Geographic coordinates in photographs (geotags). How can I find out where a photo was taken? Find a phone by photo
There are times when you really need to search by image from your phone. Yes, most of us know how to perform such an operation on a computer.
Everything is simple there - each browser (, Google, and so on) has its own page for using photos as a request.
Actually, all that remains is indicate the original photo and start looking for relevant materials.
Contrary to the opinion of some users, this operation is no less easy.
The algorithm of actions is the same, and in some cases even simpler. You just need to know what services or applications to use for this and how to do it correctly.
But we will tell you the 5 best options that help you find something based on a photograph.
Contents:
Google Chrome
This is the same browser that is available by default on all smartphones and tablets running .
By the way, Yandex has its own browser, just like Google, but it does not have the same window and functions as shown in the figure. Therefore, there is no point in downloading it.
TinEye
And this is a specialized service created to enable users from all over the world to search for information using photos.
Many professionals know him.
Although it is also known among amateurs, since it is extremely easy to accomplish the task at hand, and the results it produces are quite informative and accurate.
To use it, do this:
- Visit the official website (link below). The resource page automatically adapts to your device, which is quite important.
- And then everything is very clear - there is a single button and field for entering a request. If you click on the button, a new window will appear in which you should specify the location of the source file. And the input field is intended for using links to photos. If the second approach is used, that is, a link is entered, you will need to additionally click on the icon in the form of a magnifying glass.
- After this the process will take place.
It is noteworthy that TinEye’s algorithm is completely different from that used by Yandex and Google.
In most cases, the results are more accurate and more consistent with user expectations. So you should definitely try using this service.
Google Googles
Here we are talking about a rather non-standard application that searches for information not just about some pictures, but about the places where you are and the things that you see.
This means that you can take a photo of the painting you are looking at in a gallery, or the food you see in a store.
After this, the program will find all available information on the photographed item.
It is also worth noting that the program has a translation mode with accompanying text recognition in the photo.
That is, you can take a picture of some inscription so that the program can use this inscription as a request and translate it, for example, from Russian into English.
To use Googles on your smartphone, do this:
- launch the application (before that, of course, download and install it);
- select the operating mode below;
- take a photo in the same way as you usually do;
- look at the results.
CamFind
And closing our list is another application that works on the same principle as Google Googles, but mainly searches for all kinds of goods in stores.
For example, you can take a photo of some sunglasses or a jar of kefir and the application will immediately find all the information on this product.
If these are glasses, then you will see prices in different retail chains for them, varieties, brands, and so on.
In general, for those who are constantly shopping or just regularly buy something in stores.
On the other hand, it will be useful, for example, to parents who want to know the composition of the product they buy for their children. In general, this is a really good and useful thing.
Using this program is also very simple and consists of the following:
- take a photo;
- wait until identification occurs;
- look at the results.
It is noteworthy that here you can transfer some images to your own special collection (section “Favorites”).
How to find a person without knowing their last name, first name, city, age? There are ONLY PHOTO. No, we will not use intelligence technology. There are online services that will easily allow anyone to do this for free. There can be many applications for this: finding random passers-by, love at first sight, old friends, determining the identity of a criminal, finding doubles, contacting the owner of lost documents.
Preparing the photo
The search accuracy will be higher if you prepare a photograph. Trim off excess, remove strangers, position your face straight. This can be done using any photo editor.
The simplest option on Windows is standard Paint.
As an example, let's take a photo of Mr. Bean from the FaceApp application. We want to find a woman like Mr. Bean.
- Launch Paint through Start - All Programs - Accessories, or find it through a search in Start.
- Open the photo. File - open. Or drag the file into the program window.
- Select the “Select” tool. We outline the face we will be looking for. Then press the crop button.
- Save the photo in jpg or png format: File - save as...
If the face is positioned unevenly, we additionally use the Rotate tool. Standard Paint can only rotate a photo by 90°.
VKontakte profile search
The FindFace service can still search for people from VKontakte.
- We go to the website https://findface.ru/ and click “Find identical ones”.
- To search, log into the site through your VKontakte account. If it is not there, register a new account on vk.com. The service will request access to your account, allow it.
