPX Files
HoudahGeo 6 can add scuba diving information like depth below water to your photos. Typically this information is obtained from UDDF dive log files.
Some dive computers and dive logging software can create GPX tracklog files. HoudahGeo 6.1 can now dive log data from GPX files that use the Garmin TrackPointExtension format to store such data.
Apple Aperture on macOS Catalina and Big Sur
HoudahGeo now works with Aperture versions modified by Retroactive to run on recent versions of macOS. Read more…
Further Enhancements
Adobe Lightroom: HoudahGeo now supports Lightroom libraries set up with symbolic links to preview files.
Apple Photos: HoudahGeo now reads malformed XMP sidecar files created by the Export Originals function of the Apple Photos application.
Performance: HoudahGeo 6.1 improves performance when working with large projects.
Window Layout: HoudahGeo now remembers the width of the media browser and inspector panes when switching between processing steps.
Summer: Time to Travel Reminisce
Summer is here. Summer holidays are just around the corner. This is the time of year when many of us usually plan to travel and explore the world. Not so this year.
Explore. Reminisce. Show
This year we can reminisce about past travels and adventures. This summer we can dig into our well-organized photo collections. Photos organized by location now allow us to virtually jump around the globe and through time. We can explore photos in Google Earth to feel teleported to places we had the luck to visit. With photos pinned to precise map locations, we can retrace our steps in Google Maps. Nothing refreshes the memory like photos combined with the aerial views that reveal how the individual pictures connect.
Using HoudahGeo With Cameras That Provide Altitude Measurements but No GPS Coordinates
This blog post applies to HoudahGeo 5. HoudahGeo 6 offers much more flexibility in handling multiple sources of altitude and heading information.
Some GPS cameras use a barometer to determine the current altitude. These cameras can write altitude information to photos even when the GPS feature is switched off. This is often seen in Panasonic cameras.
The camera creates photos that have altitude information, but lack latitude and longitude coordinates. This comes as a bit of a surprise to HoudahGeo and requires a few additional clicks on your part.
What is the difference between geotagging and adding locations in Apple Photos?
The Places maps in Apple Photos is a great way to find and explore photos.
Geotagged photos taken with iPhone or another GPS-enabled camera are automatically added to the map. To add other photos, you can assign them locations in Apple Photos. You will, however, also want to geotag these photos.
How is geotagging different from assigning locations in Apple Photos?
Continue reading What is the difference between geotagging and adding locations in Apple Photos?
Geotagging for Apple Photos 2.0
The newly released macOS 10.12 Sierra includes a major update to the Apple Photos application. In Photos 2.0, the Places feature makes a comeback. The Places album lets you explore your photos on a beautiful world map. The new Memories feature also includes a map showing where the photos in the collection where taken.
Being able to organize and find photos by location is one of the best reasons to geotag all your photos.
Starting with Photos 2.0, it is now possible for HoudahGeo to update places information in the Photos library. This allows you to use the many options HoudahGeo offers for geocoding to add locations to photos in your library.
Fill Geotagging Gaps Left by Slow-to-Start GPS Camera
In order to save battery, many GPS-enabled cameras power their GPS receiver only once you turn on the camera. It then takes anyhwere from a couple of seconds to several minutes for the GPS to know where you currently are.
If you take a photo during this power-up phase, the camera is left with the option to use a previously recorded GPS location or forgo geotagging the photos.
At the end of the day, you will have a set of photos where some images lack geotags. This can easily be fixed with HoudahGeo.
Continue reading Fill Geotagging Gaps Left by Slow-to-Start GPS Camera
Incremental Photo Geocoding Using Maps
Manually geocoding a long list of photos can be daunting. With HoudahGeo it’s a snap. Follow the workflow outlined below and you’ll be done in no time.
The workflow takes advantage of the fact that the distance travelled between two photos is often rather short and easy to retrace. Once you have determined the location of the first photo, you just need to make incremental adjustments to geocode subsequent photos. It takes but a nudge to the map and a click for each photo.