I get asked that question on a regular basis. This time it was a photo I posted on Facebook of our extended family (20 of us) at a restaurant when we were all together in the Bay Area in California.
Sometimes I recognize the location immediately. Sometimes I think I know but I’m not sure, and sometimes I have no clue. In this case I thought I remembered where we were but after eleven years I wasn’t sure.
This is how I find the location of a photo if I’m not sure of the location or have no clue.
I went to the folder with the original photo (2nd row, 2nd photo) and opened that image in Photoshop (PS).
At the top left corner of Photoshop I went to File > File Info and chose “GPS Data” to open a box with the GPS information. Toward the top of the GPS info box I could read the GPS coordinates for the photo (red letter “A”).
Then I opened Google Earth Pro (a free download) and put it on top of Photoshop and right next to the GPS info box. I took the GPS coordinates from the Photoshop box and typed them in the Google Earth Pro search box (to the left of the red “B”). I clicked SEARCH button (to the right of the red “B”) and Google Earth Pro went to the location on a satellite image and dropped a yellow pin (red “C”) at the GPS coordinates. The restaurant we were at (partially blue roof) was at Stevenson and Omar Streets in Fremont California.
Google Earth Pro didn’t name the restaurant we were at, but it named Jack in the Box next door. That was puzzling. I soon learned why the restaurant we were at did not have a business name.
Using Google’s online map site, I went to Stevenson and Omar, and switched to “street view” to see a photo of the restaurant. Google put a notice on the photo that Outback Steakhouse is permanently closed. A quick Google search told me this Outback closed in February 2021.
But it did answer the question I was asked. My photo was taken at Outback Steakhouse back in July 2012.
Grabbing the GPS coordinates from an iPhone photo and dropping them into a mapping program is one of the fastest ways to find out where a photo was taken. Most smartphones record the GPS coordinates in the image file and several kinds of photo software will show you those coordinates.
What about other cameras?
Some cameras imbed GPS coordinates into images and some don’t. I have two primary DSLR cameras and one records GPS info and one does not. After I use the DLSR that does not record GPS info I will often take a quick photo at the same location with my iPhone so I will have the GPS coordinates just in case I need them later.
With more and more magazine photo editors asking for GPS coordinates before they will publish a photo, it is more important for photographers to have that information. If your primary camera does not record GPS data, grab a quick photo with your smart phone at the same spot just in case you need the GPS coordinates at a later date.
Link