- Upload the photo to the service and wait for the search to complete. According to the developers, the search accuracy is 70%.
The free account allows for 30 photo searches and 5 views of found profiles. If you need more, you will have to pay for a Premium account for 149 or 459 rubles per month. If you are going to constantly look for people, it is more profitable to pay for a year - there will be a discount. You can also get a free monthly premium by inviting 10 friends.
To increase the accuracy of your search, specify your age, city, and relationship status on VKontakte. Please be aware that many people have the wrong ages listed.
The most similar faces are at the top of the list. You can go to the VKontakte page, add a person to your likes list, or chat with him through the FindFace mobile application (for Android). Using the mobile application, you can take photos and immediately determine your identity. Imagine the surprise of a stranger when you guess his name, favorite movies, music. A good reason to get to know each other
A few examples:
The girl was taking photos for documents and forgot the flash drive in the photo studio:
The girl met a guy on the bus, but was afraid to approach:
We find a person using a photo from a passing bus:
“Girl, has anyone ever told you that you look like Vin Diesel?”
Search the entire Internet
If a person does not have a profile on VKontakte, let's try to find him through a search by image:
- Search by image from Google https://www.google.ru/imghp?hl=ru&tab=wi.
- Search by image from Yandex https://yandex.ru/images/.
Publication date: 24.03.2017
Novice photographers are often interested in how to view the parameters of a particular photograph and find out what camera and lens were used to take it. This and other data is stored in EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format). It is part of a JPEG or RAW file. It is in it that additional data (metadata) is “hardwired”. EXIF allows you to save a lot of useful information: from shooting parameters to information about what program and how the frame was edited.
NIKON D810 / 50.0 mm f/1.4 SETTINGS: ISO 160, F1.4, 1/400 s, 50.0 mm equiv.
The parameters that you see under each photo on the website are loaded automatically from EXIF. So, the data of this image indicates that it was taken on a Nikon D810 camera) with a universal Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.4G Nikkor lens. By the way, the latter is great for portrait photography.
How to view EXIF?
Today, many photo viewing and editing programs can display EXIF: Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Bridge. The Capture NX-D converter, “native” for Nikon cameras, displays shooting parameters in great detail.
EXIF in Adobe Lightroom
EXIF can also be seen by opening the file properties: go to “Explorer”, right-click on the desired photo, select “Properties” in the context menu that opens, and in the window that appears, select the “Details” tab.
There are sites that allow you to upload an image and see its metadata in expanded form online. Examples of such services: http://exif.regex.info/exif.cgi; http://metapicz.com/. With their help, you can find information about all shooting parameters, even down to what distance the lens was focused.
There is an extension for the Google Chrome browser that allows you to view the EXIF of any image on the web page you open.
Through EXIF you can find out how many pictures were taken with the camera. For example, this is useful when buying used photographic equipment. The technique works with Nikon cameras. Cameras from other manufacturers do not always include this parameter in EXIF, and you have to extract it using additional tricks.
To get full EXIF data, it is best not to edit the frame on a PC. Upload the selected image to the website http://exif.regex.info/exif.cgi and find the Shutter Count column. Here we will see the “mileage” of the camera.
The easier-to-use service https://www.camerashuttercount.com/ works on the same principle.
NIKON D810 / 18.0-35.0 mm f/3.5-4.5 SETTINGS: ISO 200, F14, 1/30 s, 24.0 mm equiv.
When creating HDR images in Adobe Lightroom, the final image file is assigned some shutter speed and aperture parameters, although it is clear that at least two frames with different parameters were used to stitch the HDR together. Typically, the fastest shutter speed is assigned.
EXIF data can be faked
EXIF is easy to edit. There are even online services for changing shooting parameters. Therefore, EXIF data can act as reference information, but not absolutely objective information.
NIKON D810 / 18.0-35.0 mm f/3.5-4.5 SETTINGS: ISO 100, F16, 1/6 s, 18.0 mm equiv.
How to avoid losing EXIF data during processing?
Some editors cut off EXIF permanently (many mobile applications are guilty of this). However, in serious post-processing programs you can choose whether to save EXIF or not. For example, in Adobe Photoshop, when saving a photo using the Save As command, all data is retained, but when saving using the Save For Web tool, some metadata is deleted. To avoid this, find the Metadata item in the Save For Web window and select what information you want to save. I usually leave all the metadata.
The situation is similar in Adobe Lightroom. When setting up photo exports, pay attention to the Metadata item.
Not all users know that digital photographs can be marked with shooting coordinates - geographic latitude and longitude. This data is recorded in the so-called EXIF - a special extension of a digital image, where a lot of information is entered: date and time of shooting, camera model, exposure, ISO, and so on and so forth. If the camera (phone) is equipped with a GPS chip, then GPS coordinates can also be entered into this EXIF - this is called a “geotag”. > This opportunity can be very convenient, especially when it comes to photographing all kinds of travel: instead of answering questions from the series “Where is this? Where is this? Where is this beautiful place?”, you simply say what’s there Each photo has coordinates - take it and see who needs it. Many viewing programs can display coordinate values in photos - for example, ACDSee Photo Manager, in which you can enable viewing of all EXIF data.
GPS coordinates in ACDSee
However, just coordinates as such say little. It would be much more convenient to be able to view the shooting location if necessary - for example, in the same Google maps. It would be quite obvious. Well, no problem! Google's free Picasa program can do similar things. Install it and launch it. The program will scan the images on your computer and display them as thumbnails. On those photos that have a geotag, Picasa will show a special red icon - like a position mark on Google maps.
Geotagged photos
If you click on the same icon from the bottom toolbar, Picasa will display a map panel, where it will show the coordinates of all the photos in the folder or the coordinates of the selected photo.
Photo and map
Moreover, on the map you can also select the “satellite” mode and other modes supported by Google maps. You can also, of course, change the display scale.
Changing the scale and turning on the satellite image
Using this program, you can also manually add geotags to already taken photographs - select the desired area on the map, and then add the corresponding geotag to the selected images. There are quite a few cameras with built-in GPS, but if you don’t have one, it hardly makes sense to buy something like that just because of geotags. Considering the growing popularity of smartphones with cameras, which can already produce quite decent images in quality, the task of geotagging is solved simply - as a rule, if a smartphone is equipped with a GPS module, then its camera can add these geotags. Here, for example, are the iPhone settings - enabling geotagging in the camera.
Enabling geotagging in camera
Here's how to enable a geotag on an Android smartphone.
Enable GPS on Android
Well, at the same time, it makes sense to immediately check whether the geotag is enabled in your smartphone settings, otherwise the opposite situation may happen: you are absolutely not interested in the fact that from your photographs posted on the Internet, it is possible to determine the exact coordinates of the shooting, but they are You are vilely registered with your smartphone on every frame.
Any modern digital camera records additional information about the image in the photo file - EXIF data: the model of the camera that took the photo, shutter speed, aperture, focal length, ISO sensitivity, time and date of shooting, etc.
When you upload a photo to Yandex.Photos, this information is saved. To open it, on the photo viewing page, click the More icon and select Show EXIF.
Why don't some photos have EXIF?
If a photo is taken with a film camera and then scanned, it cannot have EXIF data because it is assigned to the photo when the file is created by a digital camera.
Graphic editors (for example, Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom), with certain file saving settings, can delete EXIF data.
Also, some mobile phones do not leave EXIF data.
How can I find out the model of the camera that took the photo and see other photos taken with this camera?
On the photo viewing page, tap the More icon.
Select Show EXIF.
You will be taken to a page with photographs of other authors whose works were taken by this camera model and posted on Yandex.Photos.
How to find out where a photo was taken?
Each photo on Yandex.Photos can be linked to a map. If the photo is already linked to a map, to find out its location, click the On map link, which is located on the photo viewing page.
If the photo is not linked to the map, but you know where it was taken, you can offer the author of the photo your option for placement on the map. To do this, click the link Link to map under the photo.
You will be taken to a map page where you can enter the location of the photo. If the author agrees with your proposal, you will receive a message by mail.